Robert was born in London in 1964 and educated in Kent. The son of magician/puppeteer John Styles, Robert was keen to pursue a theatrical profession. He gained his Equity card performing Toy Theatre melodrama at Pollock's Toy Museum, Polka Children's Theatre and the National Theatre, and on leaving school worked backstage at the London Palladium before taking a place at the Arts Educational School to study acting. He continues to work in this field and his experience covers theatre, radio, commercials, film and television.
His theatre credits include: A Month in the Country (Salisbury Playhouse); The Way of the World (Northampton Theatre Royal); The Creeper with Ian Richardson (UK tour & West End); Romeo & Juliet (English Touring Theatre UK & Hong Kong); Party Time (Battersea Arts Centre); King Lear with Timothy West (UK tour & Old Vic); Original Sin (Sheffield Crucible); A Patriot for Me with James Wilby (RSC); Chicago (English Speaking Theatre, Frankfurt); What the Butler Saw (Belgrade Theatre, Coventry & Theatre Royal, York); The Importance of Being Earnest and Lend Me a Tenor (Theatre Royal, York); Wind in the Willows (Birmingham Rep & Theatr Clwyd); Crime of the Century and A Christmas Carol (Birmingham Rep); A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night and The Swaggerer (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre); Breaking the Code, Spider's Web and Consent (Haymarket Theatre, Basingstoke). Robert has also been a regular contributor to the work of the National Theatre Studio.
His TV credits include: The Bill, Harley Street, Eastenders, B.U.G.S., Troublemakers, Crocodile Snap, e=mc2.
His film credits include: Harry Brown, Son of Rambow, Elizabeth - The Golden Age, D'Artagnan & Les Trois Mosquetiers, To Kill a King and Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet.
Robert has lectured at several London drama schools and has directed agent showcases for the Actors Company at the Jermyn Street Theatre and for the Rose Bruford College at the Soho Theatre. His course - The Business of Acting - gives practical advice and information to drama students preparing for graduation into the profession.
Robert is represented by Kate Staddon at Curtis Brown
In 1994, Robert collaborated with the composer Timothy Higgs on a musical adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's novel 'The Loved One' for which he supplied the book and lyrics. Entitled 'Dearly Beloved', the show blends the classic ingredients of a traditional musical with the coffins and cadavers of Waugh's original to create a unique theatrical experience - a quirky black musical comedy that satisfies the most morbid of curiosities.
Ned Sherrin said of the piece: "The dramatization is a triumph! The wit and economy are preserved. The score sets up the jokes and matches the pace and lightness of touch of the original. Is there still room for wit and irony in a musical? If there is, Dearly Beloved has both, and much more."
Robert has twice directed the production in workshop: at the Aldwych Theatre for West End impresario Michael Codron; and at the Bridewell Theatre for artistic director Carol Metcalfe who requested that Dearly Beloved open the Settling New Scores Season in 1997.
In 1998, Dearly Beloved was short listed for the Vivian Ellis Prize - a national competition to discover and promote new writing in British Musical Theatre. At the conclusion of a gala presentation at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, Dearly Beloved was presented the highest award for Most Promising New Musical 1998.
Dearly Beloved has since been performed by graduating students at the Rose Bruford College and the Royal College of Music.
All enquiries: St John Donald, United Agents - 020 7166 5266