Profile
I am an actor trainer and coach who specialises in Screen performance.
I trained at Dartington College of Arts where I did a BA in Theatre. I took my MA in Performing Arts at Middlesex University and my Certificate of Education with the City Lit and Nottingham University. I am a certificated Qigong practitioner having studied at the Elemental School of Qigong in London.
My first teaching experience was in higher education where I ran a range of classes in acting, directing, teaching skills and devising. As a director and trainer I collaborated with The Gate Theatre, The Royal Court, Lyric Hammersmith and the Riverside Theatre. During this period I became the Head of Performing Arts at Kensington and Chelsea College where I developed a department with over 500 students in Drama, Dance or Music. In 2002. I was appointed the Director of Studies at Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art where I managed one, two and three-year Acting courses.
Between 2004 and 2010 I worked as a specialist advisor and inspector for the British Accreditation Council and Ofsted in Film and Drama schools. I have also been an External Examiner on BA and MA courses at universities and for conservatoire drama schools.
I joined the staff team at Central in 2005 and co-wrote the Actor Training and Coaching MA/MFA and Acting for Screen MA courses, serving as leader for both courses until 2012. Between 2009 and 2013 I was the programme area leader for Performance postgraduate courses and contributed to the development of other Masters programmes.
As a part of the Acting for Screen MA, I have produced over eighty short films, many of which have gone on to be screened at international film festivals. These include: Noose winner of Best Actress, Liverpool Film Festival 2019; Labrat winner of Best Cinematography, Roswell Sci Fi Film Festival 2020; Letter to April Best Script, Monaco Film Festival 2018; Birth Cloud Best Supporting Actress Monaco Film Festival 2017; Dawn of the Deaf screened at BFI London Film Festival and Sundance Festivals 2017; Healey’s House Winner Best Short Film, Raindance Film Festival 2016.
I have spoken at several conferences including TAPRA, ELIA, How to Act, and have led workshops at national and international film festivals. I have been a judge at Film Festivals including the London Independent Film Festival and Spanish London Film Festival. I regularly review book proposals for Methuen and Routledge.
Areas of Expertise
Acting
Screen Acting
Michael Chekhov’s Technique
Qigong
Producing
Key Publications
Forthcoming: 2022 The Craft of Screen Acting. (Methuen, Bloomsbury)
2018. ‘Dartington: a reflection on the training’, Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, 9:3, 369-372
2017. ‘Preparing the Body for Work: Working for Coherence’ Singing Dragon
2016. ‘Women on Screen: Gender equality in film and TV’, Arts Professional,
2016. The Energetic Performer: An Integrated Approach to Acting for Stage and Screen. (Singing Dragon, London). ISBN 9781848190979
2013. ‘Working with the Tangible: Radiation, A Twenty-First Century Interpretation’ Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, 4.2, 176-188. ISSN 1944-3919
External Practice
As an acting coach I have prepared actors for theatre, film and television projects. This has included: Your Christmas or Mine (2021), Flux Gourmet (2021), Motherland (Three series, 2020- 21), Vesper Seeds (2021), Curser (2021), Evolution of Nate Gibson (2021), Sex Education (2019 - 2021), Aladdin (2019), The Visitor (2017), Colette (2017), Genius (2017), Journey’s End (2017), Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016), The Night Of (2016), Dusky Paradise (2015), X + Y (2014), 10,000 Saints (2014), Ender’s Game (2013), Hugo (2012), Shakespeare Must Die (2010).
I have led workshops in Screen Acting internationally for several years, including at: Sofia Film Festival (British Council), Cairo Film Festival, React Production Company, Bangkok, Catholic University Santiago, Chile, Central University Bogota, New York University.
I regularly work as a consultant in business and have been an associate trainer for APOD (Alchemy Personal and Organisational Development) since 2013. Clients have included BT, The Big Lottery, Inner London Probation Service, The Daily Mail and the Police.
Register of Interest
Trusteeship at Bold and Saucy. Company Director: Sarah Davey-Hull
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