“I’ve had the pleasure of being both work-shopped and taking classes with Barbra French. She shares her many years of experience with professionalism, compassion, humour and patience. Through group exercises and gentle coaching, she teaches by pushing you outside of your comfort limits. Her classes are fun, invigorating and you make great friends, too. I highly recommend her for both novice and experienced actors.”

”Barbra French is my absolute favorite drama teacher. I first met her when she work-shopped a play I was in about 6-7 years ago. Other workshops did little for me by comparison to Barbra. I’ve taken her acting class, her advanced scene study class, and I’ve had the tremendous fortune of her assistance work-shopping a play I was directing. Barbra teaches with insight, encouragement, gifted critique, but never criticism. I’ve directed a number of plays, but I know having just completed her Directors’ Workshop, that my future work will continue to improve thanks to her generous guidance. Thank you dearest Barbra. Your passion for theater shines through all that you do.”

Acting was on my bucket list this year and so I signed up for Barbra French’s introduction to acting class… I thoroughly enjoyed it. Barbra brings an abundance of experience to the class and she hits it home in a nurturing, engaging and meaningful way. Taking this class helped prepare me for my first role in a community theatre play –  which has just wrapped up. I would highly recommend the class for aspiring thespians! I myself plan to learn some improv techniques from Barbra in the future.  “

“I cannot praise Barbra enough for inspiring me. I began acting with many insecurities and reservations; however, her engaging, informative and interactive approach has helped me develop tools to utilize on stage. She creates a safe environment where you can easily explore the world of acting and step out of your comfort zone. A spark has been ignited in me and I can now put myself out there with confidence. I would recommend her classes to anyone who desires to act or further develop their craft. Thank you Barbra.”

‘’Barbra taught me acting during my second year of University, when I was a very green and wide-eyed performer. She played a crucial role in constructing my foundations as an actor.  Barbra created a very trusting and loving environment, and discovered a fine balance between being a compassionate friend and a hard critic. She knew how to push my limits while still feeding my enthusiasm. I continue to pull from the exercises, the lists of plays, the ways of approaching text and the inspiration that she fed me. This includes a passion to create my own work and a need for performance in my life.’’

“Barbra is kind, patient, and respectfully direct – she creates a safe atmosphere of learning. She was able to offer us many different tools and well known methods in a short period of time, and it was up to us to take it farther if we chose.”

“She is very intelligent with a talent for connecting with her students. I took both acting fundamentals and the upper level scene study course from her which requires an audition for admittance. She ignites passion into her students and forces them to take ownership for their successes and failures as students. Her written assignments paired beautifully with her teaching style. I owe her for my post-grad successes’’

“I thoroughly enjoyed this short glimpse into the performing side of theatre, which was a whole new experience for me, and for working with such a great group of people. Thanks very much for sharing some of the secrets from your extensive experience, and I look forward to continuing this journey sometime in the future. I would recommend this course to anyone looking to take a first step on to a stage.“

“The workshop was extremely affordable, very informative, and gave us ample time to work   through the techniques with our own actors and script, plus the opportunity to see and review      each other’s work. This workshop was not only beneficial for the ‘directors’ but also for the   actors as they had the opportunity to also audit the directing portions of the workshop and         learn too…The whole process, from start to finish, was supportive, safe and nurturing.”

“Barbra French is a fantastic acting teacher and coach. I am thoroughly enjoying my 10 week acting class with Barbara this spring. I have learned a great deal about acting theories, realities of performance, practice with improv, body and voice work and breath. I appreciated the focus on “the moment on stage”, the basics of action/verbs vs. emotion and the support/tips for auditions. The class small group performance was fun, challenging with lots of coaching and teachable moments. I highly recommend this acting class.“