ABOUT US...

First formed in 2005 by Stephen Wiggins and Amy Cooke-Hodgson, Maple Giant is a fresh-faced independent theatre company bringing together new talent across Oxford.

MGT enjoys producing contemporary theatre in the form of cutting edge productions, concerts and cabaret evenings, and we are proud to develop and support those who are truly interested in making a career in performance.

Amy Cooke-Hodgson
With a passion for contemporary, minimalist theatre, Amy has spent the past 10 years directing a variety of shows in South & Central England and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Her production of the one act comedy, 'Angels', sold out at its Oxford run before being nominated for a Fringe Award in 2000.

Amy performs weekly with the comedy group, 'The Oxford Imps', recently performing at the Gilded Balloon in Edinburgh where the group received a 5-star review. She toured the U.S with the group in Summer 2008, most notably performing in full length improvised musicals. She has also appeared at Truck Festival, Calvin Wynter's VIP Lounge and Carnival des Phenomenes in London.

She teaches drama, singing and dance for Stagecoach and regularly leads workshops for children and adults in improvised comedy.

Amy has worked with a variety of groups ranging from small professional casts to large children's productions including musical adaptations of The Selfish Giant and Baboushka.

As Co-Founder of MGT, Amy has either Directed its productions, or taken a lead role in the cast, and enjoys the differing challenges these two aspects bring.


Stephen Wiggins
Stephen began his practical association with musical theatre when in 2000 he was Producer, Director and Musical Director for 'A Slice of Saturday Night', the final musical production at Westminster College, Oxford.

He has since worked as an accompanist for cabarets, weddings and in semi-professional theatre orchestras. In 2005 Stephen was co-director of St. Columba's choir, conducting and performing a varied mix of choral works.

As Co-Founder of MGT Stephen has acted as Producer for it’s productions, enjoying the varied and diverse aspects of the role, whether it be sorting licences, managing budgets, or simply making sure the whole production comes together and on time. For the majority of MGT’s productions Stephen has also acted as Musical Director, enabling him to fully enjoy his passion for contemporary musical theatre, and it is this passion that has inspired Maple Giant's production programme.


Company Production History
In 2006 the Company debuted at the Studio Theatre, Headington, with the comedy musical revue 'Personals' to sell out audiences. This was followed by a series of cabaret evenings, developed by Stephen, showcasing lesser known and more recent musical theatre material.

The Company made it's city-centre debut with a full-scale production of 'Personals' at the OFS Studio Theatre in Oxford, where they were greeted with another run of sell-out performances. In June 2008 MGT presented the first South of England production, outside of London, of the award-winning 'The Last 5 Years' by Jason Robert Brown. This was followed, in October 2008, with a production of the Pulitzer-Prize winning play 'Proof' by David Auburn.

In June 2009, MGT returned to the OFS Studio Theatre with their production of the award-winning 'tick, tick...BOOM', a musical by Jonathan Larson, composer of the Pulitzer-Prize and Tony-Award winning 'RENT'.