Bios
Dean Paul Gibson – Program Director
DPG’s selected directing credits include 7 Stories (Theatre Calgary/CanStage), Black Comedy, The History Boys, It’s A Wonderful Life, The School for Scandal and A Flea in Her Ear (Arts Club), Toronto, Mississippi, True West, No Great Mischief, and Noises Off (Playhouse), The Boyfriend (Studio 58), Othello, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Nights Dream , Hamlet, and many more (Bard on the Beach), Lend Me a Tenor, Good Night Desdemona–Good Morning Juliet, and Powerlines (Gateway Theatre).
As an actor, Dean has also been seen on stage and in various film and TV roles, including The Drowsy Chaperone (MTC), A Christmas Carol, The Dead Reckoning, Music Man, Little Voice and the acclaimed production of The Overcoat (Playhouse), Vigil (Theatre Calgary and WCT), Felix Humble in two productions of Humble Boy (Tarragon and Playhouse/National Arts Centre), Little Mercy’s First Murder (Touchstone), Shopping & Fucking (Pi/Ruby Slippers) Stones in his Pockets (Playhouse and The Belfry), The Family Way (Touchstone), Cymbeline (Bard on the Beach), and the award winning production of Problem Child (Green Thumb Theatre)
Dean has been honoured with Jessie Richardson Awards for his acting and directing and is a graduate of Studio 58.
Scott Bellis – Head Instructor
Scott Bellis has been an actor for over twenty years. A lifelong resident of Vancouver, he studied at Studio 58 and has worked in a variety of theatrical disciplines, but the mainstay of his career has been classical works. He is a founding member and Artistic Associate at Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival, where he has played many major roles in over two dozen productions.
He has worked with most theatre companies in Vancouver, including the Arts Club (Tear the Curtain, It’s A Wonderful Life, The Philanderer, School For Scandal, Cyrano, The Optimists, Enchanted April), Axis Theatre (The Number 14), Ruby Slippers (The Leisure Society, Winners, The Cat Who Ate Her Husband) and Theatre Conspiracy (Thom Pain: Based on Nothing). Scott has also directed Antony and Cleopatra at Bard on the Beach and Comedy of Errors at Studio 58 this past year. His career has encompassed over 75 productions and over 3000 performances.
He is excited to be a part of this new directive and looks forward to sharing his personal knowledge and experience with those who have a passion for acting.
Jennifer Clement — Acting Instructor
Alison Matthews – Voice Instructor
Alison Matthews teaches voice & speech in the theatre department at Capilano University and is the voice and text coach for Vancouver’s Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival. She has taught public speaking at Vancouver Island University, and has adjudicated at competitive speech festivals across Western Canada for the past ten years.
In her nineteen years of professional acting, she has extensive film and television experience (selected credits include a series regular role on NBC’s Just Deal, roles on TV series such as Battlestar Galactica and Beggars & Choosers, and in films such as Disney’s Snowdogs), as well as stage work with theatre companies such as the Vancouver Playhouse and Victoria’s Belfry Theatre. A professional voice-over artist for seventeen years, Alison’s voice is heard regularly in TV, radio, & web campaigns, animation series, documentary narrations, and corporate voice-overs.
Alison holds a M.F.A. in theatre (voice specialization) from the University of British Columbia and an Associateship in speech & drama from Trinity Guildhall London. She is delighted to return to the Arts Club Actor’s Intensive this year.
Eric Rhys Miller – Movement Instructor, Suzuki and Viewpoints
Eric Rhys Miller is co-artistic director of The Only Animal and enjoys wearing many hats as a writer-performer-director-administrator-producer and sometime sound designer. He is a graduate of Cornell University (B.A.) and Dell’Arte International, where he studied physical and ensemble theatre with Carlo Mazzone-Clemente, Ronlin Foreman, Michael Fields, Joan Schirle, and Daniel Stein. Since 1995 he has studied with Anne Bogart and the S.I.T.I. Company in Suzuki Actor Training, Viewpoints, and Composition. Eric co-directed The Only Animal’s Core training program from 2005-2009 and continues to lead company training. He has shared his enthusiasm with students of Gulf Islands School of Performing Arts, Studio 58, SFU, Capilano University and is happy to return to the ACT Actors Intensive. He is currently writing and will co-direct The Only Animal’s Sea of Sand, premiering at Spanish Banks beach in August. He is the father of a three-year old boy, with another son on the way.
Adam Henderson — Movement Instructor, Laban
Born in New York, Adam begn acting professionally as a teenager at The Manitoba Theatre Centre, then trained in England at The Bristol Old Vic. He acted in London’s West End, at the Royal National Theatre, and many theatres across Britain and Europe. He directed for The Edinburgh Festival and at the Almeida Theatre.
In Vancouver he’s directed “Democracy” which transferred to The Vancouver Playhouse, “The Power of Yes”, “The Way of the World”, “The Breath of Life”, “The Pillowman”, “The American Pilot”, “Aristocrats”, “The Constant Wife“, and “The Lady’s Not For Burning“. Recent acting roles include “Plan B”, the award winning “Peer Gynt”, & “Mary Stuart” for Blackbird, “Dial ‘M’ for Murder” for The Arts Club, “Stones in his Pockets”, “A Skull in Connemara”, “Translations”, “Cyrano de Bergerac” and “Arturo Ui”. His Film & TV includes “Judge Dredd” with Stallone, “A Dangerous Man,” with Ralph Fiennes, the lead in Bruno Coppola’s indie film “Unknown Things”, and even more obscure films made in Paris, Berlin, Israel and Senegal. TV appearances include “Goodnight Sweetheart”, “Kingdom Hospital“, “The Collector“, “John Doe“, “Dark Angel“, “Chris Isaak Show“, “Cold Squad“, and “Highlander“. He danced at The Royal Opera House and recorded many BBC radio dramas, hundreds of audiobooks, plenty cartoons, and countless junk-food commercials.
He is a senior instructor teaching movement, dialects, and combat for the camera at the Vancouver Film School. He teaches acting for the camera at The Actors Foundry, and accents and dialects at UBC.
Shelagh Davies – Voice Instructor
Shelagh Davies is a Registered Speech-Language Pathologist with a lifelong fascination with voice. She holds an M.Sc. in Speech and Audiological Sciences, a B.A. in English and Drama and two diplomas in Speech Arts, from the Royal Conservatory of Toronto and Mount Royal Conservatory, in Calgary. She is currently in private practice in Vancouver and also a Clinical Assistant Professor and researcher at UBC.
For over 20 years Shelagh has specialized in the rehabilitation and training of performers’ voices. She is a consultant for the Pacific Voice Clinic and has presented seminars and workshops in places as far-flung as Singapore and Smithers. Shelagh’s passion is finding the interplay between the art and science of voice. Through many years of experience she has developed techniques grounded in voice science that help performers fine a strong, clear, easy voice, both on and off the stage.
Christine Hackman — Bellydance Instructor
Christine Hackman (“Azrakesh”) fell in love with Belly Dance in 1994, and since then, more of her closet space is devoted to sequins and chiffon than to street wear. She studied for years under Elizabeth Carefoot and Kim Pechet, has taught at fitness and corporate facilities and at private events, and performs whenever possible. She has served as President of the Middle Eastern Dance Association, a lower mainland-based belly dance organization (http://www.medabellydance.com/), for a decade. In “real life,” Christine’s business, “Hackman’s Head Office”, has been creating wigs for theatre (including the Arts Club and Bard on the Beach), tv, movies, and private clients since 2004.
Christina Wells Campbell — Coordinator
Christina has been working at the Arts Club since 2001. She’s also a mom of 3. She was, at one time, an actor. She finally decided to stop complaining and organize the course that she felt that ‘someone’ should have organized a long time ago. Here it is.
