Phil first performed with CHTC as Cornelius Hackl in the 1996 Town Show Hello, Dolly!  He went on to perform in A Funny thing Happened on The Way To The Forum (~1997) and star as The Baron / Martin von Heilmann in the 1998 HTC production of Curse of the Werewolf which ran to packed houses during HADCAF in 1998.

On leaving Park House School in Newbury he went on to study at The University of Bristol before training at LAMDA.  This is a drama school providing vocational training for actors, stage managers and technicians to meet the highest demands and best opportunities in theatre, film and TV.

The LAMDA web site includes the following quote from Philip.
"I was excited and yet cautious about going to drama school, but I found my two years at LAMDA to be far better than I ever expected.  There is a very free and open approach to the class work with a healthy emphasis on ensemble-playing.  I was happy to discover that personal development at LAMDA begins with your strengths."

Since leaving LAMDA Philip has built up a varied and growing list of credits on stage and screen: -

Theatre: A View From The Bridge (West End/No.1 Tour); Havilland Le Mesurier in My Real War 1914-? (Guildford Yvonne Arnaud/UK Tour); Stephen in Uncertainty {Picture below} (Arts Theatre, West End) Love in Idleness (Bristol Old Vic); Mortimer in Mary Stuart (Nuffield, Southampton); Fred in A Christmas Carol (Dukes Playhouse, Lancaster); Ferdinand in The Tempest (Southwark Playhouse); The Cudgel & The Rapier (BAC); One Million Tiny Plays About London (Out of Joint); The Hygiene Hypothesis {Picture right} (Theatre 503/Latitude Festival); The Elephant Man, Animal Farm, Hamlet (all for Sincera Productions, Brazil & Beirut tours); Macbeth (Lost Theatre, Spain); Hamlet (Greenwich Park).

Television: Father Laurent in Little Dorrit (BBC, 2008), Foxe in The Tudors (Showtime US, 2007); Claude Moreau in Doctors (BBC, 2007), George Westphal in Trafalgar Battle Surgeon (Channel 4, 2005).  

Film: George in Desaccord Parfait (Gaumont France/UK, 2006) directed by Antoine de Caunes; Caught Out (Headfloss Films, 2006)

Philip is co-founder of Sincera Productions, a British based theatre company, formed in 2002 as a bold new theatre company creating and producing exciting, innovative theatre. The company has performed nationally and internationally, touring to Brazil and the Lebanon as well as appearing in London and at the Latitude Festival in Suffolk.

Original work developed by the company has included BY PARTIES UNKNOWN: The crypt project, for which Philip was Associate Producer.  This was performed in the Crypt beneath the Church of St Andrew, Holborn. The company also has experience in new writing, having produced the work of playwright Tom Morton-Smith for the 2007 Latitude Festival.  Philip has worked on original workshops for Complicité productions, and has created new work for the BAC, Young Vic Studio and the Nuffield Theatre, Southampton. He has worked extensively as a Drama teacher, youth theatre director and workshop leader.

In 2009, Philip appeared alongside Ken Stott in A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE at the Duke of York's Theatre in London. "Attracting widespread critical praise and five star reviews, this critically acclaimed production is the unmissable production of the year. "

From 5th to 31st October 2009 , Phil starred in a single-handed play - My Real War 1914-? - at The Trafalgar Studios in London's West End.  This riveting production was a first hand account of the state of mind of a young man, joining up in the full flush of patriotism, whose experiences left him disillusioned and appalled.  A play based on real letters, sent home by the young Lieutenant Le Mesurier to parents. To his mother he writes about his unusual adventures in and out of the trenches; the French chateaus to which he is billeted. The wine – the girls. To his father, he is much franker…
Philip Desmeules delighted audiences and critics with his extraordinary and engaging performance. There was a further chance to see this brilliant  production when Phil staged it at the Croft Hall as part of Hadcaf in July 2010.

• “irresistibly moving” The Times

• “vivid and touching” Guardian

• “Philip Desmeules, with his piercing blue eyes and gawky stage presence, superbly captures Lem’s attractive humour, sharp observation and growing conviction that he is caught up in a horror that makes no sense”  The Daily Telegraph

• “A poignant 90 minute performance, staged and performed with sensitivity, insight and directness” British Theatre Guide

We will keep this page updated with Philip's progress and wish him the best of luck for the future.