In her extensive work with dyslexic and neurodiverse actors, mentor and coach Deborah Groves has helped performers at all levels discover how they learn and work best, and identify strategies to help them achieve their goals. Here, in an extract from her book The Dyslexic Actor's Toolkit, Deborah shares her top tips for sight-reading in … Continue reading Top tips on sight-reading for dyslexic actors
Acting
Seven top tips for choosing your drama school audition speeches
If you're thinking of applying to drama school, then selecting your audition speeches is a key part of the process. But with so many options to choose from, where do you start? And how do you make sure you're picking speeches that will maximise your chances of success? Here, John Abbott – a former teacher … Continue reading Seven top tips for choosing your drama school audition speeches
Seven steps performers can use to combat stress (and how it can sometimes be useful)
Pursuing a career in the arts brings unique pressures and demands – and in order to navigate them, it's important that performers and creatives develop techniques to maintain good emotional wellbeing. In this extract from their new book Developing Your Emotional Health: The Compact Guide, authors and mind coaches Andy Barker, Brian Cooley and Beth … Continue reading Seven steps performers can use to combat stress (and how it can sometimes be useful)
‘Acting is an essential part of being human’: Declan Donnellan on how to bring performances to life
Internationally acclaimed theatre director Declan Donnellan co-founded Cheek by Jowl with designer Nick Ormerod. A focus on the actor's art has always been central to the company's work. Encapsulating this bold way of thinking about performance, his new book The Actor and the Space tackles the fundamental questions that face any actor, developing and extending … Continue reading ‘Acting is an essential part of being human’: Declan Donnellan on how to bring performances to life
The primacy of the actor: renowned theatre director Mike Alfreds on the nature of theatre and what actors do
Mike Alfreds founded Shared Experience theatre company in 1975, and has since directed plays for the National Theatre, Shakespeare's Globe, the Royal Shakespeare Company and also extensively abroad. He is hugely respected within the profession, and his books Different Every Night and Then What Happens? are essential reading for actors and directors. His new book, … Continue reading The primacy of the actor: renowned theatre director Mike Alfreds on the nature of theatre and what actors do