John Cuthbertson

John Cuthbertson John debuted for Theatre Guild as Oscar Lindquist in our 2003 production of Sweet Charity and was pleased to be given the chance to play a real 'bad guy' in Oklahoma! in 2004 and followed this with a comical portrayal of Barnaby in Hello, Dolly!. But he has been involved in theatre from a very young age appearing in many varied roles. He has been a playing member of RATS (Renfrew Amateur Theatre Society) since he was 11 appearing in musicals, plays and pantomimes in many lead roles. His favourites have been Phil McCann (Cuttin' A Rug) - part of John Byrne's Slab Boys Trilogy, Cuthbert (Once A Catholic), Cowardly Lion (The Wizard of Oz) and, more recently, Frumpella - the fat ugly sister (Cinderella) and Fagin (Oliver!). John also appeared in (the back of) the chorus of the Scottish Amateur Premier of Fame - The Musical at the King's Theatre for Apollo Players. To say that John has a full schedule would be an understatement. Outside of Theatre Guild's busy rehearsal schedule he works full time for the NHS ("doing something boring with computers"), and part-time in a night club in Paisley! He continues to perform with RATS, has played principal roles in Summer Holiday and Oliver! for the The Lyric Club and is also actively involved in the Guild's Concert Party! John co-founded Punch Productions with fellow Theatre Guild member Karen Herbison in 2007. John briefly attended Reid Kerr college to begin a course in Acting and Performance but quickly realised that he "wasn't really cut out for the cash flow restrictions of a student life"! His first EVER performance was as a 'Wise Man' in his Primary 1 Nativity - talk about blatant miscasting!? Although he has not recounted a specific 'funny story' for this page, he has often joked that it took him 8 years of playing animals and sprites before he graduated to playing a HUMAN for RATS. Sounds like Theatre Guild are spoiling him! (John's Secret: although only 5'9" tall, he lied on an audition form about his height to help secure the role of a policeman in the film Complicity with Johnny Lee Millar. The wardrobe team noticed when his costume was too big! They didn't tell anyone so all ended well for John - remind me never to trust that boy again!!)