AYA Drama School Sundays (10-18 Years)

Jacque is an award-winning actor, educator, and trained voice and dialect coach, recognised in the US and New Zealand for her work.  Jacque has appeared with SiLo Theatre, Auckland Theatre Company and has produced her own work in Wellington (Danny & the Deep Blue Sea) for which she received a Chapman/Tripp acting award.  She most recently graced the stages of the Pop Up Globe as Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing and the Duke of Venice in Othello, performing with Pop Up Globe’s Queen’s Company in Auckland and Melbourne. TV viewers may recognize her as Shortland Street’s Martha Riley and for guest roles in Interrogation, Doves of War, Jaquie Brown Diaries, What Really Happened: Votes for Women, Ash vs. Evil Dead, The Legend of the Seeker, and The Brokenwood Mysteries. Jacque is in high demand as a US accent coach and works regularly on productions shot in NZ, while also teaching at The Actor’s Program, South Seas School of Screen Arts and Unitec. Jacque has been with AYA since 2005 and has run the school since 2009. Jacque trained at the University of Portland (Portland, OR), The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (London, England) and Shakespeare and Company (Lenox, MA).  She is a proud member of New Zealand Actors’ Equity.  

Jeff is an award-winning actor, director and teacher who has worked in theatres all around New Zealand as well as the USA. A graduate of Toi Whakaari o Aotearoa, Jeff has worked with young people since 1999 teaching drama and facilitating playwriting and making. He has taught at AYA since 2005 and has run the school since 2009. Jeff has directed over 200 broadcast hours, starting with ‘Shortland Street’ in 2007/2008. He has taught acting for screen at Unitec School of Performing and Screen Arts, The Actors’ Program, as well as directing productions at Unitec, PIPA, and Toi Whakaari. He directed the webseries ‘Jiwi’s Machines’ which gained three nominations at the 2016 LA Webfest including one for Best Direction. As an actor Jeff has over 50 professional credits (with shows at Silo, The Basement, Circa, Downstage, BATS, and Fortune Theatre, among others) and has received awards, nominations, and critical acclaim for his work on stage. Jeff is a proud member of Equity New Zealand and is a current Board member. For the last seven years he has also developed and directed the Duffy Books-in-Homes Theatre show that travels to over 500 schools around New Zealand.