BA (HONOURS) THEATRE STUDIES (ONLINE) - ROSE BRUFORD COLLEGE
September 2009 - June 2015
I studied for my BA for 6 years online, having missed this opportunity as a young woman. My original intention was to use it to gain my QTS and further my teaching career but, instead, it reignited my desire to perform. A marvellous stepping stone with supportive tutors.
MA IN PROFESSIONAL ACTING (MERIT) ~ ACADEMY OF LIVE AND RECORDED ARTS
September 2015 - December 2016
Had the most fun learning to 'play' again, working with a fantastic group of young people being and treated as an equal. This post graduate course training in stage, film and radio culminated in a Personal Research Project: I wrote the first scene of what has become my one woman show, Buzzing.
BUZZING WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY DEBBIE BIRD
First performed May 2019
Buzzing is a one woman play about Julie, 50, newly divorced and searching for her sex life. It began as a 25 minute exam piece, extended to 50 minutes and was performed at the Wandsworth Fringe and Edinburgh Fringe in 2019. Extended to 70 minutes and 4 scenes, it is now on a self produced tour of UK for 2020 and 2021.
WAR OF THE WORLDS IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE, LONDON
October 2019 - present
As with all the immersive work I do, I play one or more roles, Peggy and Curate, which directly interact with the audience. There is a script but a lot of it is improvised. It's the most fun you can have because the audience really believe you are who you're playing.
MOTHER CHRISTMAS LAPLANDUK
Christmas season 2017, 2018, 2019
A truly rewarding role returning for the last 3 years to Lapland UK. Immersive and interactive tours set in the most beautiful kitchen. Looking after the Big Man, with the help of my Kitchen Elves, is a full time job you know!
THE SILHOUETTE IN THE SMOKE ~ IMMERCITY
January 2018 - October 2019
A Victorian immersive experience set in The Museum of Water and Steam in Brentford where the audience followed 6 ghosts around the site specific location, mostly by torch light. I played Mrs. Matilda Robinson, widow of the late Reverend Charles Robinson. (a battleaxe of a woman with ideas above her station). My favourite moment was refusing to speak until one of the audience left my presence because they had offended me, suggesting my husband may have behaved inappropriately. The cheek!
LOVE, SEX AND ALL THINGS IN BETWEEN ~ YT2 THEATRE
August 2019
A verbatim piece devised with yt2 Theatre to explore varying expereinces of love and sex. Thouroughly enjoyed playing the sex mad mum! Am I getting type cast?
NETFLIX AND CHILL BY TOM STOCKS
July 2019
In the premier of this fabulous one act play, I played Mum opposite Tom Stocks and was directed by Luke Adamson. A comedy tackling male mental health.
RICHARD III ~ WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
November 2017
A Pentire Street Production directed by Matthew Turbett and Roselle Olivia Hurst. The eponymous role of Richard III was reinvented as two characters in this production to echo the most infamous gang leaders in 1960s London, the Kray Twins. I was fortunate to play their mother, the Duchess of York.
TALK RADIO
September 2017
This wonderful play relied on the voice overs of characters phoning into a radio station in the 1980s. I was thrilled to play a number of roles using a range of American accents. To be directed, even in such a small part, by Sean Turner, (director of The Play That Went Wrong), was a privilege.
GO FORTH WITH SHAKESPERIENCE
May 2017
Loved being part of this ensemble working with Ravenscourt Theatre playing Mistress Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor extracts.
"How shall I be revenged on him? for revenged I will be,
as sure as his guts are made of puddings."
MEETING AT 33 ~ SECOND CIRCLE THEATRE
August 2017 & May 2018
One of my proudest roles, playing Donna and Samantha in this verbatim immersive piece set in an Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting. Performed in Edinburgh and Brighton Fringe.
TICKBOX ~ 104 FILMS
December 2016
Directed by award winning director, Justin Edgar, and written and co starring comic, Lawrence Clarke. Thrilled to see it screened at Edinburgh Film Festival 2017. To watch it go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IftM23xHE4c
ABOUT ME
Never Say Never
After 15 years of teaching drama and performing arts in an excellent secondary school with the most wonderful friends and colleagues I took a leap of faith and made a massive change.
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In September 2015 I began my actor training, studying for a Masters in Professional Acting at The Academy of Live and Recorded Arts in Wandsworth. I graduated in December 2016 and my feet have not really touched the ground since!
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I am now an experienced immersive performer: Meeting at 33, by Second Circle, an immersive verbatim piece about recovering alcoholics; Silhouette in the Smoke, by Immercity, a Victorian ghost immersive Whodunnit; Mother Christmas, Lapland UK, an immersive interactive experience for families set in the forest at Ascot; and more recently, War of the Worlds immersive experience in London with Dot.Dot.Dot.
I have written and produced my own one woman show, Buzzing, which I performed successfully at both Wandsworth and Edinburgh Fringe in 2019.
Buzzing has now been extended into a 70 minute play, with 4 scenes, and is currently touring the UK. For rescheduled tour dates, (spring season cancelled due to Covid-19), please see the Buzzing Upcoming Events page.
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I have been fortunate to perform in a range of stage productions from Shakespeare to new writing and am always keen to return to the theatre. TV work still eludes me but it is still early days!
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I am represented by Jill Lepper of Victoria Lepper Associates, the most kind and supportive theatrical agent I could ask for. https://www.victorialepperassociates.com/contact/
NEVER SAY NEVER. It is never too late to follow your heart's desire.