Associate Lecturer in Theatre Arts
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Helen Tennison is an Edinburgh Fringe First Award-winning theatre-maker and multi-award-winning theatre director. Her work spans classics, new writing, site responsive and devised theatre. It is characterised by the interplay of naturalism and stylised performance forms as they are situated within socio-political contexts.
Helen was Co-Artistic Director, Head of Two Year Professional Acting and all Part-Time Courses at Drama Studio London, Head of Movement on the BA in Acting at CTT and Associate Lecturer, Shakespeare in Performance at Goldsmiths University London. Between 2013-and 2022, she was invited to work with students at the University of South Florida as an Artist in Residence. Whilst an Associate Artist at Bathway Theatre, University of Greenwich, she created a community walking art event focused on sustainable city living which was creatively documented on film. She has directed students at the University of Birmingham, East 15, Royal Academy of Music and London Studio Centre.
As part of the Community Theatre Department at the Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Helen led workshops and directed productions focused on building cohesion across communities. This included work with young refugees, drama for improved mental health, older people, people with profound learning disabilities and young people excluded from school. She has also worked with young professionals at the Old Vic and led Shakespeare workshops in prisons.
As a director, writer, maker and performer, Helen's experience includes work for Shakespeare's Globe, Oxford Playhouse, Soho Theatre, Summerhall, The Pleasance, Southwark Playhouse, Arcola Theatre, Battersea Arts Centre, Guildford's Yvonne Arnaud, Rosemary Branch, Winchester Theatre Royal, Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds, Teatret ved Sorte Hest (Copenhagen) and site-specific productions for Creation Theatre. She has directed multiple Shakespeare productions, including four seasons at Midsummer Scene Festival in Croatia. Her play, Navigating Margaret, a fairy tale about living with Dementia, was staged by Arts Uplift. Doggerland, Helen's solo lecture-performance, was nominated for Best Show of the Festival at STOFF. She was recently profiled in The Stage newspaper, https://www.thestage.co.uk/qa/helen-tennison-director-and-writer-bang-average-theatre
Helen's current practice draws on psychogeography and Viewpoints to explore the impact of urban environments on the performer's body in the context of the Capitalocene.
Helen teaches a range of subjects, including Directing and Voice for acting.
'Director and World, a dramatic dialogue on the director's role in post-pandemic theatre. Published 2023 in Theatre Dance and Performance Training Journal - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19443927.2023.2243171