EO Creative / Production Team

COMPANY MANAGER

Helen has wide range of experience in administration, music production and music publicity and media. She first discovered her love of the stage appearing in a local production of ‘The King and I’ at the age of seven, and through years of multi-disciplinary dance training. At sixth form level Helen was awarded a Special Provisions place (voice, saxophone, viola, piano) to attend Wells Cathedral School, one of the UK’s top five specialist music schools. She subsequently graduated from Cardiff University with a BMus (Hons).

After graduation Helen broadened her horizons with an eclectic range of employment and volunteer opportunities. After a year as a Boarding House Assistant at Headington School, Oxford, Helen was invited to spend a term at the Ballanta Academy of Music in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Here Helen acted as a teaching and learning adviser, working alongside staff to improve the administrative infrastructure at the academy and to develop the quality of their teaching. Subsequently Helen volunteered in Sangkhlaburi, Thailand, teaching in a child-care centre and helping with building renovation work. She also spent time in Ecuador, working in Quito as an assistant in a childcare centre and a disabled young person’s centre, and then volunteering in the Amazon and the Galapagos Islands as a conservation project worker. On her return to England, Helen worked in administration for Resource for London, a charity providing meeting spaces for voluntary organisations, and as part of the front of house team at the Almeida Theatre in north London. She subsequently completed a Master's in Music Performance with Distinction at the Royal Academy of Music.

For the past six years Helen has worked as a core member of the administrative team of the Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra. For HPO she initially worked as adminstrative assistant, publicity and media manager, and clerk to the board of Trustees. In 2021 she took on the role of General Manager of the orchestra. Helen has worked as production manager for Ensemble OrQuesta since 2017 for over 20 productions, handling all administration and coordinating operations across a range of disciplines including stage management, costumes, props, and make-up, and liaising with team members regarding surtitles, programmes, venues, health and safety, and compliance.

Helen is a talented lyric soprano and regularly leads the cast of Ensemble OrQuesta productions.

SET / PROPS / TECHNICIAN

Orlando is our multi-skilled man behind the scenes. He has experience in a broad range of disciplines including sound, lighting, stage management, set construction, props, front of house, general production support and puppetry.

After over a decade of working in Paris, sustaining a hectic schedule working in a number of theatres, Orlando opted to return to the UK and a gentler pace of life in Hastings. He worked for several years at the multi-event venue St Mary in the Castle, which is where he met Marcio. They developed a very positive working relationship and Orlando has worked for Hastings Philharmonic Orchestra and Ensemble OrQuesta in a number of capacities ever since.

Although Marcio undertakes lighting design himself, Orlando is an invaluable source of advice on all matters technical, and his wonderfully amicable and calm temperament and 'can do' approach when it comes to the many diverse and demanding aspects of stage management is a life saver in a company such as ours.

Orlando's other awesome skill lies in the world of puppetry. He works alongside Julia McLean in the Hastings-based puppet theatre company TheatreRotto. Their wonderful work has been described as 'knockout' and has been applauded for 'immersing the children in creativity'.

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR / STAGE MANAGER

Marjorie has begun working with EO in the 2023-24 season, and since then, has become an important member of the team, working across different aspects of the production. Marjorie’s background is primarily in theatre and choral singing. She has worked alongside Marcio da Silva as his assistant stage director in Semele, by Handel, and has acted as stage actress and stage manager for Semele and Don Giovanni in 2025.