my journey
How it Started
Over 20 years ago, I left my small UK town for London to train as a performer at ArtsEd. I graduated in 2006 and worked around the world in plays, musicals, and films. Working as an actor on stage and screen gave me a deep, inside-out understanding of the actor’s process—what you need, what challenges you, and what frees you!
I was called to move into directing by the idea that you can be responsible for the whole creative vision. As an actor, I could get very stuck in my head, and I wanted to find a way to help the actors I direct get out of theirs.
That path led me to an incredible teacher, Elen Bowman, and her company Living Pictures. She taught me the techniques of ‘Active Analysis’—a late Stanislavski technique passed down to Elen by her mentor, Sam Kogan, who trained directly under Maria Knebel, one of Stanislavski’s original students.
Today, I draw on my performer’s instinct and director’s vision to create a space where actors feel safe, challenged, and inspired to deliver their most truthful, compelling work through imaginative exploration and an Embodied Process.
Productions directed..
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Recent Work
Acting and Performance Coach
I continued my journey by training on The National Theatre Directors Course, learning from some of the UK’s most influential directors, including Katie Mitchell, Rufus Norris, and Maria Aberg.
As a director of new work, I have collaborated with incredible artists worldwide. I’ve directed shows that won awards at the Edinburgh Festival, toured across Europe, transferred Off-Broadway, and been filmed for the V&A Video Archive of Performance.
In the West End, I’ve worked as an Associate Director on productions for Cameron Mackintosh and Matthew Bourne, alongside working at top UK regional theatres like Chichester Festival Theatre, Theatr Clwyd, Theatre Royal Stratford East, and The Watermill.
I’m also a visiting Acting Teacher at some of the leading performing arts institutions in the UK, including ArtsEd, Mountview, Urdang, Italia Conti, and the National Film and Television School (NFTS).
When the world changed forever in 2020, I reinvigorated my way of working again, coaching performers online, writing & directing online content. This led me to work with stars such as Raven Symoné & Sir Derek Jacobi.
“This new way of working has opened the world up to me & expanded opportunities to work with people all over the globe from wherever I am.”
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Reviews
Tom O’Brien Acting and Performance Coach
“Tom O’Brien’s production is pacy and beautifully acted. An insightful and not disquieting look at mental illness… impressive and compassionate.”
“The stakes are high and the tension is wound up to number eleven in Tom O’Brien’s superbly cast and punctiliously executed production. A creative team perfectly met to imagine this 21st anniversary production with an ensemble of actors fated to realise it. Funny. Foul. Fabulous.”