PURE DRAMA
Patrons: Kim and Gillian Taylforth
LIZZIE FRANCES: PRINCIPAL
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LIZZIE FRANCES BA (HONS) MSTSD
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PRINCIPAL
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LAMDA TEACHER
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ACTORS TEACHER SOUTHBOURNE
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PERFORMERS TEACHER SOUTHBOURNE
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AGENT
Lizzie is a professional Actor, Director, Agent and Drama teacher. She trained with the prestigious National Youth Theatre and the Birmingham School of Speech and Drama.
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Theatre Credits include: The Wicked Queen-Snow White (Octagon Theatre)The Spirit of the Ring-Aladdin (Octagon Theatre) Fairy Godmother- Cinderella (Octagon Theatre) Mrs Darling, Myrtle the Mermaid, Big Chief Squatting Cow- Peter Pan (Octagon Theatre)Fairy Tale-Beauty and the Beast (UK Tour) Fairy Moonbeam-Sleeping Beauty(Octagon Theatre) Melody- Pirates of the Pavilion and Pirates of the Pavilion the sequel (The Weymouth Pavilion) The Wicked Witch-The Children's Variety Adventure (UK Tour) The Spirit of the Ring-Aladdin (Octagon Theatre) Sharon-Girls Night (No 1 UK Tour) Aladdin- Aladdin (Winsford Theatre) The Wicked Witch-The Childrens Variety Performance (UK Tour) Kate-Girls Night (Durham Gala Theatre) Elf- The Night before Christmas (The Ambassadors Theatre, West End and Horsham Capitol Theatre) Kate-Girls Night (The New Vic Theatre and UK Tour) Sophie Ce Soir-HA HA Hitler! (Croydon Warehouse and UK Tour) Claire-Six Minute Theatre (Bridewell Theatre) Elf- Rolf Harris and Friends (Fairfield Halls, Croydon) The Monster in the Mine(Portsmouth Historic Dockyards) Puck-A Midsummers Night Dream (Portsmouth Theatre Royal) Louise-Martha, Josie and The Chinese Elvis (Bournemouth Pier Theatre) Fairy Bowbells-Dick Whittington (Doncaster Civic) Harry-Harry and his Bucketful of Dinosaurs (UK No 1 Tour) Fairy Beansprout-Jack and the Beanstalk (Octagon Theatre) U/S Beth, Jo, Meg and Amy- Little Women(UK No 1 Tour) Claire-Morning Glory (Bridewell Theatre) The Rainbow Fish-The Rainbow Fish (UK Tour) Jo/Mum-Too Much Punch for Judy (TIE Tour) Gwen-Catchy! (Bedlam Theatre, Edinburgh)​
TV and Film Credits include: Patricia- Seconds from Disaster (National Geographic) Crazy Woman- Exorcism (SKY Advert) Lady Lucan-Murder Casebook Series 2 (Sky TV) Judy Garland-Pop Icon, Binary Lines, May Day, A bit of a Pickle, Science, Tea for Two, The Simple Truth and The Truth Hurts (Bournemouth Media School) plus various school teachers in commercials for Nokia and Telsis.
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Writing and Directing Credits include: Aladdin (Rhyl Pavilion) Beauty and the Beast (UK Tour) Chicago, Annie, Robin Hood (Poole High School Theatre) Scrumdiddlyumptious, And the Winner is, Lights Camera Action, Annie-the first night farce (The Octagon Theatre) Is this my Story? (The Shelley Theatre) Peter Pan (New Milton Memorial Hall) Legally Blonde (Layard Theatre) The Tempest, Much Ado about Nothing, A Midsummer Night's Dream (The Sutton Theatre) Macbeth (The Charles Cryer Theatre)
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Lizzie has written the Pure Drama Theatre School Acting, Performing and Bertie and Besty Syllabus.
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As a teacher Lizzie trained under LAMDA examiner and adjudicator John Hester and has since taught LAMDA to private pupils with a 100% pass rate at Merit and Distinction.
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Lizzie has successfully prepared pupils for drama festivals and has secured places for many of her students at top London drama schools. Lizzie has written and directed numerous youth theatre productions, films and summer schools.
Lizzie lives in Bournemouth with her husband Paul ,their children Tilly, Teddy, Bertie and their Cockapoo Paddington and Romanian Recuse Dotty.
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VICTORIA ELDON BA (HONS)
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ACTORS TEACHER CHRISTCHURCH
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LAMDA TEACHER
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Victoria is a professional actress from Bournemouth.
Victoria's theatre training began in Stratford Upon Avon where she spent a year on an intensive course in conjunction with the Royal Shakespeare Company and then went on to complete her BA (Hons) in Acting at the Arts University Bournemouth graduating in 2011.
Since then Victoria has worked extensively in both film and theatre and has appeared in several feature films including "Stalled" and "Territory" as well as numerous TV adverts and many short films.
As a teacher and workshop leader for children of all ages Victoria has taught for various drama schools across Dorset and Hampshire for over 10 years and is extremely proud to be joining the Pure Drama team!
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LOUISE MCFADDEN
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ACTORS ASSISTANT SOUTHBOURNE
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PERFORMERS ASSISTANT SOUTHBOURNE
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STAGE MANAGE
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Louise and Lizzie are sisters. Louise is our parent helper in some of our Junior and Inters classes. She is tremendous fun and is so encouraging to all our students. Louise is also in charge of stage managing our shows and organising all our licensing admin.
MELANIE RIDING
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BERTIE & BETSY TEACHER SOUTHBOURNE
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BERTIE & BETSY TEACHER CHRISTCHURCH
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BERTIE & BETSY TEACHER POKESDOWN
Melanie began her career in music some 17 years ago by running classes for the Poole franchise of Jo Jingles. She ran her classes in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Ferndown areas, together with providing birthday parties across Dorset.
Melanie also planned, organised and ran Summer sessions during the holidays.
During this time, she developed many long-lasting friendships and a strong interest in how music played an important part of children’s development.
In 2018, Melanie moved on and joined a private nursery in Bournemouth. After studying for 2 years, she became a qualified Nursery Practitioner gaining a CACHE level 3 Diploma for the Early Years Workforce (Early Years Educator). Alongside this Melanie holds a Level 2 certificate in Child Protection, together with various other qualifications in relation to child development and protection in the early years.
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PAUL HOLTON-FRANCES
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OFFICE MANAGER
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Paul manages Pure Drama with his wife Lizzie. He runs the office and oversees the finances.