“There’s no such thing as someone who can’t act.”
These are the words of acting teacher Peter Stephenson- Jones. Peter has taught acting at the CAE for over 40 years and has worked in theatre since he was 14.
In Peter’s opinion, if acting doesn’t come naturally to a student, it is the teacher that needs to change their approach.
“Often it can be a matter of me finding a different way of teaching. I really enjoy that challenge. I think actors learn best by doing.”
“When a student says, ‘I don’t know if I have the talent for this’, frequently they’re the ones who make the most progress.”
Peter has had plenty of students sign up for classes because they think they’re the next Brad Pitt. But of all the students he’s had over the years, the one who has gone on to the most success told him that he was in the class because his wife bought him the ticket.
Peter began acting in his teens and performed in a wide range of productions as a young adult.
He knew the theatre was his passion, but thought it would be good to have another feather in his cap. He studied a Diploma of Teaching with Honours, majoring in theatre and drama and went on to teach drama classes in state schools for three years.
Peter also worked for an educational theatre company called New Theatre Daytime, which he was later asked to take over. He renamed the company the Flying Bookworm and worked there as a director and actor for 20 years.
Word spread of his teaching chops, and he received a call from the Council of Adult Education (as we were formerly known). The CAE had a teaching vacancy they urgently needed to fill, and Peter stepped in to fill the breach.
What was meant to be a temporary role, turned into four decades of teaching (and counting), thanks to the letters the CAE received from students pleading for Peter to stay on as a teacher.
Peter’s teaching philosophy is that a good teacher learns from his students.
He prides himself on creating an inclusive atmosphere where the students help guide the direction of the class. He’ll begin a course by asking students what they want out of studying acting, and what they need out of him as a teacher.
While his class will obviously improve your acting skills, you’ll notice the effects of his teaching in your daily life too.
“Students say that they’ve developed a new sense of confidence in their personal and professional lives. Studying acting also makes you focus on listening to what other people are really saying.”
Peter says many of his students have no desire to become an actor. Rather they’re people looking to develop their soft skills to help them in a range of traditional professions.
“I’ve taught a lot of nurses. Partly because it’s a stressful job and they’re looking for a distraction, but also because it teaches them to be more sympathetic to their patients by seeing things from another perspective.”
Ultimately, Peter is interested in acting because he is interested in people.
“I’m teaching people with life experiences that are so wonderfully different from mine. Students will say things like ‘I’m just a computer analyst’. And I say ‘Do you have any idea how much I would like to know about working with computers?’ People underestimate how incredibly interesting their lives are.”
Peter’s top tip for acting students is to be willing to reflect on your own life.
“Your memory will always be your greatest recall. A convincing actor channels memories from their own life to use in their performance”.
Enrol now in Acting: Beginners so Peter can help you to develop your acting skills and give your confidence a boost.