Lucy Skilbeck
Lucy is passionate about training actors and has been Director of Actor Training at RADA for five years. In that time, she has led a significant review of the programme, increased diversity initiatives within the academy and been closely involved in RADA achieving independent Higher Education Institute status.
Her focus is on creating an environment that best supports individual student learning within a strong ensemble ethos. As well as overseeing the BA and MA Lab training, Lucy is the Course Director for BA (Hons) in Acting. She teaches company class, for ensemble building and Reflective Practice, a course designed to develop independence, resilience, self-knowledge and learning practices. She is the personal tutor to all the BA (Hons) in Acting students throughout the three years, ensuring consistent support and guidance throughout the training.
Lucy teaches second year projects and directs third productions, having previously had a career as a director in London’s fringe, West End, National Theatre and Broadway. She also worked over many years as a director/teacher in the training sector both in the UK and Australia. She has a particular interest in Australian theatre and new work, plays and musicals. She is also committed to women’s stories and women writers and has been delighted to direct for Women@RADA. Her productions at RADA include Gabriel (Moira Buffini), In Flame (Charlotte Jones), A Conversation (David Williamson), Unprotected (Lizzie Nunnery, Esther Wilson, John Fay, Tony Green), Speaking in Tongues (Andrew Bovell), Girls and Dolls (Lisa McGee), Mrs Klein (Nicholas Wright) and readings of Every Second (Vanessa Bates) and Picnic at Hanging Rock (Tom Wright, adapted from Joan Lindsay).
Lucy is a regular speaker and participant in sports performance conferences, and has worked with Leaders in Sport, the Premier League, Fulham Football Academy and Bayer Leverkusen. She is very interested in the parallels (and differences) between high performance sports and acting training, and in sharing knowledge and practice across disciplines.
