The Saturday Acting Academy is
Tom Daley – Co-Director
Anna Skellern – Acting Tutor
Susannah Fielding – Acting Tutor
Aled Pedrick – Acting and Singing Tutor
Max McGill – TV and Film Tutor
The Saturday Acting Academy is proud to work with the best Directors, Teachers and Actors in the country. You will not be working with people who are tired and cynical. You will be learning from the people who are working at the ‘rock-face’ of UK theatre and film.
Tom Daley – Co-Director
Tom fell in love with theatre when he was studying English Literature at Edinburgh University.
Tom learnt his craft as an Assistant Director at the Royal Shakespeare Company where he assisted six of the best Directors in the world. Before that he had worked as an Assistant at the Chichester Festival Theatre and Glasgow Citizens Theatre. He went on to be an Associate Director at the Royal National Theatre and then toured the world with the all-male Propeller troupe. Tom was the recipient of the 2005 Bulldog Bursary to become Director-on-Attachment at the Royal National Theatre Studio.
Tom’s Directing credits include After Miss Julie (Salisbury Playhouse), The Rise and Fall of Little Voice and Rope (Watermill Theatre), Invisible Mountains (Royal National Theatre Education Tour) and The School of Night (Royal Shakespeare Company). His opera directing credits include Rusalka for English Touring Opera. Tom has also directed six short films. The most recent short – The Rules of the Game – was a finalist in the Youtube Competition at Cannes 2009.
Tom has directed and taught at the best Drama schools in the UK. His productions include The Ash Girl (RADA), Plenty and Macbeth (Guildhall School of Music and Drama), Casanova and Splendour (Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama) and The Possibilities (Rose Bruford).
Tom sometimes sits on the selection panel for the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
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Richard Twyman – Co-Director
Richard learnt his craft at the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he worked on over 14 productions. He first joined the company as an Assistant Director (Othello, Thomas More, Sejanus, Breakfast with Mugabe) and then was offered the role of Associate Director on the epic 2 ½ year Histories Cycle (Richard II, Henry IV Part 1, Henry V, Henry VI Pt 1, 2 & 3 and Richard III), for which he was also asked to direct Henry IV Pt II. Richard was extremely pleased when, this year, the project was honoured in the awards season, winning three Oliviers and the Editor’s Choice Award at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards.
Richard’s recent directing credits include Henry IV Pt II (RSC/Roundhouse); Julius Caesar, King Lear, One For the Road & Far Away (Guildhall School of Music and Drama); The Architect and the Emperor of Assyria (Gate Theatre); Brassed Off (York Theatre Royal); Romeo and Juliet (Ancient Odeon, Paphos & tour of Cyprus); A Desire to Kill on the Tip of the Tongue (Edinburgh Festival); Victoria Station, Yes & No (King’s Head); A Static Lament, Inside/Out (Royal Court, Staged Readings); Frobisher’s Gold by Fraser Grace, The Giant by Antony Sher (RSC, Staged Readings).
Richard has also worked as an Assistant Director at the Royal Court Theatre, Gate Theatre and York Theatre Royal.
This year he was asked by the National Theatre and Shakespeare Schools Festival to develop and lead workshops on directing Shakespeare to over 500 teachers across the country.
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Anna Skellern – Acting Tutor
From the moment she could stand, Anna – patiently tolerated by her long-suffering parents – was looking for an audience. Many a lounge-room was forced to endure her ‘performances’ as she grew up in Australia, the UK and California. Much to her surprise, Anna actually started getting paid for this when she landed the female lead in the Chaser’s internationally acclaimed political satire, CNNNN for ABCTV. Back in the UK she trained, and later taught, at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Since graduating, Anna has enjoyed a range of acting work in theatre, television and film, including The Vegemite Tales on the West End, Agatha Christie’s Poirot and Celador’s The Descent 2. Recently, she shot the title role for the film Siren in Africa, returned to her comic roots as the new babysitter in BBC1’s Outnumbered and headed up to Leeds to work on Kay Mellor’s new film A Passionate Woman. Anna comes from a family of teachers and adores working for the Saturday Acting Academy.
Anna is a founding member of the Saturday Acting Academy.
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Aled Pedrick – Acting Tutor
Aled graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2008 and has since been invited back to teach as a member of the voice department. As an actor, he has worked at the Theatre Royal, Bath, as well as a National Welsh tour of Martin Crimp’s ‘Attempts On Her Life’ with Sherman Theatre, Wales. His television work includes BBC’s ‘Doctor Who’ and ITV’s ‘Lewis’. Aled also won the prestigious Bryn Terfel scholarship at age 17 and has since been involved in a series of live televised concerts, singing and performing at venues such as the Millennium Centre and St David’s Hall.
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Susannah Fielding – Acting Tutor
Susannah loved theatre and performing from a young age but decided to become a proffessional actress whilst studying for her A levels at Christs Hospital School.
She took a gap year and applied to drama schools gaining a place at Guildhall. She recieved a 1st class honours degree and left Guildhall in her final year with a lead role at the National Theatre. Whilst at the National she played Rosa in 'The Rose Tattoo' by Tennesee Willams, alongside Zoe Wanamaker, Polya in Howard Davies' critically acclaimed production of 'Philistines' by Maxim Gorky, Hero in 'Much Ado About Nothing' alongside Simon Russel Beale and Zoe Wanamaker and numerous roles in the controversial 'The Hour We Knew Nothing of Eachother' by Peter Handke, directed by James Macdonald.
She then went on to work further in television and film with roles in the Bafta winning BBC drama 'Wallander' with Kenneth Branagh, 'Pete Vs Life' a new comedy starring Rafe Spall, 'Filth' a Channel Four comedy starring Danny Dyer and the new series of Doctor Who. She is currently filming 'Cosi' a feature film starring Richard E Grant and Sarah Brightman for general release next year and will go on to film '4,3,2,1' a new film written and directed by Bafta winning Noel Clarke.
She has also worked in Radio and on many collaborative workshops with the National Theatre and new writers. She has recently been teaching Shakespeare around the country for the Shakespeare for Schools Festival in conjunction with the National Theatre.
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Max McGill– Film & Television Tutor
Since finishing film school in 2005 Max has worked as DOP and editor on numerous award winning short films, features, music videos and commercials. After years of getting frustrated with egotistical directors he decided the best way to deal with them was to become one himself. Since 2007 he has been writing and directing his own projects.
He currently spends half his time making serious newsy type films for the BBC and the other half writing and directing not so serious shorts and features. He is nearing completion on his latest short film Half Hearted and has two feature films in development.
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