WHITE RABBIT DRAMA CLUB
Imaginative, inspiring, confidence building drama
ABOUT US
Established in January 2017, we aim to offer high quality, engaging & empowering drama experiences for children and young people, where pupils can gain confidence through games, improvisation, devising and art & prop design.
We run weekly classes in local schools and venues, holiday workshops for a range of ages, regular trips to Unicorn Theatre and yearly opportunities for pupils from Year 2+ to perform in a professional theatre.
Our class sizes are limited and all clubs are tailored to the children we teach, giving local children a safe & enjoyable space to explore their own creativity, and a platform to share and celebrate their work.
All White Rabbit teachers and assistants hold Enhanced DBS certificates and all classes run with at least one first aider present (12hr paediatric first aid certificate) and with leaders who have successfully completed training in Level 3 Safeguarding for Children.
ANNA IZQUIERDO
WHITE RABBIT CO-FOUNDER
HEAD OF CREATIVE LEARNING
SHOWCASE DIRECTOR
FACILITATOR (ALL AGES)
Certificates:
BA (Hons) Acting: Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama
Enhanced DBS
12hr Paediatric first aid
Level 2 Safeguarding for children
Level 3 Safeguarding for children
Licensed chaperone, LBRUT council
Food hygiene Level 2
CPD certified: Data Protection, Health & safety, Autism awareness, Equality and diversity, Mental health and young people
Anna loves listening to children's ideas & stories and believes that the most rewarding results come from acting as a facilitator to pupils imaginations, giving them gentle guidance and the space needed for ideas to grow and confidence to soar! Her aim is to give children the tools they need to trust in their own creative instincts and to build a strong sense of teamwork and support from an early age. Anna's aim is to create a drama club that is inclusive & strong enough to support others through outreach work. She tries to help others where able and has acted as a volunteer for Polka Theatre's 'Polka 40 project' interviewing children on the impact the theatre has had on their lives. She is also a member of 'Action for Children's Arts', a charity campaigning for the right of every child to access the arts.
https://www.childrensarts.org.uk/campaign/
Professional background:
Anna discovered a love of the Arts at the age of 16 and her youth was spent in drama studios, Chester's 'Little Theatre' and Manchester Youth Theatre, where she gained the passion for Improvisation & Devising that forms the backbone of White Rabbit Drama Club. She graduated from Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in 2004 with Ba (hons) Acting, and performed in short films, BBC comedy and theatre-in-education, before creating her own theatre company, where she taught children of all ages in schools & drama clubs, and wrote, produced & performed in a series of plays for the Edinburgh, Brighton and London fringe described as; 'One to watch' by The Stage and 'sleek, streamlined and utterly compelling' by the Scotsman newspaper.
KATIE KEAN
WHITE RABBIT CO-FOUNDER
HEAD OF ART & PROPS
FACILITATOR (EARLY YEARS-SHOWCASE)
Certificates:
First Class Bsc (Hons) Psychology with neuroscience
CACHE Diploma level 3 Early Years education & care.
Enhanced DBS
12hr Paediatric First Aid
Level 2 Safeguarding for Children
Katie's passion lies in helping children's confidence to develop and she brings a unique element to White Rabbit, with a First Class Bsc (Hons) in Psychology with neuroscience and a CACHE Diploma level 3 in Early Years education & care. Her insight, both educational and psychological, are invaluable, as the content of each White Rabbit club is tailored specifically for the children we teach.
Katie enjoys exploring new stories and characters with our younger children and guides our Early Stage pupils with great care & patience, helping them to discover new adventures and navigate their emotions effectively through the use of drama techniques.
With a flair for Art & Design, Katie also heads our growing Art & Props department; Classes offering children the chance to experiment with design techniques used by the professionals and to learn another side of the industry in collaboration with 'Prop Remedies' Thea Collins.
Gioia Gray
Showcase director
Facilitator (all ages)
Certificates & Experience:
Diploma in Musical Theatre. Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts.
Enhanced DBS
12hr Paediatric First Aid
Level 3 Safeguarding for Children
Licensed Chaperone, Spelthorne council
Creative Director, London New Years Day Parade Richmond Entry 2020 (awarded 2nd place in the Borough Competition).
Choreographer for Babette Langford's Young Set. Practitioner at Dramatize, a charity offering theatrical workshops for people with learning disabilities .
With over 30 years experience teaching drama, dance & musical theatre, Gioia has acted as our White Rabbit teacher-trainer, director and advisor since our opening in 2017.
Gioia loves working with children & young people and aims to deliver classes that the students enjoy taking part in, as much as she enjoys teaching! She believes that all life is drama, where we make choices about what we do, say, and how to react, with every new situation we face. She believes firmly that there are no wrong answers, as long as we all support each other and places great emphasis on the power of really listening to our fellow actors. Gioia hopes that her work as teacher and facilitator will help the children to gain confidence to express their own ideas, whilst also learning to accept those of others.
Having trained for 8 years at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, Gioia began her career acting for TV, short films and performing in pantomime in the UK & Ireland. She has spent most of her professional life choreographing for Babette Langford's Young Set, helping to raise funds for The Variety Club of Great Britain and providing opportunities for hundreds of young people to take part in professional productions in both Regional and West End Theatres.
Laura-May Hassan
Showcase director
Facilitator (all ages)
Certificates:
First Class degree, Drama and Applied Theatre, St Mary's University,
Enhanced DBS
12hr Paediatric First Aid
Level 3 Safeguarding for Children
Licensed chaperone, Hounslow council
Laura-May is an award winning Director and Facilitator working with a number of our local schools and youth groups. From 2020-2023 she has acted as Director of the Richmond Shakespeare Society's Young Actors Company, having previously enjoyed 5 years as assistant director. Here she joined the group in National Theatre Connections Festival, toured with a young actors to Chile and achieved success with 'Best Youth Production' at the Richmond Swan Awards 2023. Alongside this, she also leads weekly sessions at Speak Out, a charity supporting people with learning disabilities & autism in the London Borough of Hounslow and acts as cover for Gioia at Dramatize, a charity offering a range of theatrical workshops for people with learning disabilities .
Always full of the highest energy & enthusiasm for the children's ideas, LM uses her love of devising to help pupils of all ages to express themselves freely & develop their own ideas for stage.
Laura-May encourages all of her pupils to have fun & be fearless with drama and loves seeing their imaginations take flight. She shares our passion for improvisation and its ability to empower pupils to find joy and freedom in the knowledge that, as long as we support & respect our fellow actors, there really are 'no wrong answers'.
Samantha Pears
Creative Learning Officer
Showcase director
Facilitator (all ages)
Certificates:
BA (Hons) Acting, London College of Music,
Enhanced DBS
12hr Paediatric First Aid
Level 3 Safeguarding for Children
Samantha is an Actor & Director with over 10 years experience working with children and young people. As an Assistant Director for ATE Superweeks, an educational charity offering holiday camps for children across the UK, Sam is well placed for her role as Creative Learning Officer, where she combines elements of play, empathy & connection, with her love of learning through story. Work within her Creative Learning role include; fairytale exploration for schools in Twickenham & Putney - creating effective & engaging plans for classic fairytales for Early Years, 'Tiger Child' in support of a yearly KS1 India topic, and exploration of Emily Haworth-Booth's 'The King who Banned the Dark' as a method for enhancing English Language for KS2 pupils.
Following graduation, Samantha performed in plays at the Chiswick and Chapel Playhouse & Theatro Technis, and has taken part in scratch nights on the London Fringe. In 2021 she Directed 'London Zoo' at The Bread & Roses Theatre, recieving 5* reviews and a sold out run. The play went on to win two awards at the London Pub Theatre Standing Ovation Awards, for Best Production and Best Ensemble.
Sam continues to direct and perform online and across the London Fringe, including White Bear and Lion & Unicorn theatres. All this, whilst remaining constant with her love for teaching, working as facilitator with Bigfoot Arts and Polka Theatre, in addition to helping her White Rabbit and Twickenham Youth Theatre pupils to grow and thrive in The Arts.
Her teaching methods are enhanced by the belief that all performers should be given the opportunity to express themselves through drama and the knowledge that the Arts can help to build vital skills needed whilst growing up.
Samantha's aim is to help children and adults to; share stories, have fun and create together in a supportive and welcoming space.
Nicola Moore
Showcase director
Drama leader (all ages)
Certificates:
BA (Hons) Acting. London College of Music.
Enhanced DBS
12hr Paediatric First Aid
Nicola’s passion for Performing Arts was nurtured growing up, taking part in productions with Youth Lyric and Grand Opera House Summer Youth Project, Belfast. Having studied Drama at GCSE and A-level, she moved to London in 2016 to enrol in the BA (Hons) Acting course at University of West London.
Since graduating in 2019, Nicola has worked on several short-films, rehearsed readings and can be seen in 2022's BBC Drama, 'Hope Street' performing with White Rabbit friend and guest facilitator Niamh McGrady. Returning home to work was a dream come true and she joins White Rabbit at a time of great, positive energy and renewed love of the profession. Great assets for any teacher or assistant working in The Arts!
In addition to performing, Nicola loves to pass on her knowledge to the next generation of actors and began teaching Drama and Performing Arts in 2019. Building a safe, playful space for children to create, learn new skills and grow in confidence is integral to her teaching and she believes in the importance of helping children to share & develop their own ideas, through the techniques of Improvisation and Devised Theatre. Nicola is of the firm belief that each child has a story to tell and she is committed to helping them find their voice and be heard.
Thea Collins
Art & Props Designer/White Rabbit collaborator
Thea has worked in film and television as a Graphic prop designer for almost 20 years. She spent 10 years working for Keir Lusby at Shepperton Studios, one of the most well respected prop making companies in the industry. As head of their graphics department Thea managed a team of graphic designers working in the areas of feature films, period dramas and light entertainment. She is also co-founder of 'Prop Remedies' who work alongside Art Departments to supply graphic props for a variety of productions.
Our collaboration with Thea began in September 2018, when she began working creatively with Katie in our growing Art & Props department. Thea's passion lies in sharing her technical & creative knowledge with pupils to help them express themselves through art and to create interesting and colourful objects inspired by her own work for film & TV.
