Meet the EAS Family
Our team aim to deliver the best in training and development for all our students. As working professional themselves, they bring new knowledge and up to date industry information each term.
At EAS we consider everyone part of the family - and that starts from the amazing tutors and workshop leaders we have - we all work together so a full rounded and established school can be available to anyone at any level. Whether you are new to acting and looking to dip your toe in, or a seasoned pro wanting to brush up on your skills between jobs/auditions - we have a tutor that is ideal for you.
Stephen J. Graham-Martin:
Owner and Principal 2017 - Current
Stephen started performing at a young age, catching the acting bug in primary school and followed quickly by his love of dance. He studied Musical Theatre at Edinburgh Telford College and graduated with his Higher National Diploma in 2005. Once graduated he went to work with The Scottish Theatre and Musical School, The Performance Academy, CRAFT Theatre Company, The Ripple Project and South Morningside Stage Club. Stephen writes most of his own shows and has directed and choreographed them along the way.
In 2013 Stephen set up SJM Creative, part of this company included SJM Holiday Camp that provided performance holiday camps over the school holidays. They have grown over the years and now run 5 weeks throughout the year. In 2017 SJM Performance Academy was established that will provide theatre lessons for Primary 1 to Secondary 6 students. SJM Creative is now the main production team behind South Morningside Stage Club and bring brand new productions to the Church Hill Theatre each year.
Stephen believes that the arts should be accessible for everyone: whether as a spectator or participant. He has worked hard with his projects over the last 15 years to provide a theatre experience that expands and challenges his groups, as well as giving the audience a great theatrical experience. He looks forward to continuing growing and developing the minds of the students he teaches and is even more eager and excited about the future at Edinburgh Acting School, knowing that he can continue to be challenged, while achieving some greatness in the years to come. He whole heartily thanks Anna Tinline for setting up the company in 1982 and still blames her for getting him on this magical creative rollercoaster career he has had over the last 16 years. To Kirsty O’Sullivan, you’ve handed over a piece of you in EAS, and I promise to keep it safe.
Kirsty O’Sullivan
(nee Halliday):
Owner and Principal 2011 - 2017
Kirsty has been acting from before she was even ten performing both on stage and screen. She studied Acting and then Musical Theatre at Edinburgh’s Telford college gaining a Higher National Certificate in each. Kirsty then went on to study Drama and Performance and started teaching drama alongside her studies. She has since taught for Edinburgh Acting School, Scottish Youth Theatre, Stagecoach Performing Arts, Brunton Youth Theatre, East Lothian Youth Theatre and many more teaching both adults and children. Kirsty also directs and writes alongside teaching and continues to keep her passion for the art very much alive.
She believes in using drama as a way of gaining confidence, communication skills and, of course, nourishing natural talent. She continues to act alongside teaching so that she is constantly learning more about the art to pass on to students and has performed with several theatre companies in Edinburgh and beyond.
Having taken over the acting school in 2011 she was very excited about all that the school had to offer and what she could bring to it. Over her time at EAS she watched dozens of students get into full-time acting courses and move into professional acting. She put on shows at Summerhall and the Scottish Storytelling Centre (Netherbow Theatre) with the students, and in 2015 she took the winter off teaching to play Cinderella herself in the Brunton Theatre’s famous pantomime. In 2016 she moved overseas to Grand Cayman and became the Education and Operations Officer at the Cayman Drama Society (Prospect Playhouse). She continued to run the school from abroad but in late 2017 decided it was time to move on, and set up the Jason Telford scholarship in memory of a dear friend to leave a positive mark behind with EAS. She wishes all the best to EAS, it’s new principal, and all the lucky students yet to pass through the doors.
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Jen McGregor is a writer, dramaturg and director, trained at Mountview and mentored by Rob Drummond through Playwrights Studio. Her play Heaven Burns won the 2018 ART Award. Writing credits: Sons of God (Piccolo Theatre of Milan, Italian tour) Volante (Hothouse @ Traverse, EMSF, Tom McGrath award), Canto X (Fronteiras Theatre Lab/Manipulate), Screech (Stellar Quines’ Make Do & Mend), The Premorial (Birds of Paradise/Perth Theatre) and Ghost Stories (Pitlochry Festival Theatre). Directing/dramaturgy credits: Lubna Kerr’s Tick Box (Tramway), Jenny Lindsay’s This Script (Scottish Storytelling Centre), Debbie Cannon’s award-winning Green Knight (Buxton Fringe, touring), Opera Harmony’s The Den (OperaVision.eu, winner of the Rolf Liebermann Prize) and Hannah Lavery’s The Unseen Child (Hopscotch).
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Jen McGregor:
Diploma Director/ Stage 3 Tutor/ Actors' Gym Leader
Anna trained at Queen Margaret College and went on to qualify as a drama teacher at Moray House College of Education. She began her career teaching at Tynecastle High School where she set up her own theatre group. She was also involved in the founding of the Scottish Youth Theatre and Scottish Association of Drama in Education. She set up Edinburgh Acting School (EAS) in 1982. The aims and ethos of the school embody her belief in the value of drama teaching and her passionate commitment to performing arts. Since then, besides directing and contributing to the school’s teaching programme, she has directed many stage plays and musicals involving both children and adults. In recent years, she has also carried out a wide range of external teaching and consultancy including: voice training for television and radio presenters: courses in Presentations skills for Edinburgh University departments: Edinburgh College of Art and corporate businesses. She treads the boards throughout the year to refresh her acting skills to keep her hand in. Anna moved abroad in 2011 to follow her other passion, and became a foster mummy to dogs in need of homes. She continues her work with animals in Spain.
Anna Tinline:
Founder and Principal 1982-2011
Kirsty Eila McIntyre:
Stage 1 & Stage 2 Tutor
Kirsty trained at East 15 Acting School where, as well as learning different acting techniques, she trained in puppetry, circus skills, mime, clowning, reminiscence, street and invisible theatre.
Since graduating Kirsty has worked as an actress with several different theatre companies including The Royal Lyceum Theatre Company, Tortoise in a Nutshell, Solar Bear, Nonsense Room & This Is My Story Productions, Urban Fox, Tightlaced Theatre, Black Dingo Productions, and Oak Note Theatre. She has performed in several short films and feature films, worked with the BBC, and has recorded short stories, voice overs and audio books.
She regular takes part in continued training as she believes that you never stop learning, and she is able to offer a varied programme of techniques to her students. She has run workshops with children and adults throughout the UK, and is delighted to be working for Edinburgh Acting School.
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Adam Butler:
Stage 3 Tutor
Adam is a recent acting graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He is from Edinburgh where he began acting at Bedlam Theatre, before gaining a place on the Attic Collective, a training program for up-and-coming Scottish talent funded by the arts council. Since graduating Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Adam has been developing his skills as a director, most recently he assistant directed SPUDS which toured around Scotland, after that he directed MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING with Rose Bruford College. He is currently working as a tutor with RCS Juniors and Rose Bruford Foundation.
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Matt trained as an actor at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and studied an MFA in Directing at Edinburgh Napier University. With a keen interest in the subject area, he coaches individuals in Voice and Speech. In his lessons he seeks to demystify acting and liberate creativity through simple, dependable and sustainable performance practices..