1st lesson free
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Jo
- Rate £50
- Response 1h
£50/hr
Contact
1st lesson free
- Acting
- Drama School Entrance
- LAMDA Exams Preparation
Work with a long-standing Theatre Arts specialist: acting coach, and theatre director Jo Murphy is a proven expert in her field. She is also a Communication Skills Specialist. Improve your acting, Lam
- Acting
- Drama School Entrance
- LAMDA Exams Preparation
Lesson location
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At Jo's house: North Wootton
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at your home or in a public place : will travel up to 20 km from North Wootton
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About Jo
Now based in the Wells/Glastonbury area, I have, for over 26 years, based in Sussex, been a specialist acting coach, youth theatre director and latterly, Advanced Communication Skills Coach, workshop leader and Lecturer for the NHS as well as Part-time Head of Speech and Lamda at the Sylvia Young Theatre School in London. I am now semi-retired and offering part-time acting classes for the 18 and above age range.
After teaching drama GCSE and AS/A Level and directing theatre for many years, I then combined the posts of Director of Drama and Artistic Director of the Bedales Olivier Theatre, Hampshire for a decade, manning the helm at this unique educational establishment, renowned for its commitment to the arts in general and drama in particular. Many of my talented drama students went on to take up places on a regular basis at Central, Bristol Old Vic, Guildhall and Mountview, indeed, over the years, at a range of drama schools. Equally, some have gone straight into film, theatre and television. (Please see some of their testimonials below).
All productions in our beautiful, multi-configurable Green Oak and Glass Theatre were of the highest professional standard, both in terms of acting, technical and backstage opportunities.
In addition to the above, I have also overseen and facilitated well over 200 A level and GCSE Theatre Studies devised and scripted pieces, and these were frequently filmed to use as exam board exemplars. I also oversaw countless student-directed and work-shopped pieces: we averaged between 30 – 36 small to full-scale productions a year.
I have directed, with unrelenting passion, fascination for psychological and sub-textual detail, and a deep respect for the dedication I have encountered amongst my students over many years, a vast and various body of work. Year on year, each new cast would contribute its own rich ideas to our productions – my work with pupils has always been a collaboration: we would drive forward our ideas in a whirlwind of humour, adamantine attention to detail, and absolute dedication to the work in hand. Disbanding each ensemble was always painful, conversely, it was an absolute delight to work with dedicated individuals and I would like to maintain that link in my acting sessions.
Additionally, my Lamda results at the Sylvia Young Theatre School, where I eventually moved to teach part time as their Head of Speech and Lamda, were 95% distinctions, year on year.
If you are more interested in perfecting your public speaking, voice and/or presentation or interview skills, I am also a specialist in these areas, having worked with trainee and qualified doctors for the NHS for ten years on all aspects of their exams, interview boards and presentations.
I am a genuinely original, deeply insightful acting tutor and interpersonal skills coach and will be delighted to accept any student (within the chosen age-range) who is truly willing to learn and to work with real dedication.
Please do take a look at just some of my Testimonials:
“Joanna Murphy at Bedales School: Wonderfully imaginative and exciting productions.” – Richard E Grant
“Jo always has a certain vision of how she wants a piece of theatre to be, often something that no one else could have thought of, but she conveys her vision perfectly so that it is fully understood and so that something completely brilliant is created on stage.” Brooke Theis – former student
“Jo’s individual style and passion for acting had a massive impact on me and many other students.” Sophie Grierson – former student
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“Jo has a passion which is utterly infectious. One feels completely embraced and engaged by whatever world she chooses to direct us in. If there was ever anything I wanted explained further, she would have no problem acting it out herself. Everyone who has ever been taught by Jo agrees that her teaching methods are always thought-provoking and inspiring.” Ben Dale – former student
“Jo Murphy is by far the best drama teacher that I’ve been taught by and is the most talented director that I’ve encountered. She creates confidence in each of her casts and always takes the final product to an extraordinary standard. She uses great creativity in her ideas and in doing so creates a production that’s amazing to be involved in and even more amazing to watch.” Nick Crane – former student
“ Jo taught me that if I was truly committed to the pursuit of something I wholly believed in, the possibilities would be endless. I will take this lesson with me for the rest of my life, in every one of my performance endeavours. For me, it was a priceless piece of advice, totally reflected by the quality of Jo’s teaching.” Talia Pick – former student
“Jo was always fiercely dedicated to ensuring her projects were of the highest possible standards and an inspiration to those who had the pleasure of working with her whether in the classroom or on stage, both of which she made effortlessly enjoyable. As well as her professionalism, she was very approachable and was therefore respected by the students, who, as a result, were keen to excel in her subject.” Christy Callaway-Gale – former student
“Working with Jo is always a great experience. Regardless of production size, every cast and crew-member is drawn into the journey to performance through Jo’s motivation and creative direction. Despite working with Jo on countless productions I can never second-guess her plans for a project, each one is furnished with unique and creative touches which delight the audience and responsibly challenge the cast. Crucially, Jo uses her extensive experience to keep her productions grounded, however ambitious. As a consequence Jo is able to take on all manner of projects and finely judge the capabilities of venue, script and cast to extract excellence – in all, graduating from her teaching was the end of a great era!” Guy Griffin – former student
“Jo Murphy is certainly one of a kind, both when doing enthusiastic and fun teaching, and her outstanding ability to make each student feel welcome and worthy of her passion of Drama. Her nurturing nature as a tutor has helped me with many aspects of my school life, were it not for Jo’s guidance and support, I don’t know where I would be!” Daisy Cooper – former student
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“Jo’s teaching was always inspiring. Her direction was thorough and extremely helpful.” Georgie Wadstein – former student
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“Jo was a fantastic drama teacher. She has been a brilliant inspiration to me and has taught me to just be myself. Her great use of language amazed me making me want to listen to her throughout our course and our hard work was worth it. Jo is very clear as to what she is doing when it comes to directing, but she is also very open if you have something worth saying”. Imo jeffes – former pupil
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About the lesson
- All Levels
- English
All languages in which the lesson is available :
English
What can I offer students ?
With over 26 years experience teaching GCSE and A/AS theatre studies and directing full-scale performances, I offer you, in one hour sessions, a profound working understanding of theatre in performance, and vast experience of working with the 18-to-adult age range. I have a deep knowledge of the theatre canon, both in terms of playwrights’ and practitioners work and a huge range of approaches, according to the needs of each individual student. This is accompanied by, in directorial terms, a supra-acute eye for what has true veracity onstage or in the Lamda or audition environment (be this for sixth form entry or drama schools).
I work with a combination of great discipline, lively humour and fun, where appropriate! I offer original, psychologically acute and, also as appropriate, poetic detail accompanied by a profound specialist knowledge of how to build your character or improve your presentation skills in a wide variety of contexts.
Burgeoning actors working with me, of whatever age and at whatever level, will enjoy polishing their skills, at the same time always being welcome to initiate ideas with equal passion to my own! Together, we work in a disciplined but very human way towards perfecting their approach.
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Rates
Rate
- £50
Pack prices
- 5h: £250
- 10h: £500
free lessons
The first free lesson with Jo will allow you to get to know each other and clearly specify your needs for your next lessons.
- 1hr
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