Artists in Depth

My guest today is AWFC member Simon Ward www.simonward.info Simon is a psychologist, musician, actor and educator based in Sydney, Australia.  He trained at the Royal Academy of Music in the UK in musical theatre & voice, and with the Actors Centre Australia. He is an accredited Estill Master Trainer with Estill Voice International. Simon has performed in and directed musicals in London’s West...

My guest today is AWFC member Andrea Rankin (she/her) https://www.andrearankin.ca/ Andrea is an artist, educator, facilitator, and coach whose work bridges the performing arts, trauma-informed pedagogy, and relational learning. As an actor, singer, and songwriter, Andrea has performed leading roles across Canada, including four seasons at the Stratford Festival in both new works and classical prod...

My Guest today is AWFC member Corey Tazmania https://coreytazmania.weebly.com/ Corey is a New York based artist whose work intersects movement, performance, pedagogy, and artist Rx strategies.  As an educator, Corey has taught intimacy, text, movement, and clown at various Universities throughout the Greater Toronto Area, and the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. As an actor, she has worked off-b...

Our guest today is Graham D’Souza. https://www.linkedin.com/in/graham-d-souza-958739145/ With a lifetime devoted to the study and performance of the human voice, Graham has over 14 years of professional experience in Voice, Speech, and Literature Studies. Born and bred in Mumbai, India, Graham’s vocation began with a stammer in childhood. Eventually gaining fluency along the way, he went on to wor...

Our Guest today is AWFC member Lucy Skilbeck https://beingwithhorses.co.uk/ Lucy is the Collaborative Projects Lead at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (formerly she was Director of Actor Training for 10 years), she is also a theatre director, coach and equine-facilitated psychotherapist. With over 30 years experience as a director and acting teacher and coach, working in the UK, US, Australia a...

Our Guest today is AWFC member, Tom Stroud https://emotionalfluencyproject.com/home Tom is an award-winning  choreographer with over 40 years of experience in the field. He has performed and toured with companies across Canada and his works have been commissioned and presented by companies, festivals, and presenters coast to coast. For 14 years he was Artistic Director of Winnipeg’s Contemporary D...

Our Guest today is AWFC member Joseph Ari'el Towne https://www.theperformersmindset.com/home Joseph is an actor, writer, performance coach, and educator with over 30 years of on-camera experience. Known for his dynamic enthusiasm and ability to get to the heart of performance, he has coached actors, on-camera talent, athletes and C suite executives. As the CEO and Co-Founder of The Performer’s...

Our guest today is AWFC member Nikki Disney https://www.nikkidisney.com/ Nikki is a drama therapist and artist wellbeing practitioner.  She has implemented and delivered safeguarding and wellbeing procedures, has lead on access and wellbeing for festivals and worked with artists on boundaries, trauma informed approaches and wellbeing.  Nikki has worked with organisations such as Derby Theatre, Not...

Our Guest today is AWFC member Chiara Carlotta Leonetti https://www.chiaracarlottaleonetti.it/ Chiara worked as a dancer in various theatrical and television productions and served as assistant choreographer for two major Italian musicals. As an actress, she has performed both on stage and in film. In parallel, she earned a degree in Clinical Psychology and is an EMDR therapist and focuses primari...

Our Guest today is AWFC member Alix Sideris https://www.alixsideris.com/ Alix is a multi-hyphenated artist; a professional actor, movement director, certified intimacy coordinator, writer, director, as well as a somatics practitioner, educator, meditation leader, intuitive body/spirit worker, and even closer to her heart, mother, partner, friend, and proud mentor to many emerging artists.  Alix is...

My guest today is Theresa Tova linkedin.com/in/theresa-tova-33139a20 https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0869797/ Theresa or as her friends know her, Tova, is an award-winning Canadian actress, singer, and playwright. With several nominations to boot. Including a  Gemini Award  nomination for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for her role as Marge Atherton in TV series E.N.G., a Canadian Screen Award...

Our Guest today is Tyee Tilghman & Shaina Fawn  Co-founders of Wellbeing in Entertainment and Creative Arts (WECA) https://www.wellbeinginentertainment.org/ WECA is a non-profit based in Los Angeles whose mission is to bring wellbeing standards to the entertainment industry in the USA. WECA is guided by trauma-informed principles, by which the health, safety, and wellbeing of artists and enter...

Our guest today is Vivien Parry  http://vivienparry.com/home/ Vivien is a seasoned actress with a robust career spanning stage, screen, and radio. Her theatrical resume features performances in renowned productions like Les Miserables, Cabaret, Mamma Mia!, and Top Hat. She has collaborated with esteemed directors such as Trevor Nunn, John Caird, Rachel Kavanaugh, Christopher Luscombe, Terry Hands...

Our Guest today is Thalia Goldstein https://www.thaliagoldstein.com/ Thalia is a former professional actress, dancer, and lifelong theatre nerd. She is currently an associate professor and director of the Applied Developmental Psychology program in the Department of Psychology at George Mason University, where she directs the  Play, Learning, Arts and Youth Lab (PLAYlab) , and codirects the Nation...

Our guest today is Bella Merlin http://www.bellamerlin.com/ Bella has been working for over twenty-five years in theatre, film, television and radio. She is Professor of Acting and Directing at the University of California, Riverside and is the author of several books on acting. Including  The Complete Stanislavsky Toolkit , Facing the Fear: An Actor's Guide to Overcoming Stage Fright and Shak...

Our Guest today is Dr. Suzie J. Jarmain https://www.linkedin.com/in/suziejjarmain/ Ph. D. (Theatre Performance), MA Applied Theatre Studies, Pg. Dip (Theatre Directing) , BCA (Acting). Dr. Suzie J. Jarmain is an actor, theatre artist, director, educator, coach, mentor and practice-based scholar with over thirty years of expertise. Specialising in psychological realism-based character transformatio...

Welcome to part 2 of our two part podcast where we continue our discussion with Dr. Jessica Hartley on Neurodivergence in acting training and educating the educators. If you missed part one in episode 4 I strongly suggest you listen to it first before diving into this one. Just to recap: Jessica is the Course Leader for the  MA/MFA in Actor Training and Coaching at the Royal Central School of Spee...

Our Guest today is Dr. Jessica Hartley PART 1 of 2 https://www.cssd.ac.uk/staff-profiles/jessica-hartley Rupturing the cycles of Shame in Education , TEDx Royal Central  Jessica was a successful drama teacher and Head of Drama in comprehensive schools across London and the South East of England and has worked as a freelance director and educator specialising in circus training and contemporary per...

Our guest today is Lou Platt https://www.artistwellbeing.co.uk/   Lou is Founder & Director of the Artist Wellbeing Company in Birmingham, England. She began supporting the mental health of those working in creative industries in 2012. Her qualifications and experience in D ramatherapy , C linical supervision,  and Internal Family Systems along with a background as an independent theatre maker...

Our guest today is Jani Lauzon https://www.janilauzon.com/ Jani is a Canadian multidisciplinary artist of Métis/French/Finnish ancestry. She’s a Writer/Actor/Director/Musician and Puppeteer. She is a 9 time Dora Mavor Moore nominated actress, a three time Juno nominated singer/songwriter, a Gemini Award winning puppeteer, an award winning director, and an artist educator. Jani is the recipient of...

Our Guest today is Mariel Pastor www.character-mapping.com⁠ Mariel made the more-obvious-than-it-seems progression from entertainment industry executive to mental health therapist - a move she’s never regretted. She is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist based in Portland, Oregon, and an international trainer for Internal Family Systems therapy (also known as IFS) -  a powerful psycho-spiritu...

Our guest today is Sara Lovett. www.saralizlovett.com Instagram: @saralizlovett Facebook: Sara Lovett Author   Sara is a writer, performer, expressive art therapist, and somatic movement educator. She holds a BFA in acting from The University of Texas at Austin, and an M.A. in Depth Psychology with a somatic emphasis from Pacifica Graduate Institute where she is also pursuing her doctorate. Throug...

Our Guest today is Alexandra Donnachie https://www.alexandradonnachie.com/ Alex is an award-winning actress, award-nominated writer, theatre maker and voice actor. Her writer-performer credits include the critically acclaimed shows: twenty-eight,   When We Died, and   3 Years, 1 Week and a Lemon Drizzle. She’s enjoyed several successful runs at the Edfringe as well as touring the UK.  Other acting...

Our guest today is Sarah Bedi. https://www.sarahbedi.org/ Sarah is a UK based director whose has mounted productions at   Shakespeare’s Globe , Brighton Theatre Royal, Arcola theatre,  The Young Vic and the oval house to name a few.  She was also co-artistic director of BAZ Productions for 8 years which included overseeing the delivery of their workshops for young people. In fact, Sarah has worked...

Our Guest today is Wendy Crewson Wendy Crewson was the recipient of a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2015; and the Earle Grey Award, given to fewer than 32 collective recipients since 1986, in recognition by the ACCT and the Canadian Entertainment Industry, for Lifetime Achievement in Television. One of Canada’s premier actresses, Wendy Crewson has garnered critical and popular acclaim, as well...