Sara Topham - Teaching Directing

Recently: Hermione in The Winter’s Tale, Hedda Gabler in Hedda Gabler at the Stratford Festival of Canada, Sally in the Original Broadway Company of Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt.
New York: Cecily in the Broadway revival of Tom Stoppard’s Travesties (2018), Gwendolyn in Brian Bedford’s Broadway revival of The Importance Of Being Earnest (2011), Beatrice-Joanna in The Changeling Off-Broadway (2016).
London (UK): Mrs Van Buren in the UK premiere of Intimate Apparel, Dorothy in the World Premiere of Love Me Do.
The Stratford Festival Of Canada: 16 seasons, 39 productions. Roles include: Shakespeare’s Juliet, Rosalind, Cordelia, Olivia, Jessica, Diana, Anne Boleyn, Princess Katherine, Helen of Troy/Aegiale in Ransacking Troy, Ruth in Blithe Spirit, Célimène in The Misanthrope, Wendy in Peter Pan, Madame de Tourvel in Dangerous Liaisons, Laurencia in Fuente Ovejuna, Mabel in An Ideal Husband, Laura in The Glass Menagerie, Grace Harkaway in London Assurance, Brooke Ashton in Noises Off, Cassandra in Agamemnon, Dot in The Swanne (Part II).
The Shaw Festival: Joan in Saint Joan, Ann Whitefield in the full-length Man And Superman (Including Don Juan In Hell), Duchess of Devonshire in Victory.
Elsewhere: Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing and Olivia in Twelfth Night at The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. Ariel in The Tempest and Titania/Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at The Shakespeare Theatre in Washington DC (also touring to Macau, China), Cecily in Travesties (McCarter Theatre), Mrs. Elvested in Hedda Gabler and Miranda in The Tempest (Hartford Stage), The Governess in The Turn Of The Screw (Belfry Theatre), Maggie in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (Neptune Theatre), Mary Hatch in It’s A Wonderful Life and Grace in Annie both at The Grand Theatre, and Rachel Peabody in Eloise At Christmastime for Disney.
Other: Sara has taught intensives at The Academy for Classical Acting (Shakespeare Theatre DC), The Case Western/Cleveland Playhouse MFA Program (Cleveland), The Old Globe MFA Program (The Old Globe, San Diego) The Globe Theatre (London, UK) and the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute. She is a regular member of the team at The Classical Studio at NYU coaching Shakespeare text and choreographing for productions and has been both a faculty member and advisor for the Shakespeare & Performance MFA Program at Mary Baldwin University in Virginia. Further selected teaching credits include: The University of Victoria (Victoria BC, Canada), Capilano University (Vancouver BC, Canada), York University (Toronto, Canada) as well as private coaching work with hundreds of actors. For many years Sara was assistant to world renowned Period Dance and Movement pioneer John Broome during his time as Head Of Movement at The Stratford Festival, and was a member of the Stratford Festival Education team for more than ten seasons teaching everything from Period Dance to Shakespeare in the classroom. In 2018 she completed a solo training intensive in Pure Movement at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London under the tutelage of the Head Of Movement, Shona Morris and she holds an MFA from the Shakespeare & Performance program at Mary Baldwin University in Virginia.