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Seymour Matthews

Seymour Matthew’s first engagement after drama school was three years with the Royal Shakespeare Company and he was founding member of the Young Vic Theatre Company under Frank Dunlop when it opened on the South Bank in 1970. There followed a flurry of classical TV work including Howarth & Dickens of London, in which he played Edgar Allen Poe. There were also repertory seasons at Liverpool, Sheffield, Nottingham, Colchester and Bristol Old Vic. His first performance with the National Theatre was Thomas Putnam in The Crucible in 1990. He has subsequently appeared in over a dozen NT productions including Bishop of Ely in Richard III, Lawyer Hopkins in The Devil’s Disciple, Bardolph in Merry Wives, First Avocatori in Volpone, The Consultant in Remember This and Firs in The Cherry Orchard. He was Artistic Director of Frinton Summer Theatre for 20 years and Sherringham Summer Theatre for three years. Earlier this year he completed a round-the-world tour with Ian McKellen’s King Lear for the RSC. He has written three plays, all published by Samuel French. He has also written and performed a one man show entitled The Life and Loves of Edgar Allan Poe. Recent Films include Secret Passage and Angel. 

Photo: Fatimah Namdar

Published September 2008