Meladrama was founded in 2005 by Melanie Ash, a professional actress from Preston who realised from her own experiences that, outside of Manchester and London, there was very little affordable training and support for those wanting to be professional actors. Mel is passionate about supporting and developing new talent in the North West and has secured representation for talented child and adult actors with RARE TALENT, ICON, PHA YOUTH, WGM, MCCLEAN WILLIAMS and SHEPHERD MANAGEMENT.

Mel’s Acting CV on Spotlight

We generally run with school terms and the classes focus on all aspects of acting including improvisation, creating believable characters, approaching a script, acting for tv, film and theatre, stage combat, vocal techniques and too many to mention. Students participate in a variety of showcases and performances and have the opportunity to be seen by casting directors and agents. All pupils perform at the end of each term – whether that’s a small open class for friends and family to showcase what they have learnt or a massive full scale production. We find performing increases confidence and the rehearsal process equips actors with a strong work ethic. It also brings students together – creating face to face friendships that are so integral but often missing in the modern world.

Classes are informal and fun with the focus on developing each individual actor towards their own personal goals. For those without ambitions to be the next big star performing arts have been shown to help adults and children alike with self discipline, social skills, confidence and empathy, not forgetting that it’s loads of fun and you’ll make a bunch of new friends.

TUTORS

All our tutors are fully insured, trained, working professionals and DBS checked with extensive training in safe guarding. We are incredibly proud of all the students we have worked with since we opened in 2005. Whenever possible we like to hire staff that have attended Meladrama at the start of their careers – and several of these pupils feature on our Alumni page.