Willy Russell - Stage-ed Patron

I have learnt that it is a great job to have being an actor. It boosted my self esteem by a lot it also gave me more knowldege about the play Blood Brothers’ Thank you” (Bradley English Yr 9) “I found it really fun and different, it really benefitted me and my Drama group, we learnt so much about one particular scene in the show….it was fun” (Edward Clews Yr 9) “I thought the workshop was amazing. It has really helped me with my assessment and I have been able to reflect upon my style of performing and alter areas to suit my characters purpose and intention. I now can do a Liverpool accent.” (Kathryn Anne Barry Yr9) “Mike and Louise were fab! they both had a lovely rapport with the students which was a joy to watch.

Gareth was amazing with the students and we had a wonderful session with him. I particularly thought the way he put them at ease and made them feel it was ok to be themselves thoroughly helped. I would recommend him to anyone. We are booking you again next year for The Crucible.

We had a Les Mis workshop which was brilliant. The kids haven’t stopped talking about it and loved every minute. Highly recommended, thank you.

Thank you Stage-ed / Mike Southern for a highly engaging and professional workshop with our Year 10 GCSE students. The skills and techniques you taught them have given both groups a much greater confidence with Blood Brothers in terms of staging, direction and characterisation, particularly in vocalisation of roles. A good pace and quick establishment of rapport with the students and your infectious enthusiasm for Willy Russell’s script and songs made it an unforgettable experience for our students. Nick Perry, Head of Drama, St Ivo School.

The 39 Steps workshop was really great. Stage-ed covered everything that I asked for and the students had a fab time.

Having seen the performance in Malvern the week before, it was great to have Mike & Stage-ed to do a workshop with Drama students from Years 9-10. It was brilliant to have our students practically working on such an emotive play, having experienced it the week before. Some of our students are performing excerpts for assessments, some are reviewing and it was an outstanding opportunity. This was all topped off with the inspirational lead of our very own Scouser for the day, Mike Southern. Thank you Mike & Stage-ed from all here @RGSWDrama.

Stage-ed provided a series of excellent workshops which built very successfully on our pupils’ study of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I would not hesitate to recommend them.

On Thursday 7th July The Sele School Year 10 Drama GCSE students received a professional workshop based on the Willy Russell play Blood Brothers, as part of their course. Mike Southern, from the company STAGE-ED, delivered a two hour intensive session, which required students to develop their physical and vocal acting skills, delve deeper into the issues laid out by Russell in the play and bring out their inner child to play seven year olds. The workshop was a resounding success and the students thoroughly enjoyed themselves, whilst gaining a greater understanding and appreciation for the acting industry. Many thanks to Mike and STAGE-ED for providing such a fulfilling session.
Genuinely, it was a fantastic session and the students were quite overwhelmed with – in their words – ‘meeting a REAL one!’ Not sure if they meant a real professional actor, or a real Scouser, but either way they were impressed!!

It was fabulous last time and you should know that a group of year 11 students used the work they did with you for one of the scenes in their final moderation. I had 9 students- 7 gained a maximum 45/45 for their performance, one got 44 and another got 42! Not bad, eh? Must have been one of the highest scoring moderations in the country. They were an exceptional bunch and I won’t get another cohort like them but thank you for your contribution as I’m sure it gave them the edge.

Thank you so much for coming to school today and for being so wonderful with all the girls and our staff. It was such a privilege to have you with us and I have had so many people telling me how much they enjoyed the assembly and the workshop with a cast member from 42nd street.
Michael thank you to you as well for all your help in booking Clare and putting us in touch. I am sure you are not surprised to hear what a star she was!

What a fantastic day we had! Our west-end star from Matilda, Jono, was absolutely brilliant and a very good teacher. The girls were inspired by the routines they learnt and left on such a high! We will definitely be working with stage-ed again.

Working with Mike was a pleasure from start to finish. He succeeded in engaging our pupils in a high-energy, professionally delivered workshop. The warm-ups were innovative and ensured that all pupils were with him from the outset; the accent coaching was fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable; his knowledge of Blood Brothers and its stagecraft was superb. Mike brought an extra-dimension to the play for our pupils who had all seen the show. A truly valuable experience. We can’t wait to work with him again.

“Stage-ed” came to Folkestone School for Girls to work with my Year 13 cohort on an auditions unit for BTEC Level 3. As a teacher it is sometimes difficult to inspire your pupils, you can find yourself stuck for ideas and inspiration. ‘Stage-ed’ worked with my pupils for one day and within that time re energised and motivated my pupils to succeed. It was great for my girls to work with a professional actor, someone who knows and has experienced the job and who has first-hand knowledge of the industry. The whole day was filled with useful workshop activities which were exciting, inspiring and innovative and really pushed my pupils to their limits. ‘Stage-ed’ tailor made the day to suite my exam board and specification so everything the pupils were experiencing directly linked back to the assessment criteria in which they were being judged. I also learnt some new practical activities which I have used again in my teaching. I would recommend ‘Stage-ed’ to any school or college who are looking for a professional company to create interesting and practical workshops to inspire and motivate their pupils.”

A fantastic workshop today at Kenilworth School and Sixth Form. Thank you Mike. The students were inspired by you and the workshop! You brought Blood Brothers to life in a new way for them….

Mike from stage-ed tailored an incredible workshop for our Year 5s. All of the children, no matter what past experiences, were made to feel confident and enthusiastic by Mike’s incredible delivery and engagement with the children. In each 60 minute session, they took part in a variety of activities which allowed them to express themselves both individually and as part of a group. The day was thoroughly enjoyed by children and staff alike. Thank you to all at Stage-ed, we will be recommending to other schools in our area!

The workshops were some of the best I’ve ever had in. Both Mike & Lou were passionate about ‘Blood Brothers’.The sessions were well structured, packed full and the girls were engaged, involved and learning all the time in fun ways that are different from their learning anywhere else in their school day. How do I follow that next week in my lessons?!

We had Stage-ed in to work with our GCSE English students on An Inspector Calls and they really brought the texts to life. Mike sharing his experience as a performer really helped to give the pupils a clear perspective on the impact of stagecraft. Stage Ed were really accommodating and the pupils learned a lot from the sessions, it was a great experience.

Thank you so much to Lou and Jo for providing such a fantastic workshop yesterday! The students loved every second and the yr11’s feel really excited about their performance exam on Tuesday! I would also like to share my appreciation as the ladies stayed a little longer so the year 11 students could perform some of their scenes from the Blood Brothers exam piece while Lou and Jo provided feedback and advice. This was above and beyond what they came to do and we were all so appreciative of it. I would absolutely love to stay in contact for future sessions. Thank you again for such a fun and purposeful end to the week.

The workshop was very interesting for all of the students. The warm up put all the students at ease and the manner of the leaders was excellent. The Q&A; was very useful especially to students wishing to take drama further

We had two of the team in to do two workshops with our KS3 pupils on MacBeth and Romeo and Juliet. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed the sessions! We will definitely ask them to return next year. Thanks boys!

The workshop was absolutely brilliant, Alex was engaging and energetic throughout and the pupils went right along with him- even those who can be not so self confident joined in and went for it.

The activities were exciting and got the pupils to think about the text in a different way, so much so that I have actually stolen something they made with Alex to start of a scene they are doing in class! His knowledge of both texts was thorough and he added a personal touch due to his own involvement in the productions. He also answered any questions well and articulated his own path to acting very clearly, giving pupils an idea of how they too could get into a career like his.

The resources were used brilliantly, and every task was laid out clearly and Alex made sure everyone knew what to do before they started and then moved amongst them, helping give ideas or keep them on track.

Overall 2 hours was not enough for all of Alex’s great ideas but he condensed the tasks to fit our tight timescale.

Amanda from the Lion King was energetic, enthusiastic, professional, and hugely engaging. What she did with these students in a day was amazing. This has really helped and inspired them in preperation for their Lion King performance. Other staff noted there was a buzz around the hall. We look forward to working with you again”. David Killick, Broughton Fields Primary School.

Stage Ed have delivered 2 outstanding workshops for our pupils. Both creative, engaging and packed with the transferable Drama skills we aim to provide for our pupils. The workshop gives the pupils a special professional experience and an insight into the industry. Our pupils absolutely loved it. We highly recommend this company.

I cannot even begin to say how much the pupils enjoyed today. A couple found me after you had gone and asked did I know exactly when you were coming back! Bless them! I also think that you have inspired Joe even more to become a professional actor!
It was lovely to see students like Oli, Henry and especially Ralph focus (mostly) for the workshop. Just brilliant.
I love your energy!

Just wanted to say thank you again for Friday’s workshop – it was absolutely brilliant and the students are still raving about it.

I must also let you know that Jake, who I said was not doing drama next year, went home and spoke to his mum and has since enquired about enrolling on a drama course at Strodes! I am over the moon! Thank you!

Look forward to booking you again soon

Thanks so much for the energetic, stimulating and inspiring workshop yesterday. For many students that was their bravest experience of drama yet (performing in front of people not in their teaching group)! The ensemble pieces and scripts extracts were super – I absolutely loved the way you set the workshop up so that it had breadth and depth, energy and focus and great balance between fun and serious engagement. The students had a really fantastic time and have had a superb introduction to the world of music theatre, from a professional viewpoint and with your years of experience backing up every nugget of info you gave them. The visit from the cast members was really inspiring too, and gave so much food for thought beyond the day. Please pass on my thanks once more to Maureen and Danielle, and for their great connection with children they had never met – up for answering a huge range of questions with great ease! I will totally be recommending you to every drama teacher I meet.

Just wanted to say a huge thank you to Mike @Stage-ed for spending the day with us on Saturday and the super Blood Brothers workshop. The young people were simultaneously hanging on every word and yet given scope to be really creative. They played loads of group games and energisers, got some spot of careers and audition advice, chance to really get to grips with sections of the play as whole groups and pairs. Crucially they were taught so much useful vocab and theatrical terms. Mike delivered this with fantastic energy and maintained the mixed age and gender kids focus throughout. Absolute magic….and looking already at when we can do it again! Eva Pearson, Head of drama, Tavistock College.

Wow. I just wanted to say thank you to all involved today, unfortunately I didn’t get chance to say goodbye. It was fantastic and the students, and staff, loved every minute. It really was a ‘wow’ moment seeing some of our most challenging students working in that way. Wonderful. I can’t wait for Macbeth now!
Thanks again.

Nearly 50 Y11 students from St. Joseph’s College, Reading travelled up to see one of the final performances of Blood Brothers at the Phoenix Theatre in London’s West End before it closed. The students were thrilled and amazed at the quality of acting; also reduced to tears before the final curtain came down. The following Monday we were very excited to welcome Lou and Mike, members of the cast we had seen to our College to conduct a workshop. The pupils were treated to a professional insight into what it is like to be a performer at the very highest level. The students were very active and completed a range of exercises ranging from theatre games to scripted scenes. To say the students were inspired is an understatement and we would definitely recommend this experience to any Drama Department in the country. The workshop leaders were happy to tailor the experience on the day as a Y11 GCSE Group benefitted from help in developing a devised piece they were working on. The students were buzzing from the visit and it was refreshing for them to ask questions about the profession that were answered fully by working professionals. More than a workshop, more like a real experience of ‘Theatre’ in every sense of the word.

All I can say is, thank you!!!!! Craig was bloody fantastic in the We Will Rock You workshop and brilliant with teaching the students and also giving staff techniques for us to use in the future. Craig was amazing to work with. Thank you for organising this for us