Meet The Team Who Makes Erstwhile Media What It Is
Oliver Giggins (Founder, Playright, Techy, Producer and Sound Engineer)
Oliver Giggins is a graduate of Queen Margaret University, where he studied drama and performance. His past work includes co-founding the Edinburgh Horror Festival; appearances on BBC Scotland, BBC Radio, France 2, and TV5 Monde and work on 38 Fringe shows since 2013 in a variety of capacities, including as a writer, actor, director, producer, techie, and even magician's assistant.
Out of the Fringe, he has opped lighting on shows by, amongst others, Lewis Capaldi, Michael Palin, Suzanne Vega, Jonathan Pie and, most impressively, himself.
His scripts for theatre include Glass Slippers & Silver Bullets, Frankomime's Monster, The Wheel of Misfortune (with Sandy Jack), the Shadow In The Dark (with Ash Pryce), Regina Vagina (with Beth Eltringham) and Ticket To Wonderland (with Holly Wagner), all of which have received 4 and 5-star reviews during their initial runs. Additionally, his unproduced comedy Chekhov Got His Gun was longlisted for the 2019 Bruntwood Playwriting Award and shortlisted for the 2021 Through The Mill Playwriting Award.
Kyle Paton (Actor)
Kyle Paton is an actor who was raised in the east end of Glasgow and is now based in Airdrie. In 2016, he completed his training after studying Acting & Performance at West College Scotland and then went on to graduate from the University of Sunderland with a BA Hons in Drama.
His previous credits include ‘Hamlet’, ‘Elsie and Norm's Macbeth’; ‘Antigone’; ‘Bacchus’; ‘Corydon Ovium’; ‘The Wheel of Misfortune’, and 'Ticket to Wonderland' at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2024.
Holly Wagner (Actor, Writer and Director)
Holly Wagner is an actress, having attended Stagecoach Theatre Arts School and The Lyceum Youth Theatre as a child, which led to performing in several productions, including ‘Seven Brides for Seven Brothers’ and ‘Scrooge’ at The Edinburgh Playhouse Theatre, and ‘Baggage’, a BBC Radio 4 comedy series.
During the COVID-19 lockdowns, Holly studied various online courses with The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and has since written plays, comedy sketches and short films, and co-created the digital show ‘Rest In Pieces’ for the Edinburgh Horror Festival 2021, one of Erstwhile Media's earliest productions.
She was also the co-writer and co-drector of Ticket To Wonderland which sold out at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe.
Sandy Jack (Actor)
Sandy jack is an Actor/writer originally from Dundee.
He has performed in Memphis, Romania and London among others. He has produced his own Horror Anthology shows and co produced The wheel of misfortune with Erstwhile productions and has very much enjoyed acting in various Erstwhile Productions having been involved in: The Magicians Ghost, The Ebony Frame (Script In Hand Performance), Glass Slippers And Silver Bullets.
You can find him on youtube as: Sandyshorrortheatre
Beth Eltringham (Actor, Director, Writer, Costumer, Producer)
Beth Eltringham is an English actor, director and writer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Beth has been acting in the industry since 2017 but her connections to Erstwhile Media began just last year (2023) with the rehearsed reading of one of Giggins' plays: The Magicians Ghost and ever since she has been taking a larger role in the production company: directing, writing, costume making, prop making and helping out with the social media end of things.
Beth’s first big project with Erstwhile Media was the writing, directing, producing, starring in, costume making and just about everything else (working alongside Giggins) of her Edinburgh Fringe Show: Regina Vagina which received a professional 5 star review, sold out audiences and a lot of positive audience feedback. From there she directored our Edinburgh Horror Festival production of The Ebony Frame which became a success with a full sold out run.
Beth also works closely with Eerie Earth Productions as a voice actor in many of their podcast series.
Spotlight Link: www.spotlight.com/9259-9057-8952
Recent credits include: The Ebony Frame (Old Nurse, Director, Costumer) Regina Vagina (Elizabeth i, Robert Devereux), Resident Evil Audio Drama (Jill Valentine), The Fallen Season 2 and 3 (Julia), The Ebony Frame: Rehearsed Reading (Ida), The Magician’s Ghost (Bess Houdini), Hunted (Heather), Robin Hood Pantomime (Friar Tuck u/s Maid Marian), Arno Rise Of Rebellion (Méle), Avenue Q (Rod and cover Bad Idea Bear), The Long Road (Mary), The Witches (Witch), Aladdin: A Virtual Pantomime (Writer, Director, Abanza, Eyargo, Pullout Peter),The Curse Of The Smuggler’s Run (James Law).
Cosette Bolt (Actor)
Cosette Bolt She/They is an American born, Edinburgh based actor, musician, and playwright that holds both a MFA in Acting for Stage and Screen from Edinburgh Napier University and a BA in Musical Theatre from Birmingham-Southern College.They serve as a Creative Learning Practitioner with Not So Nice! Productions, bringing inclusive theatre to organizations such as LGBT Health and Wellbeing. Recent workshops consist of Have a Play and Pride in Play participating as facilitator and writer.
She has joined Erstwhile media several times now in our productions of The Magician's Ghost, The Ebony Frame (script in hand), and our sell out Edinburgh Horror Festival production of The Ebony Frame.
Recent credits include: Dusk: a Bite Sized Celebration (Aura), #NoFilter (Perry), Twisted (Sherrezade), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Titania/Hippolyta), The Seagull (Nina), Never Have I Ever (Jess), One Goes Astray (Jane), and Living With Your Demons (Bitterness).
You can follow Cosette’s career by visiting her website at www.cosettebolt.net and on Instagram @cosettebolt.
Antony Branco (Actor)
Antony Branco, the stage name of Portuguese-born actor Pedro Branco, is an Edinburgh based performer with a Bachelor degree in Acting from the Lisbon Theatre and Film School (Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema).
Since graduating he has been in several theatre productions and short films. Some of his credits include roles in Sarah Kane's "Crave" (A), "Waiting for Godot" (Vladimir), "Grimm Up North" (Death) and "A Christmas Carol Office Party" (Nathan Smith/Ghost of Christmas Present), the latter which he also co-directed. After living in Yorkshire for 7 years, he relocated to Edinburgh in 2021, where he has taken part in the Edinburgh Fringe twice with Frighthouse Productions' "The Wheel of Misfortune", he then joined Erstwhile Media for our script in hand performance of The Ebony Frame, and again for our sell out Edinburgh Horror Festival production of the same show.