Double Emmy joy for former Wolverhampton youth theatre members

Tash Dummelow, who was formerly from Walsall but now lives in Bristol, works for Silverback Films as a production co-ordinator on documentary series Our Planet which is broadcast on Netflix and won the Outstanding Documentary Emmy.

Tash who was a member of Central Youth Theatre for seven years from 2003 to 2010 performed in a wide variety of productions including pieces of new writing and three pantomimes.

Tash said: “It was quite a surreal way to spend my birthday – getting an Emmy in the post during a pandemic. I stood in my own back garden with a glass of bubbly and gave my acceptance speech to my boyfriend. We had quite a giggle.”

Another former member, Maeve O’Sullivan, who works as an assistant producer for BBC Newsround also found out that she had also won an International Emmy as a member of the production team for the programme “Finding My Family: Holocaust - A Newsround special”.

The programme won in the Kids Factual and Entertainment Category.

Since joining Newsround in 2018 Maeve has also worked on the BAFTA-nominated drama-documentary “Anne Frank: A Life in Hiding”.

Maeve said: “It was such a lovely surprise to hear that we’d won.

“Working on the documentary was a real privilege and spending time with Holocaust survivor, Steven Frank, is an experience I’ll never forget.

“I’m so grateful we were able to tell his family’s story and educate children about this terrible time in history.”

Wolverhampton Central Youth Theatre director Jane Ward added: “We are all very excited and delighted for Tash and Maeve. During these bleak times when everyone in the arts is really suffering it’s great to have a double good news story and something to celebrate.

“The achievements of our former members never cease to amaze us.”