People

Lisa Peck

Lisa Peck (she/her) is a theatre-maker and educationalist who has worked in drama education for over thirty years: in secondary, further and higher education in universities and conservatoires, and in teacher education.

Her theatre company RAPT (research, artistry, participation, theatre) makes site-responsive mixed modal works with local communities.

She is Senior Lecturer in Theatre and Performance Practice at the University of Sussex and Associate Tutor at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama where she contributes to the MA in Actor Training and Coaching. She has been an education consultant and visiting examiner for a wide range of institutions including The National Theatre and Arthaus Berlin.

Her research interests include: educational philosophy, feminist actor training practices, critical theatre-making pedagogies, women in theatre and site-based performance. She has published chapters and articles in a number of books and journals. She recently co-edited Critical Acting Pedagogies: Intersectional Approaches, published by Routledge in 2024. Emma Rice's Feminist Acts of Love was published by Cambridge Elements in 2023. Act as a Feminist: Towards a Critical Acting Pedagogy, was published by Routledge in 2021.

She is Associate Editor for Theatre, Dance and Performance Training where she curates an open access blog on pedagogy and sits on the Higher Education Advisory Board for Digital Theatre Plus.t 

Jessica Hartley

Jessica Hartley (she/they) is a senior lecturer and course leader at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. She leads the MA/MFA in Actor Training and Coaching; a programme which supports teachers, trainers and coaches to critically reflect upon their pedagogy, approach to acting and responsibilities to the betterment of the industry.

Jess gained her MA and PhD at Central where they utilised skills as a trapeze artist and teacher of children to unravel potent narratives about risk-taking, desire and the humanisation of students. They are fascinated by pedagogy and power, and seek to disrupt, reframe and build a community for training practices.

Jess' recent publications include:
Hartley, J. (2024) ‚Towards a Trauma-Informed Pedagogy in Actor Training: knowledge and Agency‘ in Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, 8:1
Hartley, J. in Peck, L. and Stamatiou, E. (Eds) (2024) ‚Developing the Actor Trainer: Welcome, Trust and Critical Exchange‘   Critical Acting Pedagogy: Intersectional Approaches – London Routledge
Hartley, J. in McNamara, A. (2024) ‚On Pedagogy‘ in Actor Trainers on Acting London, Taylor and Francis
2022. ‘Twenty First Century Pedagogy: A Reflection’ in Be The Change: Learning and Teaching for the Creative Industries. ed. Anna McNamara. (New York: Nova Science Publishers). (Forthcoming.)
2020. Vulnerability in a Crisis: Pedagogy, Critical Reflection and Positionality in Actor Training. Fusion Journal, 17, 6-19.