Biography
Callum trained at Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance, Stephen F Austin State University, Texas and Goldsmith’s University of London. He has been making theatre as an actor, writer and musician for over a decade in a variety of genres including musical theatre, live/performance art, immersive theatre, site specific theatre, folk/story-telling, classical texts, film and television.
Callum was a long-time member of Bob Carlton's award-winning ensemble of actor-musicians where he performed in countless productions including Godspell, The Great Gatsby, As You Like It, Treasure Island and Return to the Forbidden Planet. Since then Callum has performed in UK No1 tours, at fringe festivals, in films and and commercials and regularly records audiobooks as a narrator.
Callum is also a writer and, with his writing partner David Shopland, has seen multiple musicals produced professionally since 2009 in a variety of venues in London, Texas, Aberdeen, Bristol and even the National Theatre of China. Shopland and Hughes' musical Living Out Loud was live-streamed to over 250,000 people in 2018. They have also written pop songs for former Only Men Aloud star Ross Leadbeater and were comissioned to write the official anthem for the 2017 BRICS conference.
Callum has also composed the music for more than 10 different productions including Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, The Fir Tree, Into Thin Air, Slasher, Drive Your Road and Furious: The Ballad of '72 to name a few.
*****
'Pure magic from start to finish, one of the most incredible storytellers we’ve ever seen'
- Ask the Ushers -
Recent Projects
Thirst
Jimi Hendrix. Kurt Cobain. Amy Winehouse. All sadly members of the infamous 27 Club. In July 2018, two months shy of his 28th birthday, Callum Hughes was nearly added to that list.
Join the acclaimed writer and performer as he takes you on a journey from a small Oxfordshire town to the bright lights of the Big Smoke as he attempts to discover who he is without looking through the bottom of the bottle.
Featuring music original and familiar, Thirst is both a love letter to sobriety and a celebration of all things alcoholic.
This debut solo show charts the true story of Callum's journey through addiction, recovery, sobriety and ultimately… acceptance.
Thirst is also a joyous and uproarious look at life, family, theatre, religion and most importantly, the positivity of the pub.
So pull up a barstool, order Callum a 0% lager and listen to his incredible story...
The Canterville Ghost
Callum has just finished a tour with Tall Stories Award-nominated show, The Canterville Ghost.
The show toured to Newcastle, Bury St Edmunds, Leeds, Bristol and Winchester as well as completing a four-week run at London's prestigious Southwark Playhouse
Audiobooks
Callum has narrated the audiobooks of the acclaimed The 392 by Ashely Hickson-Lovence, Winter in Tabriz by Sheila Llewellyn, two of Georgette Heyer's Penguin Classics and recently completed the second volume of Graham Whitlock's iThe Crystal Palace Chronicles.
Support for THIRST
Huge thanks to Create Recovery, InnCrowd, Fake Escape and Wildcard for their support in the development of THIRST
Goldsmith's... Making Performance
Callum completed an MA (distinction) in Performance Making at the University of London's prestigious Goldsmith's College. There he created several pieces including Fast and Slow and Slower, Slower, which explored research into theories of Accelerationism and fast and slow performance on and off the British stage.
Writing
Callum has written a range of plays, musicals and screen-projects and has been lucky enough to see his writing performed all over the world, from deep-east Texas to Beijing and London.
THIRST
Written & performed by Callum Hughes. Directed by and developed with Roann Hassani McCloskely and David Shopland.
THIRST has received backing from InnCrowd, Rural Touring/Applause, WildCard and FakeEscape. Catch Callum on tour from January 2023
The Little Mermaid was co-written and musically directed by Callum for Blind Tiger Theatre in 2013 - 14 at Riverside Studios.
20:20 Vision
Callum is a regular contributor to Bath Fringe's annual 20:20 Vision immersive new writing festival with Fake Escape since 2013; showcasing the best writers and performers in the South West under the age of 30.
Callum was a regular writer and musical director for the record-breaking NewsRevue at the Canal Cafe Theatre.
The Hound of the Norwoods
Co-created and performed with David Shopland, The Hound of The Norwoods premiered at The Lakes in South Norwood as part of the Arthur Conan Doyle Festival 2019
Callum currently has four full length musicals in development with writing partner, David Shopland.
Red Ribbons
Red Ribbons was created by the DreamArts Performance Company (aged 13 - 19) as part of Westminster's leading youth arts organisation's award winning Experiment programme. Callum led and directed the project in association with Les Enfants Terribles in 2019
A Life In Monochrome by Blind Tiger Theatre was co-written and musically directed by Callum, premiering at Ovalhouse Theatre before transferring to The Space Arts Centre in 2012
UKCI Musicals
Callum co-wrote and musically directed the musical Lessons Learned for UKCI in association with the National Theatre of China in Beijing in 2017. He has since written two further musicals for UKCI: Living Out Loud, which was produced at the Fujian Grand Theatre in Fuqing and live-streamed to 250,000 people in 2018, and First Spirit at the Shunde Theatre in China in 2019.
As part of his MA at Goldmisth's in London, Callum wrote and performed Slower, Slower, a piece looking at Accelerationism on and off the British stage.
Cinderella
Blind Tiger Theatre presented Cinderella: The Anti Panto in 2012 at The Leicester Square Theatre, co-written and musically by Callum.
As a regular guest lecturer at Rose Bruford College, Callum has written and arranged music for several shows including Furious: the Ballad of '72, Figures, and There's a City in my Mind.
