About US
HCTG is run by Jonas Hurst. The Hurst Children’s Theatre Group (HCTG) was established over 70 years ago in London by his Grandmother. It has always been a family-run group which is what makes it different to most other Drama schools. His Father, Mike Hurst (one of the Springfields and a well known record producer), took the Theatre Group to Henley where it still flourishes today. Each of his 3 sisters run their own versions of HCTG in Buckinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Oxfordshire. Jonas’s classes have been running in Harpenden and St Albans for over 15 years and we have over 500 children across all of our classes.
And we’re proud to say we’re multiple-time winners of Mum’s Guide to Harpenden best activity for children. You can read more about our teachers below and read testimonials from parents and children on the ‘what they say’ page.
JONAS is a qualified teacher and professional musician. He spent 10 years as a TV Presenter (sky news, FIVE, EUROSPORT etc) and founded ‘Presenters Inc’.
He has 2 gold records as a singer (one for the movie Absolute Beginners, with David Bowie) and has sung professionally around the World.
He and his dad write the scripts. His 3 daughters all attend and help at classes. He loves working with children and he’s a bit of kid himself!
RUTH is married to Jonas and therefore also married to HCTG.
She used to be a primary school teacher and is now a major part of everything we do.
She co-ordinates all of the cast and all of the helpers/volunteers at our shows. She also makes all of the costumes!
And always with a smile on her face!
SALLY has been performing on stage since she was 6 years old and attended HCTG most of her life. When she finished school, she expressed interest in joining our team and we’re delighted to have her!
Sally has done all the roles at HCTG – she has been a class member, a class helper, part of the crew at the shows, and now a teacher, so she knows the ‘Hurst way’ very well! She is a fabulous singer, performer and teacher. Full of energy and fun -always so excited about the shows and getting the children ready.
BEN has been with Theatre Group for almost his whole life, attending weekly classes, helping Jonas on a Saturday, running the backstage crew in the shows, and now teaching classes on a Satruday. He can play 3 musical instruments (and sing!), is all about drama, and finds so much joy in teaching.
Ben loves Theatre Group and LOVES the shows, and has a great time remembering his favourite lines, characters, and songs from all the shows past (with quite a lot of them committed to memory!). He’s always even more excited and bubbling for the next one!
CHLOE is delighted to be joining us at HCTG.
Chloe recently graduated from drama school with a degree in Musical Theatre. She has a passion for teaching and showing her love of performing with others. She can’t wait to get started!
KAT’s journey in performing arts began when she left school, and trained with the Chickenshed Theatre Company.
From performing on stage to appearing in commercials and short films, Kat has gained extensive experience across the industry.
Kat is an experienced LAMDA teacher and loves inspiring young people to develop their confidence, their performance skills and passion for the arts. She even started her own theatre company in 2015!
She’s really keen to pass on her skills to the children at HCTG!
BECKY is delighted to be joining HCTG as a LAMDA teacher -both of Becky’s children have attended Hurst so she felt she was missing out!
Becky has performed from a young age and, having gained a 1st class degree in Drama from London University, she won a scholarship to study Acting at the Oxford School of Drama. She has worked extensively in theatre, performing professionally throughout the UK and Europe, and was once upstaged by basking sharks at the Minack Theatre!
An experienced and enthusiastic teacher, Becky has taught hundreds of local children over the past 7 years, as the founder of Confident Kids Drama. She loves helping children find their voices and develop their skills and passion for performing.
CLAIRE is our administrator. She runs the office and keeps everything in order.
She’s on top of the waiting list, email enquiries, classes, bookings, tickets, fees and everything else.
We don’t know what we’d do without her. Any questions – ask Claire. She knows ALL the answers!
THIS is the band! Haydn, Mike, Jane and Jonas (Left to right). They’ve been playing at all of our shows for 10 years and counting.
HAYDN is a professional drummer, JANE is a music teacher and MIKE (on guitar) organises our charity concerts with Jonas (in wig!). They make the shows even more magical for the cast + audience and they’re great friends of HCTG!
THE CREW. We always have an amazing crew at showtime -run by Tash, Ben, Esther, Gemma, Katie, Ellie and Amelie Hurst. (all former HCTG attendees).
Not to mention our regular class assistants during term-time: Zoe, Caitlin, Scarlett, Emily, Anna, Elizabeth, Amelia, Poppy, Izzy, Beatrix, Molly, Naomi, Douglas, Indira, Sophie and Isaac who are all fab!
All of our teachers are DBS checked and fully insured.