RSC Open Stages
Working together with the RSC to support theatre training
The world-famous Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has initiated a national programme of skills sharing events and showcases with the aim of giving individual amateur actors the opportunity to learn new skills and develop their craft.
Amateur theatre groups across the country will be preparing their own RSC-branded Shakespeare themed productions, supported by a series of workshops covering a range of theatre skills, such as acting, voice, movement, directing, devising, design and stage management. Delivering these workshops will be eight distinguished theatres working in close collaboration with leading drama schools.
We are delighted that Birmingham School of Acting has been chosen to be the Training Partner of the Royal Shakespeare Company itself, with both organisations leading a pilot skills sharing event in Stratford-upon-Avon on 17 April, followed by a Regional Skills Exchange weekend: 28-30 May.
The RSC Open Stages project is supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
Meet our 'RSC Open Stages' Team
- Stephen Simms - 'RSC Open Stages' Acting Workshops
Director of School, Head of Acting
Stephen is a graduate of Bristol University and an Honours graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), where he received the George Bernard Shaw scholarship, the Beerbohm-Tree Prize, and the RADA Silver medal. He went on to join the Royal Shakespeare Company with whom he acted for several years in Stratford-upon-Avon and London. He has performed around the world, both with the RSC and the British Council. Roles include Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Feste in 12th Night, Kent in King Lear, and Duke of York in Henry VI. He has appeared in London’s West End, various television series, and major international feature films, including Kenneth Branagh’s Henry V and Ben Elton’s Maybe Baby. He was also a member of Declan Donnellan’s multi-award-winning ‘Cheek by Jowl’ theatre company. He has played a wide variety of classical and contemporary roles in British reparatory and festival theatres, working with leading directors such as Adrian Noble, John Caird, James Roose-Evans, Jude Kelly, and Katie Mitchell.
As a member of The Drama Pool Stephen has worked as a director and drama tutor for numerous institutions, including the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, and as a member of the acclaimed theatre group ‘Actors from the London Stage’ he performed and delivered lectures and workshops at universities across the USA, including Ohio, Memphis, Texas, Virginia, Boston, and Pomona. Stephen directs and teaches on the acting courses at BSA. Recent full-scale productions include Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale and Two Noble Kinsmen, Beaumont and Fletcher’s Philaster, Buchner’s Woyzeck and Wedekind’s Lulu. Most recently he has directed the award-winning new musical Spring Awakening.
- Danièle Sanderson - 'RSC Open Stages' Directing Workshops
Deputy Head of School, Course Director: BA (Hons) Acting
Danièle Sanderson trained as an actor at The Drama Centre, London, going on to study Mime and physical theatre with Desmond Jones in London and ‘awareness through movement’ in Paris with Monika Pagneaux. In England she has worked as a freelance performer, movement director and workshop leader before moving into directing; graduating with a distinction in her MA in Theatre Directing from Middlesex University in 2004. Following four years of training in the Feldenkrais method, Danièle achieved her certification as a Feldenkrais practitioner in March 2010.
- Jacqui Findlay - 'RSC Open Stages' Stage Management / Technical Theatre Workshops
Production Manager Course Director: BA (Hons) Stage Management
Jacqui Findlay is a graduate of the University of Birmingham where she studied Dance & Theatre Arts. She became a full-time Deputy Stage Manager with Birmingham School of Acting, where she progressed to Company Stage Manager before leaving in 2002 to embark on a freelance career. She has toured both nationally and internationally, working as stage manager and production manager. She has also worked in both television and film. Most recently she has been Tour Manager for CandoCo Dance Company, before returning to BSA as Production Manager and Course Director for the BA (Hons) Stage management course.