Darren Strange
After being told that acting was not a "stable job" by my school's careers advisor, I left school at 16 and became a production engineer making diesel injection units for boats. I very quickly realised that I was destined to have an incredibly unhappy life as part of an assembly line and so auditioned for drama school.
I earnt a Bachelor of Arts from the highly-esteemed Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in 1996, I embarked on a 29 year career as an actor, comedian, collaborator, and writer. The factory I worked in closed in 2001 and my careers advisor has been replaced by a government website.
Acting
Since drama school, I have had the privilege of working with some of the industry's most respected companies, including the Royal Shakespeare Company, BBC, Apple TV, Netflix, Channel 4, SKY, and Shakespeare’s Globe.
In 2012, I secured the lead role in the highly-praised Sky1 sitcom Parents, starring alongside Tom Conti and Sally Phillips. Most recently, I can be seen working with Colin Firth in the Sky factual mini-series Lockerbie : The Search for Truth. Other television highlights include being a series regular in The Armando Iannucci Shows, Things You Should Have Done and Crackanory, with roles in Ted Lasso, The Downton Abbey Movie and Man Vs Baby
Teaching
I qualified as a teacher with a PGCE from the University of Greenwich. I was mentored by Doug Quinn at Hurtwood House school, where I taught GCSE and A Level Theatre Studies
From there I taught on the Foundation Course at GSA before becoming Head of the Foundation's Acting Pathway.
I have taught at several drama schools including Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, East 15 and Italia Conti.
I was Head of the Acting and Head of the Two Year Course at Fourth Monkey
Other Stuff
I have written sketches and additional material for Bruiser (BBC) and The Armstrong and Miller Show (Channel 4) and was part of the writing team that created the Netflix animation Bad Dinosaurs - I also supplied a few of the voices!
I am an associate actor of Menagerie Theatre Company and one of team behind the award-winning In The Gloaming podcast
I have appeared in over 50 commercials.
As a facilitator I have supplied training across the world to companies such as Mercedes Benz, Jaguar, Land Rover, Porsche, Zurich Insurance, Nationwide among others
Jemma Carlton
Rose Bruford - Star of Maxine, A Thousand Blows and Lockerbie
Darren is the type of teacher you find once in a lifetime... I wouldn't be going to drama school in September without his help. It's a pure joy and pleasure to taught by him- I couldn't speak more highly of such a brilliant teacher.
