Review: The Actors Lab

Since joining The Actor's Lab in January 2020, I have to say that that I have been less than impressed with what’s on offer. For the last twelve weeks the lessons have mainly consisted of doing warm-up and vocal exercises for an hour and a half (standard stuff you can find on youtube), then in the last half hour the whole class gets to run through a monologue they have learned. At most, you get five or so minutes to run through your monologue a couple of times. In fairness to them, this is how most acting schools operate, teaching the clueless how to breathe and be aware of what their body is doing, but if you need 12 weeks of acting classes to learn that, then you probably shouldn’t go into acting. For many people, like myself, who want to get into acting, the biggest hurdle in becoming an actor is performing in front of people, learning how to simply 'get over yourself' and deal with the pressure of performance. I thought that after three months at this school I would have made some kind of progress on this, but I have found myself pretty much in the same situation as when I first started. If you want to perform with others, then you are probably better off joining an Amateur Dramatics group. Also, another reason why my experience with The Actor’s Lab has been so negative, is half way through March they decided to cancel classes due to Coronavirus. I understand that this was unavoidable, but then they insisted on payment for the final month, even though there were no classes scheduled. They have since rescheduled the classes but have decided to completely drop the location where I was taking the classes, with no consultation. I asked if they would be willing to refund the classes that they wouldn’t be providing, but they refused, so I decided to cancel my direct debit. I explained my situation to them, but their response was very disappointing. They simply stated that I was contracted to pay the outstanding balance. I tried to explain to them I had no interest in taking the classes in Manchester, as it was not convenient for me to travel that far, and that it didn’t make much sense in paying for lessons that I would never receive, they simply stated that they have the right to change location and they would pursue payment through a collectors agency if I did not complete the payments. Here is a section of the email I received from them... "Please note, we do reserve the right to charge late fees for any delay in payment…. Failure to make payment may result in us passing this on to our third party debt collector agency and in this case there may be additional fees and charges that would be accrued." - [The Actors Lab - 2020] So to put it bluntly, they canceled the school I was attending, and refused to refund the difference for the classes I have paid for and have not received. I have been conned out of the best part of a hundred pounds! So, there you go. If you want bog standard acting lessons with very little content, to have lessons canceled without informing you, and then a threat of legal action when you ask for a refund on lessons they aren’t willing to provide, then sign up to The Actor's Lab. A school that’s more interested in your money than providing you with well structured lessons. Go join an Improv Class or an Am-Dram group, you’ll get a better education than you will at The Actor’s Lab, and it's a hell of a lot cheaper!

Reviewed by Simon Woodward on 07/07/2020

Review: Speech Therapy & Voice Coaching (Private)

After suffering from damaged vocal cords for over a year, the pain of talking made everyday conversations and situations a real struggle. I found my personality was becoming more and more reclusive. Sue was so patient with me - she went to all sorts of lengths to fit my treatment around my busy life. Her exercises are engaging, motivating and entertaining! Sue helped me so much, I can’t thank her enough The difference in my speech since having speech therapy with Sue is remarkable!

Reviewed by H G on 23/06/2020