characters stage school
Bradford On Avon
Characters was set up in November 2010 by Moira Townsend Williams to provide
opportunities for children and young people to obtain a performance arts
training with a creative ethos. Moira is a producer and writer living in
Bradford on Avon, who has also been a professional actor, (trained at Guildford
School of Acting) as well as a casting director and theatrical agent. Besides
producing shows for Characters, she has produced 15 live shows of her own show
The Casting Couch in London’s West End and a TV pilot for Channel 4, and various
other film and theatre projects including the launch for Salisbury based Women’s
Theatre JUNO. Characters employs teachers and directors who are also working in
the industry so that the experience your child receives is always relevant and
up-to-date. Current members of the team include Maria Finlay, who has many
London acting credits, who teaches and directs our Saturday Stage School at The
Arc as well as Little Characters, and Trinity Exam groups, Emma Tierney who
teaches/directs our Bath Characters classes, and Megan Ashton who runs our
Little Characters group. Past teachers and directors have included Leanne
Copley, choreographer and performance arts teacher from St Brendan’s Sixth Form
College who headed up the recent partnership with St Brendan's Performance Arts
Academy, as well as Tillie Bolton who now runs her own Theatre School TSPA in
Bristol. Our Stage Company, which devises new plays for performance, was in 2017
led by award-winning Bristol director Dave Lovatt and Musical Director Helen
Temmink. Past workshops have been led by many well known industry professionals
including Penelope Wildgoose, a Stroud based award-winning actor/director, David
Bond, head of performance at Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Sophie
Jacobs-Wyburn, who now runs The egg youth theatre in Bath,David Lane, a leading
Bristol based director and dramaturge, and Tom Wainwright, who was recently
writer in residence at Bristol Old Vic. The vision of Characters is to provide a
training that as closely as possible emulates a drama school training, adapted
for the various age groups. This not only gives participants a solid foundation
in techniques and skills, should they wish to pursue a career in performance
arts later on in life, but also develops team building, confidence and
self-esteem which are all key to a child’s personal development and happiness –
whatever they do in life. Because we are not a franchise, we can keep our fees
affordable, and we will always work with parents to swop skills for fees so that
our classes are accessible to all.
