Ashley - Acting tutor - London
Ashley - Acting tutor - London

One of our best tutors. Quality profile, experience in their field, verified qualifications and a great response time. Ashley will be happy to arrange your first Acting lesson.

Ashley

One of our best tutors. Quality profile, experience in their field, verified qualifications and a great response time. Ashley will be happy to arrange your first Acting lesson.

  • Rate $61
  • Response 8h
  • Students

    Number of students Ashley has taught since their arrival at Superprof

    50+

    Number of students Ashley has taught since their arrival at Superprof

Ashley - Acting tutor - London
  • 5 (38 reviews)

$61/h

Contact
  • Acting
  • Playwriting

ONLINE and IN-PERSON classes by AWARD-WINNING Director and Acting Coach. I work with students at all levels and have helped them secure professional work, drama school places, scholarships and more!

  • Acting
  • Playwriting

Lesson location

Ambassador

One of our best tutors. Quality profile, experience in their field, verified qualifications and a great response time. Ashley will be happy to arrange your first Acting lesson.

About Ashley

Since completing my training on the prestigious Birkbeck Directors course in 2012 I have worked consistently as both a theatre maker and teacher. After winning the Director’s Guild Award I became an associate director at the Lyric Hammersmith, a staff director at the National Theatre and a resident director in the West End. Outside of the UK I have worked as a writer, director and teacher in Germany, Greece and Spain. My teaching experience is extensive: As well as facilitating classes for the theatres named above I also continue to work as an acting teacher and director for The National Youth Theatre, StageBox and City Academy. I have worked at other stage schools including Estrellas del Teatro in Spain where I ensured that native and non-native English speakers passed their LAMDA exams with distinction as well as helping students get into a range of UK drama schools. In addition to coaching students practically for the profession I enjoy working as the adjunct theatre lecturer for Lawrence University, USA (London Campus). This role ensures an ongoing engagement with theatre in a rigorously academic setting and speaks to my ability to teach theatre as practically or theoretically as desired.

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About the lesson

  • All Levels
  • English

All languages in which the lesson is available :

English

I am currently working with students on the following: Drama School Auditions Auditions for professional work. Trinity Acting Exams Showreel Scenes: Writing and Rehearsing. Playwriting Communication skills in corporate environment. Achievements: I am very happy to say that THIRTEEN of my 1-2-1 students successfully gained drama school places this year and began their courses this September (2023) In the 2022/23 audition cycle students were offered places at: Mountview (6 Students); All In (5 Students); ArtsEd (2 students); East 15 (2 students); LSDA (2 students) Drama Studio (1 Student); Italia Conti (1 student); Oxford School of Drama (1 student); Tring (1 student) In the previous two years I helped students successfully win places at ArtsEd, London (4 students); Mountview, London (2 students); IDSA, London (4 students); The Lir Academy, Dublin (1 student),Drama Studio, London (1 student) and Tring Park School for the Performing Arts (1 student) (These students have also been offered places at other schools such as Guildford School of Acting and The Oxford School of Drama) In March 2020 I began working with one student with little acting experience but a real desire to work in the industry. I suggested we create some clear goals such as auditioning for Drama School. By the end of 2021 they have gained a place at Mountview, found an agent and successfully landed their first named speaking role in a major Netflix series. They have since been cast in two more TV projects and performed in an international theatre tour. Two of my junior students passed their Grade Four Solo Acting exams with 'Distinction' last summer and went on to pass their Grade Four Duo exams with Distinction in May. I have three students taking their first exams this month. Aged 10-13 they are all starting at Grade Four. I worked with one student on their Drama Scholarship Auditions for four private secondary schools. As a result of our work together they have now been offered a drama scholarship at all four schools, with one school offering a double scholarship in both Acting and in Musical Theatre. My approach is eclectic and informed by a lifetime of training and work in the UK and beyond. Whilst the techniques and methodologies I engage with are diverse I do essentially believe the best work is done when there is a commitment to bravery, kindness and generosity. It is my job to model these behaviours in the class and encourage them in the learners so that they might develop quickly and confidently. My feedback consistently speaks to my ability to create a safe, inclusive learning environment which responds to the needs of the learners and allows them to master their inherent creativity. There has always been a synergetic relationship between my work as a writer-director and my work as a teacher. Whilst I am constantly learning new things about my craft in professional rehearsal rooms I never fully trust those lessons until I am able to articulate them to my students. This is when the almost magical must be made robustly practical. When my theories face unexpected questions, when students take ownership of my exercises in their own unique way, that is when my own craft truly evolves. Helping a student unlock their potential helps me unlock my own. Pushing them pushes me. Teaching is a vital force in my creative life and one which I take very seriously and enjoy very thoroughly.

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Rates

Rate

  • $61

Pack rates

  • 5h: $305
  • 10h: $542

online

  • $61/h

Find out more about Ashley

Find out more about Ashley

  • When did you start practicing? How did this passion find you?

    I was probably about ten when my mum shoved me through the door of the local drama club telling me keep out of trouble and learn to 'speak nice'. I'm not sure I successfully acquiesced to either of those demands but I had a brilliant time creating stories and characters and lots of noise. I studied theatre at university and was very lucky to find professional opportunities very early on: A decade after being unceremoniously dumped at that drama club as a kid, I was a staff director at the National Theatre.
  • Which artists or works affect you the most?

    Wow so many.



    Ok so...



    As a writer-director I geek out most about the work of other writers and directors: Caryl Churchill, Sebastian Nubling, Jasmine Lee-Jones, OIa Ince, Alice Birch, Ned Bennet, Michaela Coel, Sean Holmes, Edward Bond, Alistair McDowall, Arinze Kene, Josh Azouz, Martin McDonagh are just some of the names that come spilling out of my head as I write. As an acting coach I am always hungry to see the latest work from Rory Kinnear, Pheobe Walle-Bridge, Dev Patel, Lucian Msamati , Daniel Day-Lewis, Michaela Coel (again!) Paapa Essiedu, Mark Rylance, Harriet Walter, Sally Hawkins, Olivia Coleman, Tom Hardy and Indira Varma (again just some of the first few names that come to mind!)
  • What are the qualities and skill required to succeed in this area?

    Passion and self care are paramount.
  • What is the most valuable advice you can give to help someone stay focused on creative projects?

    Sleep properly. Go steady on sugar and caffeine. Understand why you're doing what you're doing. If it doesn't feel essential and satisfying then don't waste time on it. Set clear achievable goals and create a detailed plan from which you can inevitably deviate. But most of all, sleep properly.
  • How would you describe your passion; how does it make you feel?

    It makes 90% of life incredibly simple and gives me the bravery to confront the ineffable 10% (and "see if we may not eff it after all" as the great man said)
  • What creative achievements are you particularly proud of?

    Oh great. Memory Lane. Love this.



    Ok so I'll do like top 5?



    The very first thing I wrote and directed at university: An adaption of Dracula with a cast of 50. Lots of ballet and blood and screaming audiences.



    Everything I've done with Edward Bond, including being his assistant director on the chair plays.



    All the work I've done with kids from underprivileged backgrounds.



    My time as resident director on The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Night Time (National Theatre and West End)



    My time back packing around rehearsal rooms across Europe and writing about it for Exeunt Magazine.



    Writing and directing my first Edinburgh Fringe production: Jamie Blake with a beatbox orchestra and a cast of actors that have gone on to do incredible things.



    Winning best director at NSDF2010



    (Ok I snuck a couple extra in there so I'll stop now before I get all dewy eyed)
  • Have you ever been surprised by a student; by their ability or quick progression?

    I am constantly surprised by students. Their sudden leaps forward; the unique perspectives they have; the ideas they wrestle with and the ideas they take in their stride.



    As for progression: When I first started on Superprof I had quite a few students who just wanted to try acting a little during lockdown and now they're in drama schools or working on professional projects etc . When that first started happening I was a little surprised but now I realise that anyone who approaches a private tutor already has the right attitude, that desire to improve and feed their passion, armed with that, achievement becomes inevitable.
  • Being a Superprof is an art! What is your secret?

    I genuinely love it. Most of my teaching is through Superprof now and teaching is vital aspect of my life. When in balance with my creative work it's gives me an essential opportunity to articulate what would otherwise remain semi-conscious and unexamined experiences from the rehearsal room. It allows me to share my passion with those that are hungry for it and it's always satisfying to show off the brilliant achievements of your students.
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