"I OWE A LOT TO PPA'S TRAINING AND THE SAFE SPACES THEY STRIVE TO BUILD"
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Acting Alumni, Billy Pearson, speaks on how PPA training helped springboard him into the industry, and support him with his disability.
Billy in rehearsals for Otto Weidt's Brush & Broom Workshop for the Blind (2025)
"My time at PPA was pivotal in my journey as an actor, creating a safe space filled with care and precision that really allowed us to grow and explore.
As a Visually Impaired/Blind actor, it was quite important for me to find a place that had accessibility in mind when it came to its training. PPA became that place, not just with its staff and facilities, but also my amazing course mates who learned about my disability and were always there to aid me if needed.
Being in such an accessible space helped me grow as both an actor and a person... it was the safety of the space and the warmth of my peers that finally allowed me to accept that I don’t need to shy away from my disability, I need to own it because it’s part of who I am!
This attitude that PPA engrained in me, allowed me to go on to work in multiple shows telling disabled stories. Working with amazing companies like Graeae and 20 Stories High, and tackling societal views and norms surrounding disability in doing so."
Billy one of his 3rd year plays at PPA, Blood Brothers (2022)
"Outside of my disability, PPA filled me MOUNTAINS of knowledge surrounding all different types of performance. Coming into Drama School, I had no experience with screen acting nor any idea about how different it was in technique to stage acting.
My amazing teacher, Rob Ostlere, alongside the curriculum set up by PPA taught me more than could be put into words about how to perform to a camera, whether that be self taping or on set.
It was PPA and Rob's teachings that allowed me to make my professional TV debut in ITV’s Tell Me Everything!
I owe a lot to PPAs training and the safe spaces they strive to build."
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THE CRUCIBLE
📍Eve Lyons Studio Theatre, Guildford, GU2 8YT
🗓️ Thursday 20th March 2025- Saturday 22nd March 2025
The story focuses upon a young farmer, his wife, and a young servant-girl who maliciously causes the wife’s arrest for witchcraft. The farmer brings the girl to court to admit the lie—and it is here that the monstrous course of bigotry and deceit is terrifyingly depicted. The farmer, instead of saving his wife, finds himself also accused of witchcraft and ultimately condemned with a host of others.
