Although Toyah is best known for her outstanding work in music, theatre and
television, what many people don't know is that she is also a really
enthusiastic supporter of our Woolwich Young Radio Playwrights' Competition. In
spite of her hectic schedule, she always somehow manages to make time to read
the young writers' plays, take part in the judging sessions and even attend the
awards ceremonies in London. If her work takes her away from London, she still
likes to be involved in the judging process, even if it means reading the plays
while travelling, and phoning through her comments while on the move! Her
enthusiastic support and positive attitude to the work of the young writers is a
great inspiration to everybody involved in the competition. She has also starred
in a couple of the winning plays: The Tragic Roundabout by Fenella
Gollner, and with Aden Gillett in Roots by Celia Brown.
Toyah trained at the Old Rep Drama School in her home town of Birmingham.
Her repertory credits include playing Hermia in A Midsummer Night's
Dream with Birmingham Rep; The Choice and Memoirs of a Survivor
at Salisbury Playhouse; Dora Carrington in Carrington at Chichester
Festival Theatre and most recently Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing at
the Ludlow Festival.
In London she has twice appeared at the National Theatre, playing Emma in
Tales From Vienna Woods and Mary Lou in Whale. She has also
appeared in Sugar 'N' Spice at the Royal Court and as Puck in A
Midsummer Night's Dream at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park. In the
West End she appeared in Trafford Tanzi at the Mermaid Theatre, played
Sally Bowles in Cabaret at the Strand Theatre, Mabel in Three Men on
a Horse at the Vaudeville Theatre and Kate in Taming of the Shrew at
the Cambridge Theatre.
On tour, Toyah has enjoyed enormous success playing the title role in Peter
Pan as well as No.1 tours of Amadeus and Cheap Thrills.
Her television work is extensive and includes Glitter, Shoestring,
Little Girls Don't, Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, Look Here
and Toyah - a Documentary, all for the BBC. For Granada she played Gigi
in Maigret and the Hotel Majestic and she played opposite Laurence
Olivier in the acclaimed Ebony Tower. Other credits include Function
Room 'Movie Queen' for HTV, Dialta Downes in Tomorrow Calling, the
Dog in The Ink Thief, Tales of the Unexpected for Anglia, A
Tale of Pig Robinson for Dreamscape and most recently Deborah Drake in Kavanagh
QC for Carlton.
On film Toyah has twice worked with Derek Jarman, as Mad in Jubilee
and Miranda in The Tempest, for which she was nominated for Best
Newcomer at the Evening Standard Awards. Other film credits include The
Corn is Green, Quadrophenia, The Anchoress, Midnight
Breaks and Julie and The Cadillacs.
Toyah's music career spans 13 top 40 singles and 15 solo albums, the first
two of which, Sheep Farming in Barnet and Blue Meaning, became
seminal to the gothic movement. She dominated the Music Polls between 1979 and
1983 and won Best Female Singer in the 1982 Rock and Pop Awards.
Toyah also presents TV programmes such as Fasten Your Seatbelts,
Holiday, Watchdog Healthcheck, Into the Music and Weekend
Review.
