Amelia Donkor and Antony Jardine arrive at York Theatre Royal for their first day of rehearsals for His Last Report. Picture: Millie Stephens
PROFESSIONAL actors Antony Jardine and Amelia Donkor are leading the cast for York Theatre Royal’s 2025 summer community production His Last Report.
They take the roles of Seebohm Rowntree and Gulie Harlock respectively, performing alongside the 100-strong community ensemble in Misha Duncan-Barry and Bridget Foreman’s play about pioneering sociologist and social reformer Seebohm Rowntree, whose groundbreaking investigation into poverty illuminated the struggles of the working class and laid the foundation for the welfare state.
His Last Report delves into the life and legacy of one of the city’s most influential figures, who not only conducted three social studies in York in 1899, 1936 and 1951, defining the poverty line, but was an industrialist and philanthropist too, making his mark on the Rowntree family’s chocolate company and the development of the model community at New Earswick.
Juliet Forster, creative director of York Theatre Royal and co-director of His Last Report, says: “We are thrilled to welcome Antony and Amelia to the cast. It is so brilliant to work on these kinds of community productions where we bring together the wonderful talents of both professional actors and an ensemble cast of local people.”
Antony grew up in York, first appearing at the Theatre Royal as a “precocious child actor” in John Doyle’s days as artistic director, playing one of the princes in the tower opposite panto villain David Leonard’s Richard III in the War Of The Roses season and in Willy Russell’s Our Day Out.
“I’ve been based in London for 20 years but I did come back to the Theatre Royal in The Secret Garden, which transferred from [co-producers] Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, in 2018,” he says.
“My children were born in London, so there’s no Yorkshire in them, apart from encouraging them to eat Yorkshire Pudding and love Yorkshire Cricket Club.”
Amelia is performing at York Theatre Royal for the first time. “I’m finishing my Yorkshire Holy Grail, after playing the Stephen Joseph Theatre [Scarborough] in The 39 Steps, Hull Truck Theatre in James Graham’s The Culture and Leeds Playhouse in The Fruit Trilogy,” she says.
Antony and Amelia joined rehearsals with the ensemble company already deep into their preparations. “It was very different for us coming in that stage, when people say, ‘so this is what this scene looks like’, but everyone has been so welcoming,” says Amelia.
Antony Jardine: Suited for the role of Seebohm Rowntree in His Last Report. Picture: Millie Stephens
“It’s such a powerful piece about community being told by the York community and such a beloved story, and we’ve been really welcomed into it,” says Antony.
Introducing the character of Gulie Harlock, Amelia says: “Originally from Northampton, she worked in the East End of London, working in public health as a member of the welfare committee.
“She came to York with Seebohm originally as his personal secretary but then he realised she had a great understanding of this [social reform] work and so she ran the New Earswick project.
“She was also involved in the framing of the last report and really spearheaded the involvement of women when it was a man’s world, when Seebohm realised how important it was to represent women’s voices.”
Amelia continues “We still don’t know that much about Gulie, but we have a wonderful historical expert, Catherine Hindson, who’s been working with us, having written a piece about her for the Rowntree Foundation.
“There’s still a lot we don’t know about her, but our writers, Misha and Bridget, have really enjoyed learning about her.”
Exploring Seebohm’s story, Antony says: “He was a chemist, which is where his initial forays lay, with that influencing the chocolate recipes, but then he undertook his reports to implement social change, but to make those changes is not as easy as coming up with a mathematical solution for solving poverty.”
Amelia rejoins: “Seebohm made three reports in total, and in the second act, we deconstruct the legacy of those reports because they had such a huge impact beyond York, as Lloyd George and Churchill both wanted to use his reports as part of restructuring programmes.
“The reports changed the way politicians saw poverty. Seebohm created the concept of the poverty line and the language we use now [in relation to social reform] came through him.”
“There’s still a lot we don’t know about Gulie Harlock, but our writers, Misha and Bridget, have really enjoyed learning about her,” says actress Amelia Donkor. Picture: Millie Stephens
Antony adds: “Seebohm felt that if certain things were lacking in social structures, such as if people didn’t have access to education, leading to skilled employment, they would struggle to lift themselves above the poverty line and so they would continue to struggle.
“This gave rise to the Rowntree family creating New Earswick to address the problem of living conditions not being adequate.”
Amelia picks up that point. “Seebohm created the idea of living well and working well, so that people didn’t just live but could thrive. He understood that if people were thriving, the business would be thriving too.”
Seebohm’s projects led to the establishment of the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, the New Earswick library and the primary school, later attended by Antony, by the way.
Misha and Bridget’s play then turns its focus to applying Seebohm’s principles to the modern world, with its cuts to access to the arts and threat of library closures. “What would Seebohm think about those cuts, when all the progression that he brought about has stalled?” says Antony. “The play contemplates how maybe we can affect changes ourselves.
“York does brilliantly with such a thriving cultural scene, and this play could not be a better example of what Seebohm was seeking to achieve.”
Amelia concludes: “We hope people come out feeling entertained, moved and inspired, and feel they could be part of a call to action as Misha and Bridget ask: what might you do?
“You think, ‘maybe I could do this at school, or the local community centre’, so maybe it could cascade. When people know they’re empowered, they can go and do that in the rest of their lives.”
York Theatre Royal and Riding Lights Theatre Company present His Last Report, York Theatre Royal, until August 3, 7.30pm, except Sundays and Mondays, plus 2pm, July 26, August 2 and 3. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
“When I met Juliet Forster and Paul Birch for my audition and told them about the Rowntree connections, they couldn’t believe it either,” says York-born-and-educated actor Antony Jardine, who plays Seebohm Rowntree in His Last Report. Picture: David Kessel
Extra, extra. York Theatre Royal’s syndicated interview with Antony Jardine
What is the story behind the community production His Last Report and your character Seebohm Rowntree?
“The show is based on Seebohm Rowntree’s life and his works. He published three reports looking at poverty in York and those reports went on to become the basis of the welfare state.
“They did remarkable things for the quality of life for people and particularly for people that worked at the Rowntree’s chocolate factory at the time and lived in the village of New Earswick. The play tells that story.
“In the second half, the timeline moves around a little bit, and you begin to see what Seebohm Rowntree would make of the modern world and how after the years that have passed his research has come into fruition. The play uses a lens to look at what’s going on in society today.”
You have some interesting personal connections to this summer’s community production. What are your family’s links to the Rowntrees?
“It was quite an interesting phone call with my agent when she said she had an audition for me in York. I thought, brilliant I’d love to be back in York and work in my home city. She sent over the script, and I saw it was about the Rowntrees. I thought, that’s great, I know the Rowntrees well, and then when I read the play, I couldn’t believe all the other connections as that never really happens.
York Theatre Royal’s poster for His Last Report
“I was born and raised a Quaker. I went to New Earswick primary school, which is the
school that the Rowntrees built for the village of New Earswick. I learnt to swim in the
swimming pool which gets name checked in the play.
“I went to the library, which is also mentioned in the play. I went to Bootham School, which is the same school that Seebohm went to, and my dad worked for the Joseph Rowntree Housing trust for 44 years. When I met Juliet [Forster] and Paul [Birch] for my audition and told them about the connections, they couldn’t believe it either.”
Does your approach to character differ when playing a real person?
“It raises questions about what source material you have and how you use it. It’s very
hard to do an accurate imitation and it’s fair to say that a lot of our audience might
not have met Seebohm, so that gives us a bit more freedom to take what we do
know and develop that further.
“We don’t want to turn him into James Bond or anything like that, but we want our audience to invest in every character on the stage and more importantly, the work they are doing. He’s a very beloved son of York and I really want to get it right!
“We are condensing his life down into two hours, so the journey is much more compact, so much more like a rollercoaster ride. Ultimately the source material is so solid and so factual and that underpins as a foundation for the whole piece.”
“He’s a very beloved son of York and I really want to get it right,” says Antony Jardine of his role as Seebohm Rowntree
You last performed at York Theatre Royal in The Secret Garden in 2018. What keeps you coming back to York?
“Well, it’s a pretty nice city to live and work in! The theatre itself has a beautiful auditorium; as a performer it’s a joy to be on that stage. The vibrancy in the building is incredible; there are so many people working and being creative, which I think Seebohm would have approved of enormously.
“There’s just such a lot going on, but everyone is so friendly and welcoming. It’s an absolute treat and a joy to be able to come back here.”
Why book a ticket to His Last Report?
“Trust us, you’ll be in for a great night of theatre. When I first read the script, I was absolutely bowled over by how much is incorporated into it. It’s Shakespearian in its scope; it ticks every box.
“There’s so much joy. There’s going to be a trapeze, Morris dancing, music, it’s such a great story and so specific to York, but on a national and international scale as well.
“The story is about bringing people together and realising that an issue needs to be addressed, but also the production itself is bringing together a large community of people that can express themselves artistically in the theatre. I think all of that coming together is a rare and special thing.
“I would say if you are going to go and see a play, make it this one because you will
learn so much, you will think about yourself in a good, positive way and you’ll laugh
and have fun and maybe even an ice cream at the interval.”
