Rev. Dr Nevil Maskelyne
Born	(1732-10-06)6 October 1732 London, England
Died	20 July 1811(1811-07-20) (aged 78) Greenwich, England
Nationality	United Kingdom
Fields	Astronomy
Institutions	Fellow of the Royal Society, 1758 Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1784. Honorary Member of the French Institute
Known for	Astronomer Royal
Notable awards	Royal Society Copley Medal, 1775

The Reverend Dr Nevil Maskelyne FRS (6 October 1732 – 20 July 1811) was the fifth English Astronomer Royal. He held the office from 1765 to 1811.

Biography[link]

Maskelyne was born in London, the third son of Edmund Maskelyne of Purton, Wiltshire. Maskelyne's father died when he was 12, leaving the family in reduced circumstances. Maskelyne attended Westminster School and was still a pupil there when his mother died in 1748. His interest in astronomy had begun while at Westminster School, shortly after the eclipse of 25 July 1748.

Maskelyne entered St Catharine's College, Cambridge in 1749, graduating as seventh wrangler in 1754.^[1] Ordained as a minister in 1755, he became a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge in 1756.

About 1785 Maskelyne married Sophia Rose of Cotterstock, Northamptonshire. Their only child, Margaret (1786–1858), was the mother of Mervyn Herbert Nevil Story-Maskelyne (1823–1911) professor of mineralogy at Oxford (1856–95). Maskelyne's sister, Margaret, married Robert Clive.

Nevil Maskelyne is buried in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin, the parish church of the village of Purton, Wiltshire, England.^[2]

Career[link]

Measurement of longitude[link]

In 1758 Maskelyne was admitted to the Royal Society, which in 1761 despatched him to the island of St. Helena to observe the transit of Venus. This was an important observation since accurate measurements would allow the accurate calculation of Earth's distance from the Sun, which would in turn allow the scale of the solar system to be calculated.

Bad weather prevented any useful observations, however Maskelyne used his journey to develop a method of determining longitude using the position of the moon, which became known as the lunar distance method. He returned to England, resuming his position as curate at Chipping Barnet in 1761, and began work on a book, publishing the lunar distance method of longitude calculation in 1763 in The British Mariner's Guide, which included the suggestion that to facilitate the finding of longitude at sea, lunar distances should be calculated beforehand for each year and published in a form accessible to navigators. This proposal, the germ of the Nautical Almanac, was approved by the government, and under the care of Maskelyne the Nautical Almanac for 1767 was published in 1766. He further induced the government to print his observations annually.

Despite a possible conflict of interests, Maskelyne being an advocate of the lunar distance method of determining longitude, the Board of Longitude sent him to Barbados in 1763 to calculate the longitude of the capital, Bridgetown by observation of Jupiter's satellites, and also to test his lunar distance method and compare its accuracy to John Harrison's chronometer, the No. 4 timekeeper. Even after a successful trial in Barbados in 1764 observed by Maskelyne, Harrison was required to produce detailed drawings and build two more chronometers, one of which was eventually tested by King George III himself.

The results of the voyage were made public at a meeting of the Board of Longitude in early 1765, where it was disclosed that Harrison's chronometer had produced Bridgetown's longitude with an error of less than ten miles after a sea voyage of more than 5,000 miles. Maskelyne's method on the other hand showed an error of 30 miles. However, four of the naval officers present stated that their calculations had been performed to Maskelyne's instructions and were therefore subject to their inexperience. Also, since the lunar distance method relied on tables that only Maskelyne was capable of calculating, the method was not yet in a position to take the prize.

However, two Astronomers Royal had recently died in quick succession and Maskelyne was appointed to the position soon after his return to England. The position automatically made him an ex-officio member of the Board of Longitude and it was not long before a negative report was made on Harrison's chronometer, Maskelyne refusing to allow for the known rate at which Harrison's chronometer gained or lost time and thus dismissing it as inaccurate.^[3][4][5] He was not alone in his position on lunar distances; other members of the Board of Longitude and the Royal Society were also strongly biased toward lunars, as they saw the scientific solution being conceptually and intellectually superior to the mechanic's solution. When eventually Harrison was paid the money owing to him, it was by a special Act of Parliament rather than the Board of Longitude.

Nonetheless, while chronometers were indeed more accurate, the lunar distance method was cheaper and was the predominant method used well into the 19th century. Since Maskelyne's observations and calculations were made at the Royal Greenwich Observatory, the Greenwich meridian eventually became a common base for longitude worldwide and was adopted internationally as the Prime Meridian in 1884.^[6]

Measurement of latitude[link]

Maskelyne took a great interest in various geodetical operations, notably the measurement of the length of a degree of latitude in Maryland and Pennsylvania,^[7] executed by Mason and Dixon in 1766 – 1768, and later the determination of the relative longitude of Greenwich and Paris.^[8] On the French side the work was conducted by Count Cassini, Legendre, and Méchain; on the English side by General Roy. This triangulation was the beginning of the great trigonometrical survey which was subsequently extended all over Britain. His observations appeared in four large folio volumes from 1776–1811, some of them being reprinted in Samuel Vince's Elements of Astronomy.^[9]

Schiehallion experiment[link]

In 1772 Maskelyne proposed to the Royal Society what was to become known as the Schiehallion experiment (named after the mountain on which it was performed), for the determination of the Earth’s density using a plumb line. He was not the first to suggest this, Pierre Bouguer and Charles-Marie de la Condamine having attempted the same experiment in 1738.

Maskelyne performed his experiment in 1774 on Schiehallion in Perthshire, Scotland,^[10] the mountain being chosen due to its regular conical shape which permitted a reasonably accurate determination of its volume. The apparent difference of latitude between two stations on opposite sides of the mountain were compared with the real difference of latitude obtained by triangulation.

From Maskelyne’s observations Charles Hutton deduced a density for the earth 4.5 times that of water (the modern value is 5.515).

Other work[link]

Maskelyne’s first contribution to astronomical literature was A Proposal for Discovering the Annual Parallax of Sirius, published in 1760.^[11] Subsequent contributions to the Transactions contained his observations of the transits of Venus (1761 and 1769), on the tides at Saint Helena (1762), and on various astronomical phenomena at Saint Helena (1764) and at Barbados (1764).

Maskelyne also introduced several practical improvements, such as the measurement of time to tenths of a second; and prevailed upon the government to replace Bird’s mural quadrant by a repeating circle 6 feet (1.8 m) in diameter. The new instrument was constructed by Edward Troughton but Maskelyne did not live to see it completed.

Maskelyne in literature and the arts[link]

• Maskelyne features prominently in Dava Sobel's 1995 book, Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time, as well as the A&E miniseries based on the same.

• Maskelyne is a supporting character in Mason & Dixon by Thomas Pynchon.

• Maskelyne is portrayed as "Dr. Vickery" in Kate Grenville's semi-historical novel The Lieutenant.

Honours[link]

• 1775 – Awarded the Royal Society's Copley medal

• The lunar crater Maskelyne is named for him.

References[link]

• W. W. Rouse Ball, A History of the Study of Mathematics at Cambridge University, 1889, repr. Cambridge University Press, 2009, ISBN 978-1-108-00207-3, p. 108

Further reading[link]

• Howse, Derek (1989). Nevil Maskelyne: The Seaman's Astronomer. Cambridge University Press. 

External links[link]

• Online catalogue of Maskelyne's working papers (part of the Royal Greenwich Observatory Archives held at Cambridge University Library)
• A century ago, one of the world’s first hackers used Morse code insults to disrupt a public demo of Marconi's wireless telegraph

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

John Nevil Maskelyne
Born	(1839-12-22)22 December 1839 Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England
Died	18 May 1917(1917-05-18) (aged 77) London, England
Occupation	magician, escapologist, inventor, and paranormal investigator
Children	Nevil Maskelyne

John Nevil Maskelyne (22 December 1839 – 18 May 1917) was an English stage magician and inventor of the pay toilet, along with many other Victorian-era devices. His door lock for London toilets required the insertion of a penny coin to operate it, hence the euphemism to "spend a penny".^[1]

Biography[link]

Maskelyne was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. He trained as a watchmaker but became interested in conjuring after watching a stage performance by the fraudulent spiritualists, the Davenport Brothers. He saw how the Davenports' spirit cabinet illusion worked, and stated to the audience in the theatre that he could recreate their act using no supernatural methods. With the help of a friend, cabinet maker George Alfred Cooke, he built a version of the cabinet. Together, they revealed the Davenport Brothers trickery to the public at a show in Cheltenham in June 1865.^[2] Inspired by the acclaim they received for their clever exposure of the deception, the two men decided to become professional magicians.

At first they struggled to make ends meet but they were saved by a 27-year-old theatrical agent named William Morton, who saw their show in Liverpool and offered to finance a tour. Morton ended up being their manager for a total of 20 years. He helped them to become firmly established on the national stage—including such marathon theatrical engagements as their famous tenancy at the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly from 1873 to 1904.^[3]

In 1894, Maskelyne wrote the book Sharps and Flats: A Complete Revelation of the Secrets of Cheating at Games of Chance and Skill. This book became an instant hit and to this day is considered to be a classic gambling book. What made this book so popular is the fact that it was the first detailed revelation of the secrets of the cardsharps. Other authors, prior to Maskelyne, had written about crooked gambling, but never before had anyone published a work with in-depth, detailed explanation of the secrets of crooked gambling. The first edition of Sharps and Flats was published in London and New York. Later, when the book entered the public domain, the Gambler's Book Club, from Las Vegas, published the first reprint edition. The book is now also available online in the form of a web site, with annotations. In his lifetime, Maskelyne authored several books, but Sharps and Flats is by far his most important literary work and without any doubts the best known of his books.

Maskelyne and Cooke invented many illusions still performed today. Maskelyne was adept at working out the principles of illusions, one of his best-known being levitation. Levitation is commonly, but incorrectly, said to be Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin's illusion, but it was Maskelyne who invented it.^[4] The confusion arises because Robert-Houdin invented the illusion "La Suspension Ethéréene" (aka. the "Broom Suspension").^[5][6] Levitation is also credited to American magician Harry Kellar, who in fact stole the illusion by bribing Maskelyne's technician, Paul Valadon.^[7]

Upon Cooke's death in February 1905, Maskelyne started a partnership with David Devant. Devant had first joined Maskelyne's team in 1893, when he auditioned as a replacement for Charles Morritt, a conjurer and inventor who had worked with Maskelyne at the Egyptian Hall but who left to set up his own show.^[8]

Maskelyne was a member of The Magic Circle and, like Harry Houdini, tried to dispel the notion of supernatural powers. To this end, in 1914, Maskelyne founded the Occult Committee whose remit was to "investigate claims to supernatural power and to expose fraud". In particular, the committee attempted to prove that the Indian Rope Trick has never been performed.^[1]

Family[link]

Maskelyne was the father of one daughter and two sons,^[9] one of whom was Nevil Maskelyne, and the grandfather of Jasper Maskelyne, both noted magicians and in the latter case creator of large-scale ruses, deceptions, and camouflage during the Second World War. Maskelyne claimed to be a descendant of Nevil Maskelyne, the Astronomer Royal, but there is dispute as to whether this was true.^[2][10]

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Maskelyne, Nevil (2008) "The Art, Theory and Practice of Magic - Stage Illusions" (ISBN 978-1934939369)
• Rhodes, Emma-Louise (2007). J.N. Maskelyne and "Theosophy Exposed". Retrieved from http://www.emmalouiserhodes.com/articles/maskelyne-jn.php.

External links[link]

• Works written by or about John Nevil Maskelyne at Wikisource
• SHARPS and FLATS: Secrets of the Cardsharps - The online edition of Maskelyne's famous book Sharps and Flats

Samuel West
Photograph - January 2010, London
Born	Samuel Alexander Joseph West (1966-06-19) 19 June 1966 (age 46) Hammersmith, London, England, United Kingdom[1]
Nationality	English
Occupation	Actor and director
Parents	Timothy West Prunella Scales

Samuel Alexander Joseph West, also known as Sam West (born 19 June 1966) is an English actor and director. He is perhaps best known for his role in the film Howards End and his work on stage (including the award-winning play ENRON).

Early life and education[link]

West is the son of actors Prunella Scales and Timothy West, and the grandson of the late actor Lockwood West. He was educated at Alleyn's School, a co-educational independent school in Dulwich, London, and at Lady Margaret Hall at the University of Oxford, where he studied English Literature.

Career[link]

West works as an actor in a variety of dramatic media including theatre, film, television and radio. He has also made a career as a director on stage and radio.^[2] West has narrated many television documentaries, including the acclaimed series The Nazis: A Warning from History. He often appears as reciter with orchestras (see below) and performed at the Last Night of the Proms in 2002.

Stage[link]

West made his London stage debut in February 1989 at the Orange Tree Theatre, playing Michael in Cocteau's Les Parents Terribles, of which critic John Thaxter wrote: "He invests the role with a warmth and validity that silences sniggers that could so easily greet a lesser performance of this difficult role, and he lets us share the tumbling emotions of a juvenile torn between romantic first love and filial duty." (Richmond & Twickenham Times, 10 February 1989). Since then, West has appeared frequently on stage and spent two seasons with the Royal Shakespeare Company playing the title roles in Richard II and Hamlet, both directed by Steven Pimlott.

In 2002, West made his stage directorial debut with The Lady's Not for Burning at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester. He was appointed artistic director of Sheffield Theatres - succeeding Michael Grandage - in 2005.^[3] During his time as artistic director West revived the controversial The Romans in Britain and also directed As You Like It as part of the RSC's Complete Works Festival. West left Sheffield when the theatre closed for refurbishment in 2007 and made his West End directorial debut with the first major revival of Dealer's Choice following its transferral to the Trafalgar Studios. He also continued his acting career: in 2007 he appeared alongside Toby Stephens and Dervla Kirwan in Betrayal at the Donmar Warehouse, in November 2008 he played Harry in the Donmar revival of T. S. Eliot's The Family Reunion ^[4] and in 2009 he starred as Jeffrey Skilling in ENRON by Lucy Prebble. His 2008 production of Waste at the Almeida Theatre was chosen by The Times as one of its "Productions of the Decade".

Film[link]

In 1991, West played the lower-middle-class clerk Leonard Bast in the Merchant Ivory film adaptation of E. M. Forster's novel Howards End (released 1992) opposite Emma Thompson, Helena Bonham Carter and Anthony Hopkins. For this role, he was nominated for best supporting actor at the 1993 BAFTA Film Awards. Two years later he again appeared with Thompson in the film Carrington. His film career has continued with roles in a number of well known films, such as Zeffirelli's Jane Eyre, Notting Hill, Iris and Van Helsing. In 2004, he appeared in the year's highest rated mini-series on German television, "Die Nibelungen", which was released in the USA in 2006 as Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King.

Television[link]

He is a familiar face on television appearing in many long-running series: Midsomer Murders, Waking the Dead and Poirot as well as one-off dramas. He played Anthony Blunt in Cambridge Spies a BBC production about the four British spies, starring alongside Toby Stephens (Philby), Tom Hollander (Burgess) and Rupert Penry-Jones (Maclean). In 2006 he took the lead role in a BBC production of Random Quest adapted from the short story by John Wyndham and the next year played Ted Heath in Margaret Thatcher - The Long Walk to Finchley, also for the BBC. In 2010 he played Peter Scabius in the televised adaptation of William Boyd's novel Any Human Heart, while in 2011 he starred as Zak Gist in the ITV series Eternal Law.

Radio[link]

West is regularly heard on radio as a reader or reciter and has performed in many radio dramas, including Otherkin by Laura Wade, Len Deighton's Bomber, Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman and The Homecoming as Lenny to Harold Pinter's Max. In 2011 he made his radio directing debut with a production of Money by Edward Bulwer-Lytton on BBC Radio 3.

Personal life[link]

While at university, West was a member of the Socialist Workers Party and later briefly the Socialist Alliance; West has been a left-wing activist for many years; he was a critic of Tony Blair's New Labour government.

As a choral singer, West participated in the May 2006 Choir of London tour to Jerusalem and the West Bank, where he also gave poetry readings as part of the concert programme. In April 2007, he again joined the Choir of London in their tour of Palestine, directing The Magic Flute. West became the patron of Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus in February 2008, having been the narrator for a concert of theirs in February 2002.^[5] He is also a patron of London children's charity Scene & Heard,^[6] Eastside Educational Trust and Mousetrap Theatre projects.

Between 2007 and 2011, he lived with playwright Laura Wade.^[7]

West has appeared alongside his actor parents on several occasions; with his mother Prunella Scales in Howards End and Stiff Upper Lips, and with his father Timothy West on stage in A Number, Henry IV Part I and Part II. In two films - Iris (2001) and the 1996 television film Over Here, Sam and his father have played the same character at different ages. In 2002 all three family members performed in Stravinsky's The Soldiers Tale at the St Magnus Festival on Orkney and in 2006 they gave a rehearsed reading of the Harold Pinter play Family Voices as part of the Sheffield Theatres Pinter season.

He is a trustee of the National Campaign for the Arts and a member of the council of the British Actors' Union, Equity.

Filmography[link]

• Reunion (1989) - Count Konradin von Lohenburg
• Howards End (1991, released 1992) - Leonard Bast
• Archipel (in French) (1993) - Alan Stewart
• A Feast at Midnight (1994) - Chef
• Open Fire (1994) - Steven Waldorf
• Carrington (1995) - Gerald Brenan
• Persuasion (1995) - Mr. Elliot
• Jane Eyre (1996) - St. John Rivers
• Stiff Upper Lips (1998) - Edward
• Rupert's Land (1998) - Rupert McKay
• The Dance of Shiva (1998 short) - Lt. Davis
• Notting Hill (1999) - Anna's Co-Star (as Sam West)
• Runt (1999 short) - Pork
• Bread and Roses (2000) - Samuel West - Party Guest (cameo)
• Complicity (2000) - Neil
• Bring Me Your Love (2000 short) - Doctor Jensen
• Pandaemonium (2000) - Robert Southey
• Iris (2001) - Young Maurice (as Sam West)
• Shrink (2002 short) - George
• 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure (2003) - Pongo (voice)
• Van Helsing (2004) - Dr. Victor Frankenstein
• Schweitzer (2009) - Phil Figgis
• Hyde Park on Hudson (2012) - King George VI

Television[link]

• Edward the Seventh (1974) - Albert Victor 'Eddy' - Aged 8
• Nanny
  • "Goats and Tigers" (1981) - James Lamerton
• Frankie and Johnnie (1985) - Johnnie Mallett
• The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1989) - King Caspian
• Stanley and the Women (1991) - Stephen Duke
• Voices in the Garden (1993) - Mark
• Inspector Alleyn Mysteries
  • "Death in a White Tie" (1993) - Donald Potter
• The Maitlands (1993) - Jack Maitland
• Doctor Who: Dimensions in Time (1993) - Cyrian (as Sam West)
• As Time Goes By
  • "We'll Always Have Paris" (1994) - Terry (as Sam West)
• A Breed of Heroes (1994) - Lt. Charles Thoroughgood
• The Vacillations of Poppy Carew (1995) - Victor
• Zoya (1995) - Nicolai (as Sam West)
• Heavy Weather (1995) - 'Monty' Bodkin
• Strangers
  • "Costumes" (1996) - Simon
• Over Here (1996) - Archie Bunting
• The Ripper (1997) - Prince Albert Victor Edward
• Hornblower
  • "The Frogs and the Lobsters" (1999) - Major Edrington
• The Planets (1999) - Narrator
• Longitude (2000) - Nevil Maskelyne
• Waking the Dead
  • "Life Sentence" (2002) - Thomas Rice
• Cambridge Spies (2003) - Anthony Blunt
• Entertaining Mr. Soane (2003) - Wightwick
• Foyle's War
  • "The French Drop" (2004) - Lt Col James Wintringham
• Curse of the Ring (2004) - King Gunther
• E=mc² (2005) - Humphry Davy (as Sam West)
• The Inspector Lynley Mysteries
  • "Chinese Walls" (2006) - Tony Wainwright
• Random Quest (2006) - Colin Trafford
• Midsomer Murders
  • "The Animal Within" (2007) - Jeremy Thacker
• The Long Walk to Finchley (2008) - Ted Heath
• New Tricks
  • "Fresh Starts" (2009) - David Fleeting
• Desperate Romantics (2009) - Lord Rosterley
• Garrow's Law (2010) - Thomas Erskine
• Any Human Heart (2010) - Peter Scabius
• Agatha Christie's Poirot - Murder on the Orient Express (2010) - Doctor Constantine
• Law & Order: UK (2011) - Lucas Boyd
• Eternal Law (2012) - Zak Gist

He has also narrated nine Timewatch documentary films for the director Jonathan Gili, four seasons of the series The Private Life of a Masterpiece and five BBC documentary series for producer Laurence Rees:

• The Nazis: A Warning from History 1997
• War of the Century: When Hitler Fought Stalin 1999
• Horror in the East 2001
• Auschwitz: The Nazis and the Final Solution 2005
• World War II: Behind Closed Doors 2008

Theatre[link]

Acting[link]

• The Browning Version - directed by Clive Perry, (Birmingham Repertory Theatre)
• Les Parents terribles: Michael (February 1989) - directed by Derek Goldby, (Orange Tree Theatre)
• The Bread-Winner (1989) - directed by Kevin Billington, (Theatre Royal, Windsor and touring)
• A Life in the Theatre (October 1989-February 1990) - directed by Bill Bryden, (Theatre Royal Haymarket, transferred to Strand Theatre)
• Hidden Laughter: Nigel (June 1990) - directed by Simon Gray, (Vaudeville Theatre)
• The Sea: Willy Carson (1991) - directed by Sam Mendes, (Royal National Theatre)
• Cain (1992) - directed by Edward Hall (Minerva Theatre)
• Mr. Cinders A Musical Comedy: Jim Lancaster (December 1992-February 1993) - directed by Martin Connor (King's Head Theatre)
• Arcadia: Valentine (April–November 1993) - directed by Trevor Nunn, (Royal National Theatre)
• The Importance of Being Earnest: Algernon - directed by James Maxwell, (Royal Exchange Theatre)
• Henry IV Part 1 and Part 2: Hal (1996–1997) - directed by Stephen Unwin (English Touring Theatre)
• Journey's End: Captain Stanhope (January–February 1998) - directed by David Evans-Rees (King's Head Theatre)
• Antony and Cleopatra: Octavius Caesar (1998) - directed by Sean Mathias, (Royal National Theatre)
• Richard II: Richard II (2000) - directed by Steven Pimlott, (RSC)
• Hamlet: Hamlet (2001) - directed by Steven Pimlott, (RSC)
• The Master and Margarita: The Master (2004) - directed by Steven Pimlott, (Chichester Festival Theatre)
• Doctor Faustus: Faustus (2004) - directed by Steven Pimlott, Martin Duncan and Edward Kemp, (Minerva Theatre)
• Much Ado About Nothing: Benedick (2005) - directed by Josie Rourke, (Crucible Theatre)
• The Exonerated: Kerry Max Cook (2006) - directed by Bob Balaban, (Riverside Studios)
• A Number: B1/B2/Michael Black (2006) - directed by Jonathan Munby, (Studio Theatre (Sheffield) and Minerva Theatre)
• Betrayal: Robert (2007) - directed by Roger Michell, (Donmar Warehouse)
• Drunk Enough to Say I Love You?: Guy (2008) - directed by James McDonald, (Public Theater, New York)
• The Family Reunion: Harry (2008) - directed by Jeremy Herrin, (Donmar Warehouse)
• ENRON: Jeffrey Skilling (2009) - directed by Rupert Goold, (Minerva Theatre, Royal Court Theatre, Noël Coward Theatre)
• A Number (revival): B1/B2/Michael Black (2010) - directed by Jonathan Munby, (Menier Chocolate Factory)
• Kreutzer vs. Kreutzer: Man (2010) - directed by Sarah Giles (Australian Chamber Orchestra - on tour and at the Sydney Opera House)
• A Number (revival): B1/B2/Michael Black (2011) - directed by Jonathan Munby, (Fugard Theatre, Cape Town)

Directing[link]

• The Lady's Not for Burning (2002), Minerva Theatre
• Les Liaisons Dangereuses (2003), Bristol Old Vic
• Cosi Fan Tutte (2003), English National Opera at Barbican Theatre
• Three Women and a Piano Tuner (2004), Minerva Theatre and Hampstead Theatre (2005)
• Insignificance^{[disambiguation needed ]} (2005), Lyceum Theatre (Sheffield)
• The Romans in Britain (2006), Crucible Theatre
• The Clean House (2006), Studio Theatre (Sheffield)
• As You Like It (2007), Crucible Theatre and Swan Theatre (Stratford)
• Dealer's Choice (2007), Menier Chocolate Factory and Trafalgar Studios
• Waste (2008), Almeida Theatre
• Close the Coalhouse Door (2012), Northern Stage

Audiobooks and reciting[link]

West has recorded over fifty audiobooks, among which are the Shakespeare plays All's Well That Ends Well, Coriolanus, Henry V, The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing and Richard II, the Wind on Fire trilogy by William Nicholson (The Wind Singer, Slaves of the Mastery and Firesong), the Arthur trilogy by Kevin Crossley-Holland (The Seeing Stone, At the Crossing Places and King of the Middle March), four books by Sebastian Faulks (Charlotte Gray, Birdsong, The Girl at the Lion d'Or and Human Traces), four by Michael Ridpath (Trading Reality, Final Venture, Free to Trade, and The Marketmaker), two by George Orwell (Nineteen Eighty-Four and Homage to Catalonia), two by Mary Wesley (An Imaginative Experience and Part of the Furniture), two by Robert Goddard (Closed Circle and In Pale Battalions) and several compilations of poetry (Realms of Gold: Letters and Poems of John Keats, Bright Star, The Collected Works of Shelley, Seven Ages, Great Narrative Poems of the Romantic Age and A Shropshire Lad). Also Faust, Bomber, Doctor Who: The Vengeance of Morbius, Empire of the Sun, Brighton Rock, Fair Stood the Wind for France, Fluke, Great Speeches in History, How Proust Can Change Your Life, Lady Windermere's Fan, Peter Pan, The Alchemist, The Day of the Triffids, The Hairy Hands, The Lives of Christopher Chant, The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous, The Queen's Man, The Solitaire Mystery, The Swimming Pool Library, The Two Destinies, The Velveteen Rabbit, The Way I Found Her, The Way to Dusty Death, The Woodlanders, Under the Net and Wuthering Heights.