Staff and Tutors
ACTING
ADAM MEGGIDO
Adam Meggido studied drama at Birmingham University and trained as an actor
at Webber Douglas - although he cites his years with Claude Chagrin (formerly
of LeCoq) at the French Institute as the most important part of his training.
From 1995-1999 he was a director of Counterpoint Theatre, an innovative
company which merged business with the arts. Adam is the Artistic Director
of The Sticking Place, a company committed to the development and production
of new writing and improvisation. His Sticking Place director credits include:
The Lie, Dark Meaning Mouse, Reanimator, The Premature Burial, The Disappearance
and two of his own plays - Stress and Best Men - for the Guerrilla Theatre
Experiment. He is also the writer/director of Chaos of Delight (Soho Theatre)
and Teenager In Love for the National Youth Theatre's 50th anniversary celebrations.
Adam is Head of Foundation at the London Academy of Music And Dramatic Art.
'Meggido takes time with his actors to make sense of the words and they
deliver them with clarity and a genuine feel for storytelling.' (Time Out)
CAROLINE DEVLIN
Caroline Devlin graduated from The Drama Centre London in 1995 and has enjoyed working at such theatres as The Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh, where she was a regular member of the company for various seasons playing many parts, including Masha in Chekhov’s Three Sisters, Hero in Much Ado About Nothing, Lady Macduff in Macbeth, Arte O'Neill in Boucicault's The Shaughraun, and Wendy in Barrie’s Peter Pan. She has also played Marina in Pericles (Greenbelt Theatre Company), Michaela in Carmen, Gwen in Merlin (Citizen’s Theatre Company-Glasgow), Miranda/Ariel in The Tempest and Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream (both Actors From The London Stage). Caroline's television and radio projects include Casualty and The History Man, Ruth Rendell's Lake of Darkness and played alongside Albert Finney in My Uncle Silas. Caroline's more recent theatre projects include Spring Awakening (Union Theatre), Open Ground (Theatro Technis), Roots (Royal Exchange, Manchester) and Creation Theatre Company's productions of Oxford Passion, Measure for Measure, Much Ado About Nothing and Othello. Caroline spent the later part of 2009 touring the U.S. with Actors From The London Stage with in a production of King Lear. When not working as an actress, Caroline directs professionally on a wide range of projects, most recently for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Sydenham Arts Festival. Caroline also teaches at many leading London drama schools where she specializes in text analysis, the Stanislavski and Method approaches, and classical text. Caroline is a professional singer working on an acoustic album of ambient Celtic music with Matt Eaton and will later in the year direct in London the rarely-performed Debussy Opera Pelleas et Mellesande.
HOLLY DE JONG
Holly is most famously known as Newt's Mother in Aliens and Lady Farrow
in Blackadder. Her acting experience is extensive starring in the National
Theatre and throughout the West End.˜ Holly's television and film work has
included: The Duchess of Duke Street, Lyttonçs Diary, Van der Valk, Poirot,
The Detectives, The Assassination Run, The Chief, Doctors, Daniel, Deronda,
Electric Dreams, The Hiding Place and Soaked. Most recently Holly has been
involved in a couple of short horror films,one of which has just won a best
foreign film award at the Fire Island film festival in New York. She has
recently appeared on Casualty and has a semi-regular character on Eastenders.
CHARLOTTE CONQUEST
Charlotte has been working as a freelance director, movement director, and choreographer since graduating from Middlesex University in 1994 with a first class honours degree in Performing Arts. As a freelance director she has worked within a variety of theatres and theatre companies including The Northcott Theatre, Exeter, Salisbury Playhouse, Creation Theatre Company and Shakespeare's Globe. Permanent positions include staff director for Trevor Nunn at The Royal National Theatre, Assistant Director for Michael Attenborough at the Royal Shakespeare Company and Staff Director for Terry Johnson for The Royal National Theatre’s tour of The London Cuckolds (starring Caroline Quentin). She also re-directed and toured Mike Leigh's Abigail's Party for Hampstead Theatre/Bath Theatre Royal touring throughout the UK. She has trained as a television director and worked for the BBC, directing various episodes of Doctors. As a choreographer she has worked with a variety of directors including Tim Carroll, Dominic Dromgoole and John Durnin choreographing on a variety of different productions ranging from large scale Opera productions to working and developing new writing for performance.
JUDY BROWNE
Originally from Leeds, Judy came to London to train at the Guildhall. Her theatre credits include 'The Rivals' with the Women's Playhouse Trust, 'Extremities' at Derby Playhouse, ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ at Stoke New Vic Theatre, 'Hyacinth Blue' with Clean Break and 'Local Boy' at Hampstead Theatre. Judy’s television work includes 'Band of Gold', 'The Bill', 'A Touch of Frost', ‘MaCallum’, ‘The Alchemist’, ‘Underworld’, CBBC’s 'Kerching' and most recently she can be seen playing Marie Decosta in EastEnders.
Judy also works with the National Youth Theatre including the Shakespeare for Schools induction.
Judy was nominated for a comedy award from the Screen Nation.
SAMANTHA ROBINSON
Samantha trained at Rose Bruford College where she won the Laurence Olivier Bursary award. She played Miranda in the Royal Exchange Theatres production of The Tempest alongside Pete Postlethwaite. Additional theatre credits include: Dead Heavy Fantastic (Liverpool Everyman), Hansel and Gretel (Corby Core), Proper Clever (Liverpool Playhouse), Three Sisters On Hope Street (Hampstead Theatre) The House Of Bernada Alba, (Nuffield Theatre) The Laramie Project (Sound Theatre, Leicester Square); The Lemon Princess (West Yorkshire Playhouse); The Owl Service (Plymouth Theatre Royal); Untouchable (The Bush Theatre) and Song of the Western Man (Chichester Festival Theatre). Her Television credits include: PC Natalie Cryer in Five Days (BBC), Laura in The Girls Who Came to Stay (Granada); Anna in Shameless (Channel Four); June Mahy in Island at War (Granada), Lucy in Final Demand (BBC) and roles in Casualty, Holby Ciry and Doctors. Film includes: Sixty Six (Working Title) and Debbie in Jamaica Me Crazy (VBM Productions LTD). Sam has just finished playing the role of Ines in Calderon’s The Phoenix of Madrid at the Theatre Royal Bath.
RICHARD NEALE
Richard trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. His theatre credits include Dromio of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors, Bagot in Richard II (Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory), Travelling Light (New Vic Basement), Privates on Parade (New Vic, Stoke), Cinderella (Swan, High Wycombe), various national and international tours for Natural Theatre Company, Claudio in Measure for Measure, Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (both for Creation Theatre Co), Puckoon (Big Telly Theatre Company), Cassio in Othello (Creation Theatre Co), Edmund/Edgar in King Lear (Actors from the London Stage) and Kurt Tucholsky - His Life and Songs (Soho Theatre). TV & Film work includes Just Desserts (HTV) and Holby City (BBC TV), Living in Hope (We Three Films).
His Radio credits are Memoirs of a Twelfth Man and She Stoops to Conquer (both BBC Radio). Richard is currently playing Caliban in the Tempest with Actors from a London Stage.
GEORGINA SOWERBY
Georgina graduated from the Drama Centre London in 1994. As an actress, she has worked for The National, NT Studio, The Royal Court, The Almeida, Tron/Glasgow, The Wrestling School, The Unicorn Theatre for children. She's was a member of Di Trevis's Workshop and has recently acted at Soho Theatre. Georgina is founder and co-director of the company DIRTY MARKET with Jon Lee. Georgina co-founded Moving Arts Initiatives, devising mixed media events for children and their families in Peckham. She assisted Gay Sweatshop Artistic Co-Director James Neale-Kennerley in his work at Drama Centre London from 1996-99. As well as her work at LSDA she teaches acting and directs at a number of London acting schools
FRANCEEN BRODKIN
Franceen Brodkin trained at East 15, and extensively in the Meisner Technique in New York City. She also has a BA in English/Drama from McGill University and an MA in Dramatherapy from Concordia University.
She has worked internationally as an actor and director for over 20 years. Acting roles have included leads in Pygmalion, Miss Julie, A Doll's House, Taming of the Shrew, Mourning becomes Electra, Ivanov and the Glass Menagerie, among others. As a teacher / director she has worked at many leading drama schools including the Oxford School of Drama, Central School of Speech and Drama, East 15, Drama Centre, London, the National Theatre School of Canada and the Canadian Film Centre. She also co-founded her own theatre company, Bardkin Productions, where she wrote, directed and produced new work on both sides of the Atlantic.
STEVE WATTS
Steve is an actor, musician, singer and teacher. He has a Bachelor of Education (Hons.) and taught full-time for five years before training for the stage; he now combines teaching with a busy performance career. Steve passes on old-school, no- nonsense technique. Through repetition of straight-forward physical exercises, the student develops a set of skills and a thorough grasp of his/her craft, ensuring that nothing is left to chance in performance and allowing the unique creativity of the individual to take flight, whilst always respecting and putting over the writer's intention.
BRIGID ZENGENI
Brigid trained at London's Drama Centre and spent several years with Cambridge Experimental Theatre. Theatre credits include: Volpone and The Duchess of Malfi (Greenwich Theatre), The Hypochondriac (Liverpool Everyman / ETT), A Christmas Carol (Rose Theatre), Macbeth (AFLS, US Tour), Wide Sargasso Sea (Citizens Theatre Glasgow), Dr Faustus (Bristol Old Vic), Dembosch & Three Sisters (Birmingham Repertory Theatre), Two Gentleman of Verona (RSC), Julius Caesar (RSC), Oliver Twist (The Lyric Theatre), The Wedding (Southwark Playhouse), The Soul of Chi’en- un (Young Vic), The Winter Tale (Royal National Theatre), Bedroom Farce (English Theatre Frankfurt), Twelfth Night (RNT), Madame De Sade (Riverside Studio), The Taming of the Shrew (Southern Shakespeare Festival), The Legend of Pericles (Greenbelt Theatre), The Mikado & The Pirates of Penzance (New Victoria Theatre), Passion Play (Greenbelt Productions). Television includes: Identity (ITV), New Tricks (Wall to Wall), Holby City, Beck, Casualty & Silent Witness (BBC), Inside Out (Tiger Aspects), The Bill (Thames Television), William and Mary, Holding the Baby and In Defence (Granada), The Cry (Sally Head Productions), A Touch of Frost (Yorkshire Television), The Greatest Store on Earth (Film and General) and Wycliffe (HTV). Film includes: The Hardest Part. Brigid regularly reads for BBC Radio 4’s Poetry Please. She is currently rehearsing for Giants Theatre Company’s production of Pandora which opens soon at the Arcola Theatre.
STEPHEN BILLINGTON - Acting for Camera
Stephen is a professional actor with a wide breadth of experience playing leading roles in feature films, television dramas and on stage. Best known for playing Lysander Hawkley in ITVs The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous and Greg Kelly in Coronation Street (for which he won a British Soap Award), he continues to work in independent movies and in theatre, enjoying classical roles as well as those in challenging new writing. Stephen has been teaching acting and screen acting to students and professionals for over seven years and has taught at The Method Studio, The Actor's Centre and Drama Centre London.
Stephen trained at the Drama Centre London.
ALICYA EYO - Acting for Camera
Alicya studied at the Court Theatre Training Company and has been working professionally for 14 years. Television credits include Casualty, Band of Gold, Doctors, The Bill, Holby City, Spooks, Hetty Wainthrop Investigates, Paradox and Bad Girls, in which she spent 5 years as a regular. Film credits include The Low Down, Tube Tales and Stalin My Neighbour. Alicya has also performed at various theatres including the Royal Court and the Theatre Royal, Nottingham. She also performed in the critically acclaimed play 'Any Which Way'.
HELEN BANG - Life Coach
After performing English theatre in Copenhagen for 8 years Helen moved to London to train at Drama Studio. She co-founded Yardbird Shuffle Productions there and played Patricia in Brimstone and Treacle and Carol in Oleanna at Krudttoennen. She also performed for several seasons with The Project Makers playing Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Rosaline in Love’s Labour’s Lost co directed by Annetta Laufer. Other credits include Livia, Women Beware Women dir: Matthew Wilde and Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Bedlam Theatre where she also worked with Jamie Reid in The Dead Monkey. In 2010 Helen worked with Edward Bond on the world premiere of his modern bloody classic There will be more where she played (Me) Dea directed by Adam Spreadbury Maher. Other recent credits include Countess Gouvarinha in The Maias for Galleon Productions and Candida in Candida for CandyKing Productions. Helen Trained as a Life Coach with The Coaching Academy in 2009-11 and greatly enjoys empowering her students to make the best of their lives. She teaches them problem solving skills and helps them set powerful challenging personal and career goals with focus on taking full responsibility for their development and future success..