Southampton’s Jazz Story will be an incredible night out

Jacquelyn Ockwell

I knew I wanted to work in the theatre from a young age and spent many summers with The National Youth Theatre before training to be an actor at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London.

On graduating, I was cast in Fiddler On The Roof at the London Palladium and went on to perform this show over 400 times all over the UK. I worked as an actor in West End shows, tours and television for many years and absolutely loved it – a highlight was working on multiple plays with the Royal Shakespeare Company in both London and Stratford Upon Avon.

Stuart Martin Photography

After a year playing Miss Casewell in the world’s longest running play, The Mousetrap, at St Martin’s Theatre, I wanted to start a family and so I moved into work that didn’t require me to be away from home so much. This is when life went full circle, and I discovered a passion for creating work for youth theatre.

For the past decade I have been writing and directing young people all over the country, including for The Grand Opera House in Belfast, Winchester Theatre Royal, and Mayflower Theatre and Studios. I have also facilitated workshops for The National Theatre Education and numerous theatre schools and am happy to know that I have had a positive impact on the next generation of performers arriving on our stages

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I have lived in Southampton for thirteen years and have raised my three children here. Mayflower Theatre, where I’m an Associate Artist, offers local young people the exceptional opportunity of performing in a professionally supported, full-scale musical production each year. I am proud to be associated with Mayflower, where so much is offered to support future creatives, performers and audiences through their many bursaries.

I have just had the pleasure of directing Grease with 149 incredible performers aged 11-18, which attracted an audience of 4,000 people, and I’m about to begin work with a cast of 50 on my adaptation of A Christmas Carol, which opens at Mayflower Studios this December.

I was approached by Southampton Forward to join the Jazz Story team and collaborate on how we weave Southampton’s story through Peter Edwards’ perfect choice of music. Sitting alongside Don John was a privilege; listening to him talk so eloquently on jazz, race and music history has been a fascinating journey and I have learnt so much from him.

It is so easy to forget to truly experience the city you live in. We often take our home town for granted and Southampton’s Jazz Story is an opportunity to hear how influential our city has been to the music industry. 

The music chosen is great and will please jazz lovers but for people like me, who are still learning about the jazz scene, it’s also an exciting way into jazz and my playlist is now full of these artists.

I have been surprised by the jazz legends who have performed here and the influence the port has had on that. It’s exciting to walk down Southampton’s streets knowing that Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong have walked there too. 

Audiences who come to see Jazz Story on 18^th October are in for such a treat. I’m delighted that Southampton continues to attract great artists from all over the world, as well as being proactive in presenting home-grown talent.

Getting together with experts like Don John, Peter Edwards and Cole Mathieson (owner and founder of The Concorde Club) was amazing. The first time we all met, we simply talked about the music and Don was full of fascinating stories. We had so much archive material that we realised we could tell the story starting right back from the 1930s. The biggest challenge was what to leave out. Maybe there will be a Jazz Story Part 2 – who knows?

I’m really inspired by Jazz Story’s mix of live performance, narration and film footage. One of the thrills of working on a live event is enabling everyone to focus on their own skillset and then collaborating once we’re all in the studio together.

I’m excited to start work with Musical Director Peter Edwards and I can’t wait to hear the incredible line-up sing live. I know the house band will be sensational too. Mayflower Studios will be the perfect setting for an incredible night out.

Jazz Story is at Mayflower Studios on 18^th October. Tickets are available at www.mayflower.org.uk.