Meet the team behind ABDABS

ABDABS Youth & Community Theatre was set-up by professional actor Debbie Ruth in 2005 to provide opportunities to help build self confidence, build on self esteem, improve on acting, singing and dancing through workshops, drama activities and productions for people aged 5 to adults in the Oxfordshire area.

All our team are DBS checked and the Team are as follows

(click on the names to show/hide more information)

Debbie Ruth - Principal Director

Debbie was brought up in a Theatrical family and is a professional actor, singer & dance, she belongs to Equity who represent professional performers. Debbie’s mum, Valerie, had her own Theatrical Agency and Dancing School. Debbie initially started dancing at the age of two, with Corona Academy in London and took her first ballet exam at the age of four and passed with Honours. She then went onto become a regular attendee at the Dance Studio (now known as Pineapple) in Covent Garden. She was trained by Gillian Gregory in English Tap dancing, studied American Tap and danced with the Junior Ballet Rambert. She has appeared in several adverts and in BBC productions such as Z Cars and The Little Silver Trumpet. Debbie also made a film with Eyeline Films, Children’s Film Foundation. Debbie attended Phildene Stage School.

Her career later in life took her into singing and dancing and she had her own Old Thyme Music Hall Show with which she toured the Counties. A Londoner by birth, Debbie was a member of the Pearly Kings and Queens and raised well over a hundred thousand pounds for many of her charities in the time she was a part of the Pearlies clan. Whilst appearing with Les Dawson and Faith Brown at the String of Pearls, she was presented to Prince and Prince Michael of Kent. Debbie says she never wanted to be famous when she was younger, just happy to do what she loved best, which was performing on the stage.

A trained teacher and manager, with three children and 4 grandchildren of her own, her passion are people and their self development. She says she’s happy to be behind the scenes and encourage the young people of our community to build on self esteem, self confidence, life skills and performing arts, and give them the opportunity to demonstrate their talents and hard work all the students put into Abdabs Youth & Community Theatre productions. You may see Debbie return to the stage or appear on film occasionally, she's still very active in the continuation of her own practice in Musical Theatre. She appeared in The Full Monty as Georgie in 2010 & Yvonne in Bad Girls The Musical in 2012. Debbie is an accomplished Director and has directed many productions including Bugsy Malone, Stuart Little, High School Musical, Back to the 80s Musical, The Witney Story, 'Allo 'Allo, Captain Blackboots & The Wallamagrumba, The Full Monty & more recently Bad Girls The Musical. Debbie has also appeared in Panto with Travelling Light Productions in December 2014 as PC Pong in Aladdin. More recently Debbie directed and appeared in Darling Buds of May as Miss Pilchester.