About

As a professional actress for over twenty years and a vocational acting teacher for over ten, I have long been fascinated by the process of making theatre. I trained in the American Method at the Ensemble studios in Sydney, Australia and more classically at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London; my background has therefore given me a healthy balance of contemporary and traditional approaches.  Acting has allowed me to analyse and perform such diverse playwrights as Chekhov, Brecht, Churchill, Beckett and Ayckbourn. Teaching has allowed me to re-access these same writers and pass on some of my experiences to a younger generation. I have been privileged to work with great directors and mentors like Annie Castledine and Peter Cheeseman, both of whom were innovative and seminal practitioners of their craft, known for their outstanding analytical and academic textual rigour. 

 In 2005 I completed a Post-Diploma Performance Studies degree from City University, which converted my Guildhall diploma into a degree. This academic course, taken over one year, involved assessment via written essays and formal presentations and I was awarded a First Class BA (Hons) degree. On completion I was invited back to teach on the course and within a couple of years became the course leader. Throughout this time, I was also teaching at ArtsEd on both the Acting and Musical Theatre degree courses as well as at ALRA and Mountview. Alongside teaching, I have also directed both acting and musical theatre students in showcases, projects and productions.

Almost two years ago, after completing six years as Head of Acting on the Musical Theatre BA (Hons) course at Arts Educational Schools London, I moved on in order to continue my own professional development and completed my Masters  degree in Text & Performance at Birkbeck University in 2018. More recently I was head of the Acting for Stage and Screen BA (Hons) at PPA in Guildford. I am currently back in the  vocational teaching and directing work I love, whilst at the same time striving to continue with my Repertory company, Persever Productions, that aims to bring together actors at all stages of their careers, to work and learn from each other in a true apprenticeship-style ensemble.