DERBY ACADEMY OF ACTING

 Neale Birch: Director

Neale has been a professional actor and director for twenty five years, working in regional repertory, small and large scale touring, West End, TV and radio. He has performed and directed in children’s theatre, comedy, drama, musicals and experimental theatre. He is the Director of Education for The Touring Consortium, devising and leading their extensive education programmes since 1996.  Between July and December 2007, Neale was the Associate Director of Learning at The Derby Playhouse, re-launching their Youth and Community Theatre groups and devising and leading their Summer School. Neale is an Associate of the Learning Department of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

As an Associate Producer and Director of The Touring Consortium, a large-scale touring drama company, Neale most recently directed the national tour of Romeo and Juliet. He also directed Brassed Off for Liverpool Playhouse and Birmingham Repertory Theatre, where he has also co-directed The Diary Of Anne Frank. He also directed the national tour of the musical Leader of the Pack. A founder director of Prompt Corner Productions, Neale has directed Torch Song Trilogy, La Ronde, East, The Comedy Of Errors, As You Like It, Confusions, An Evening With Noël, Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland and the musical The Matchgirls.  

Neale was the Staff Director on A Doll’s House for Birmingham Repertory Theatre, and has been the Associate Director for The Touring Consortium national tours of She Stoops to Conquer, Dracula, Of Mice And Men, A View From The Bridge, Hobson’s Choice, The Diary Of Anne Frank, Taking Sides, Four Knights in Knaresborough, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and two productions each of The Crucible and To Kill A Mockingbird. He was the Assistant Director for The Touring Partnership national tour of Forty Years On.

As an actor Neale has appeared in the West End in Dial M For Murder, Me & My Girl, Follies, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers and Merrily We Roll Along (concert). He has toured nationally with A Chorus Line and Up `N` Under. Other theatre includes Of Mice And men, Elegy For A Lady, A Suffering Colonel, Hamlet, Distant Point and Mother Goose. TV credits include Rumpole of the Bailey (Thames), A Wanted Man, Crossfire and For Amusement Only (BBC series).

Neale is an Arts Award adviser and a registered chaperone.

Wendy Allen: General Manager and Chaperone

Wendy is a registered chaperone and has worked on many Film, TV and Theatre projects since 2003, including Being Human, Doctors, Casualty, Waterloo Road, Land Girls, Sweet Medicine, My Parents are Aliens, The Bill, Scratch and Sniff's Den of Doom, Jungle Run, a video shoot for The Arctic Monkeys, and the feature films Crusade in Jeans,  Bride Flight and many more.