My Background
Thank you for taking the time to explore this website fully and taking a look at my background. I trust that this page will answer many of the questions you may have about how and why I have chosen to do what I do and further, what qualities I have that make those services unique.
As a chorister at St. John’s College, Cambridge, I spent four years under the tutelage of the legendary Dr George Guest, followed latterly by Dr Christopher Robinson.
It was a immense privilege to be a choral scholar and I owe many of my professional ethics and practical grounding in technique to the years I spent there.
During those formative years at St. John’s we toured all over the world. I was able to sing in the most prestigious of venues, from the Sydney Opera House to cathedrals and theatres from Hong Kong to New York.
We recorded albums, appeared on live television and live radio. As such, the process of preparation, attention to detail and performing at the highest level became habitual.
Subsequently I went on to secondary education at Oakham School, Rutland. The facilities at the school were excellent and as an institution Oakham values the arts very highly. I was able to perform regularly in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. This afforded me the opportunity of learning a new form of stage discipline, that of theatre.
Circumstances changed and I left Oakham at 16, moving back to Cambridge to embark on a career in the arts. I was alone and as such, I need to work full time in order to live and fund my education. I studied an A-Level a year until I was 21, as I was desperate to ensure that I had enough about me by way of life experience and academic achievement to be considered for a place at Drama School. Those years were a time of great transition for me, but in hindsight, the determination to succeed which had been driven into me during my formative years had served me well and I gained A-Levels in English Literature, Theatre, Social Science and History, whilst working in hospitality.
My formal theatrical education took place at Ridgeway Studios in Hertfordshire. It was short commute from Cambridge and meant that I could work in the evenings when I returned, allowing me to pay the fees. Ridgeway tailored their acting course brilliantly and I was surrounded by incredible people from the world of theatre and television. Lynn Sawyer, the principle, had hand-picked tutors from institutions such as The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), Italia Conti, The British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat (BASSC), The Academy for The Science of Acting, as well as employing dance and physical education specialists. It was a comprehensive education in the craft of acting.
It was my ambition to act professionally and in addition, pass on the knowledge I had gained during my time at Ridgeway Studios. I knew that in order for this ambition to be realised, I must also continue to maintain industry links, so that the individuals I coached would be gaining relevant and contemporary skills. I have subsequently worked for many different drama providers and each has continued to inform and add value to my skills. Thus far, I have taught drama for stage schools and providers including Ridgeway Studios, Stagecoach, Bigfoot, The Sage Academy of Performing Arts, Soundstage, The Little Shakespeare Theatre School, East Lothian Youth Theatre and Brunton Youth Theatre.
In recent years I have trained and qualified as a teacher in the lifelong learning sector and I am currently looking to up-skill further by studying with the Open University. My work as a drama practitioner means that in the space of any 12 month period I work as an actor, director, writer, improviser, facilitator, teacher, consultant and private coach.