MEET THE TEAM
Tony Hunt - Course Leader / Acting tutor
Chris Donnelly - Course Leader / Acting Tutor
Julian Rivett - Acting Tutor
Sarah English - Voice Tutor
Ruth Arnold - Improvisation Tutor
Caroline Fitzgerald - Singing Tutor
Julie Bailey - Movement Tutor
Suzanne West - Voice Tutor
Tony Hunt
Tony has over 35 years working as a professional actor and actor/musician having trained at Drama Centre London. He has worked on all aspects of theatre throughout his career, ranging from a world tour of As You Like It for Cheek By Jowl, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, to Dame Nellie Nightnurse in pantomime. He was also in the original Olivier Award winning production of Return to the Forbidden Planet, Cabaret at the Donmar Warehouse and The Commitments in London's West End. Other musicals include Sweet Charity, Guys and Dolls and Company.
Tony's work in TV has included The Bill, Inspector Morse, Holby City and Coronation Street and in 2007, he was nominated for Villain of the Year in the British Soap Awards for his part in Doctors. He has a great interest in physical theatre and is experienced in stage combat with a black belt in jujitsu. During his career as an actor, he has also delivered many Shakespeare workshops in schools to both primary and secondary school students.
Chris Donnelly
Chris has worked as a professional actor for 27 years having trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He has worked nationally and internationally in theatre, playing multiple lead roles in many Shakespeare plays including Macbeth, The Tempest and Othello. TV work includes Silent Witness, Eastenders, Fat Friends and Casualty. He has performed in over thirty radio plays for the BBC, some of which were award winning. He has gained extensive experience as a freelance director and tutor delivering workshops for various organisations to students of all ages from primary school to universities and adult classes.
Chris returns regularly to Bristol Old Vic Theatre School to direct plays, teach acting basics and stagecraft, and is frequently part of the school's auditioning process. he was also the director of the education/outreach arm of the Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Theatre Company for over a decade and As a private tutor. he is also responsible for guiding many students to achieve their dream of reaching drama school.
Chris also has an MA in Creative Writing and has a particular interest in the disciplines of script - namely film/TV, stage and radio.
as well as our 1:1 online sessions, He is also available in person in yatton, north somerset. To book one of these, please email acting foundation.watford@outlook.com.
Julian Rivett
Julian Rivett is a professional Actor, writer and acting coach. Over the last 25 years, he has worked extensively in all areas of the acting profession. He has appeared in 12 feature films (including Outpost, To Kill A King and Urban Hymn) and over 50 TV productions (Black Mirror, Eastenders, A Touch Of Frost, Silent Witness, Rome, New Tricks and Ultimate Force, to name a few). His theatre work has taken him all over the UK, USA and Europe. Over the years, Julian has also appeared in numerous high profile TV commercials including for Pot Noodle, John West, McDonalds, Ford, KFC, Thompsons DIY Products and Pimms.
Sarah English
Sarah is a London-based voice and accent coach holding an MA in Voice Studies from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. She comes to voice coaching as an actor and performance teacher of 20 years and voice work as always been the grounding anchor of Sarah's professional practice. Her work as an actor has earned multiple award nominations and critical acclaim and her credits include both contemporary and classical works, as well as narration for multiple audiobooks with Random House Canada.
In addition to teaching voice and performance in drama conservatories across London, Sarah also teaches Accents and Dialects at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and as an accent coach for individuals, workshops and productions.
Ruth Arnold
Ruth trained at Guildhall School of Music and Drama but prior to that, trained at Questors Theatre in Ealing and ran their junior drama workshops. She was the Gold Medal recipient in her final year at Guildhall and left in 1989 to pursue a varied career performing in theatre, TV, film and radio. She has worked primarily in theatre for many years in plays from John Godber and Noel Coward to pantomime, with a leaning towards comedy. Ruth has also toured the UK in Relative Values and She Stoops to Conquer which also toured Pakistan.
TV roles include Eastenders, Casualty, The Bill, Inspector Lynley Mysteries and the Thin Blue Line. She produced her own one woman comedy musical and worked with a revue company in Edinburgh writing and performing topical lyrics each day. Ruth has also frequently sung in musicals and cabaret and danced in Gwyneth Paltrow’s film, Emma. She has taught drama workshops at various schools including Mountview and has co-designed and delivered a variety of workshops for national and international businesses.
Caroline Fitzgerald
Caroline trained at Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Guildford School of Acting and has been working in theatre for over 30 years. Her theatre work has ranged from West End musicals such as Blood Brothers and Follies at the National, through to pantomimes in regional theatres, and numerous Shakespeare plays in various repertory theatres and on international tours. Other theatre work includes The Rake’s Progress on the South Bank and Jerusalem at the Royal Court. Recent work has been for West Green Opera in High Society and in Nightmare before Christmas at Wembley Arena.
TV and film work includes Coalition, Aldo Moro and One Day. Caroline has worked extensively in radio plays
and has recorded numerous film soundtracks as well as performing regularly in concerts throughout the UK, including the BBC Proms with the John Wilson Orchestra and Friday Night is Music Night. Caroline has taught singing for many years and has run several award winning youth choirs and a very popular adult community choir.
Julie Bailey
Julie trained at Guildhall School of Music and Drama but prior to that had always had a strong interest in clowning. She subsequently went on to train with Philippe Gaulier in clowning and movement then set up a theatre company that produced children’s shows for the Tricycle, Lyric Hammersmith, National Theatre Platform and Summer in the City at the Barbican. She continued to teach clowning and storytelling, and became a presenter for BBC2’s Storytime. Julie taught acting and improvisation at the Sylvia Young School and Mountview Theatre School, and pure and expressive movement at the Rose Bruford College.
Julie’s TV work includes Between the Lines, Bravo Two Zero, Coronation Street, The Bill, Dear Roy Love Gillian, Dinner Ladies, Laughter with God, Eastenders and the Ruth Rendell Mysteries. her theatre work includes Aesop’s Fables, Lark Rise to Candleford, Top Girls and Happy House.
Suzanne West
Suzanne studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked as a professional actor while teaching both on behalf of RADA and for her own company. During her 20+ years teaching and acting career, Suzanne has also achieved an MA in Contemporary Text specialising in Directing as well as an MA in Voice Studies from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
Suzanne's passion is to help actors and students make the most of the language they've been given and to use that language to develop a conversation between the playwright, actor and their audience. As well as dialogue coaching in TV and film, and production support in the theatre, she is currently the vocal performance tutor for the MA Lab and Director on the various Shakespeare courses at RADA including the collaboration with New York University.
Suzanne also teaches at various drama schools, including the Vienna English Theatre Academy in Vienna AND LSDA.