Mark Westbrook
FOUNDER/ CO-PRINCIPAL / COURSE LEADER 2-YEAR HND ACTING COURSE
Mark founded Acting Coach Scotland in 2007. He has since raised the Studio from a once per week acting class, to a full-time studio with three full time acting courses and professional clients from Hollywood to Bollywood. He has taught at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow University, the University of Ulster, GAMTA, Coventry University, and been a visiting lecturer at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and a guest lecturer at the Royal Northern College of Music.
Mark trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the Atlantic Theater Company’s Acting School in NYC, after education at the universities of Kent, Utrecht, Nottingham, Glasgow Caledonian and Glasgow. He is a qualified adult teacher, and also holds a Performance Coaching qualification from Performance Consultants International. He is currently engaged in a TQFE, a professional Further Education Teaching Qualification.
He has directed over 20 professional productions including sell out productions at the Tron Theatre, The Arches, The Citizens Theatre, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, The Salisbury Playhouse, as well as performances across the island of Ireland and The Netherlands. His award winning production of David Harrower’s Blackbird for Mephisto Theatre Company in Galway won the Galway Theatre Festival Award and subsequently toured Ireland. Mark also directed both a Scottish (2013) and Australian (2014) production of Stitching by Anthony Neilson, to great critical acclaim. He directed his own play Stain at the Edinburgh Fringe 2015.
Mark was the casting director for R Paul Wilson's award winning films The Magic Box (2014), Con Men (2015), Isolani (2017) and To The Sea (2017).
He is the author of Truth in Action, The 12 Obstacles and the forthcoming Shakespeare Monologue Audition Success. He writes a regular blog for the ACS website which is read by over 30,000 people each month. As a screenwriter, he has worked on MTV's Being Victor, and written a number of short films including Wonderland (2015), GOD 5 (2016) To The Sea (2017) (which won a Judges' Prize at the Scottish Short Film Festival and was selected for the Orlando Film Festival) and the recently filmed A Thing (Called Love) in 2018. His play I, Sniper, received a 5 star review at the Edinburgh Fringe, and he wrote the script of the Laramie Police Department's popular lip-sync video. His play CHAIKA, directed by Luke Kernaghan played to sold out houses at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe.
Nick J Field
CO-PRINCIPAL & STUDIO PRODUCER / COURSE LEADER PROFESSIONAL DIPLOMA
Nick is the Co-Principal of ACS and the studio's Producer. He also teaches and directs on the full and part-time acting programmes at Acting Coach Scotland. Nick also specialises in coaching for monologue auditions, and is currently a judge for the World Monologue Games.
He had a successful career in business and management prior to training at East 15 Acting School. As an actor he has toured theatres in Scotland and England, as well as appearing on BBC radio and television.
Prior to joining ACS, Nick produced work for theatre companies in London and Edinburgh, and was previously the Senior Production Coordinator for the National Theatre of Scotland.
Nick has also led workshops in the UK and overseas, has worked with companies to improve creativity and abolish self censorship and is a passionate believer in the ‘Yes And..’ philosophy.
Nick has been working alongside Mark Westbrook since they were 11 years old.
Haley Hartle
STUDIO ADMINISTRATOR
Haley has been with ACS since 2017 and the Stage 1 course is the extent of her acting experience, with the exception of one line in her fourth grade play.
She grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is a graduate of Purdue University in the US, Surrey University, UK and holds a Masters degree. Before arriving at ACS, Haley worked in the hospitality and tourism sector.
Usually in the studio in the afternoons, Haley has a flexible schedule to best take care of the team and can easily be contacted by email to answer any questions you may have about our training.
Michael-Alan Read
COURSE LEADER HNC/FOUNDATION ACTING COURSE
Michael-Alan Read was born in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania in 1985. After completing a BA in Theatrical Arts at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida he moved to NYC, working in various productions nationally and touring the United States.
He came to Glasgow to attend The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2011, and has remained in Scotland since. He has an extensive acting CV and served as the Artistic Director of Cardboard Fox Theatre Company from 2012-2015. His plays include: Mr & Mrs Laughton, I’ll Keep the Light, and Karen.
Michael-Alan is currently the head of Voice for Acting Coach Scotland and serves as the course leader for the Foundation in Acting HNC.
Jonathan M Metzstein
HEAD OF DIGITAL FILMMAKING
Jonathan have been involved in every aspect of filmmaking for the last 14 years. These invaluable circumstances have forged his practical attitude when approaching making a film from concept to screen.
He trained in Digital Filmmaking at the SAE Institute in 2015, he is currently undertaking MA Filmmaking at UWS/Film City.
He has freelanced in the BBC talent pool and has gained a great number of credits from this experience. He has also undertaken various community film projects and trained filmmakers of all ages. He most recently created a drama project for the Scottish Government working with prisoners and staff on the CPO programme for Glasgow City Council.
Hannah Wade
MOVEMENT COACH
Hannah trained as a contemporary dancer at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. She is a choreographer, movement practitioner and release based technique teacher who works with performers across the UK. Her experiences with somatic practices and Laban studies provide the foundations of her work in the studio.
Hannah has taught movement and contemporary dance in institutions across London and Glasgow and has been coaching actors and working in London’s West End for the past 3 years. She hopes to give her students a visceral experience of moving that will lead to a deep understanding of how the body can move in a more efficient and appropriate way. She encourages students to look at varied physical techniques to enhance their approach to movement.
Hannah is also an Artist of Watts Dance where she has performed in various venues across London. Most recently she performed in The Adelphi Theatre alongside The Royal Ballet, Matthew Bourne Company and Akram Kahn in the Gala for Grenfell, as arranged by Arlene Phillips.
Janet Lawson
STAGE COMBAT COACH
Janet Lawson is the President of the British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat, a BASSC Certified Teacher and a fight arranger. She is the stage combat teacher at Acting Coach Scotland.
She is currently arranging fights for The Show Must Go Online - all of Shakespeare’s plays performed in chronological order on Zoom and streamed live on YouTube. Other work includes: Fight Club, The Immersive Experience, an event to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of the film for the 2019 Glasgow Film Festival, Kes for Horsecross Arts at Perth Theatre, Macbeth for Duns Players, Cabaret for Edinburgh College, The Red Lion for Rapture Theatre, The Yellow on the Broom and Passing Places for Dundee Rep, How to Act for the National Theatre of Scotland, Spring Awakening and The Wonderful World of Dissocia for the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Hamlet for Folksy Theatre, Stain for Tartan Spartan, Rigoletto and Jenufa for Scottish Opera, Ipheginie in Tauris for Byre Opera, Oklahoma! for Duns and District Operatic Society, Blondel for Shanghai American School, the short film Haevnorhele and the music video for the song Wake Up by Glasgow band 100 Fables.
She was a member of the stunt team for Season 6 of the TV series Vikings and played Mrs Hinzmann in the Scottish Christmas zombie musical Anna and the Apocalypse.
She provides professional level stage combat training, including industry recognised courses leading to certification by the BASSC, and runs workshops at drama schools, colleges, schools, youth and community groups throughout Scotland. She teaches regularly at the BASSC’s British National Stage Combat Workshop. She has also taught in China, the USA, Germany and Tenerife. In August 2016, she was on the teaching faculty of the World Stage Combat Conference held in Toronto, Canada and was made an honorary Fight Director with Fight Directors Canada. She was an Instructor at The Paddy Crean International Workshop 2018 in Banff, Canada.
Kat Harrison
ACTING/VOICE ACTING COACH