Julian Jones
Senior Lecturer in Acting
Summary
Julian Jones trained at RADA 1984–1986 and has worked as an actor in theatre, television and film for the past 25 years. He is a Lecturer in Acting at Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance, where he both teaches and directs.
His work with first-year actors is focused on the teachings of Konstantin Stanislavski and Sanford Meisner. With second-year actors, he teaches Absurdist Theatre in Semester 1 and Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama in Semester 2. He also teaches Dramaturgy to L4 and is Contextual Study Coordinator across all three years of the Acting and Actor Musician Programmes. For several years he has – jointly with colleague David Zoob – delivered a workshop on Brecht for the MA Directing course at Birkbeck College and has also run workshops on Brecht and Shakespeare for the East 15 directors course.
Teaching
Research
Teaching Area
Acting Practice and Contextual Studies
Qualifications
Diploma in Acting – RADA
BA in History and Archaeology (First Class) – Birkbeck College
Master’s in Classical Studies (with Distinction) – The Open University
Diploma – the Epidaurus Summer School, run by the University of Athens
Memberships
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Professional Practice
Recent acting roles include: Marley in A Christmas Carol (2019); Dr Wilson in Human Emotional Process (2016) and Prospero in The Tempest (2015).
Julian was the founding Artistic Director of Burning Oak Theatre. In August 2013, Burning Oak took their production of Royal Court Young Writer, Thomas Clancy’s new play, Novemberunderground, to the Edinburgh Festival, following London performances at the Soho Theatre Upstairs and Theatre503. Their second production, Pussy, again by Thomas Clancy, was premiered at The Phoenix Arts Club in London in July 2014.
Since 2015, Julian has taught yearly workshops on Stanislavski’s ‘system’ at the University of Malta.
Julian peer reviews for both the New Theatre Quarterly and the Stanislavski Studies journals.
Julian has externally examined for the BA Acting programmes at Manchester Metropolitan University and the Institute of the Arts, Barcelona.
External Duties
External Examiner: BA Acting, Manchester Metropolitan University
External Examiner: BA Acting, Institute of the Arts Barcelona
Publications
Book Chapters
Jones, J. (2014). In Unwin, S. (ed.) The Complete Brecht Toolkit. London: Nick Hern Books.
Book Reviews
Jones, J. (2022). ‘Modern theatre in Russia: tradition building and transmission processes’. Stanislavski Studies, 10(1), pp. 101-103. https://doi.org/10.1080/20567790.2021.2011078
Jones, J. (2020). ‘Objectives, obstacles and tactics in practice: perspectives on activating the actor’. Stanislavski Studies, 8(2), pp. 265-267. https://doi.org/10.1080/20567790.2020.1781751
Jones, J. (2020). ‘Acting Chekhov In Translation: 4 Plays, 100 Ways’. Stanislavski Studies, 8(1), pp. 155-159. https://doi.org/10.1080/20567790.2019.1700732
Jones, J. (2018). ‘Acting in the academy: the history of professional actor training in US higher education’. Stanislavski Studies, 6(2), pp. 221-223. https://doi.org/10.1080/20567790.2018.1513229
Jones, J. (2015). ‘The Complete Stanislavsky Toolkit: Revised Edition’. Stanislavski Studies, 3(2), pp. 213-215. https://doi.org/10.1080/20567790.2015.1079051
Jones, J. (2015). ‘Checking Out Chekhov: A Guide to the Plays for Actors, Directors, and Readers. By Sharon Marie Carnicke.’ Stanislavski Studies, 3(1), pp. 90-92. https://doi.org/10.1080/20567790.2015.11428615
Jones, J. (2015). ‘John Gillett Acting Stanislavski: a Practical Guide to Stanislavski’s Approach and Legacy’. New Theatre Quarterly, 31(2), pp. 197-198. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266464X15000305
Interviews
Jones, J. (2018). ‘Stanislavsky’s ‘Magic If’. Interviewed by Dr Stefan Aquilina. Cultural Transmission of Actor Training Techniques, University of Malta. 18 and 19 April. Available at: https://www.ctatt.org/interviews-julian-jones. (Accessed: 30 March 2023).
Journal Articles
Jones, J. (2020). ‘Stanislavski and The Theatre of the Absurd’, Stanislavski Studies, 8(2), pp. 247-264. https://doi.org/10.1080/20567790.2020.1814554
Jones, J. (2019). ‘The actor and the character: explorations in the psychology of transformative acting by Vladimir Mirodan (Routledge 2019). A critical response by Julian Jones’, Stanislavski Studies, 7(2), pp. 253-260. https://doi.org/10.1080/20567790.2019.1653005
Research Interests
Stanislavski; Ancient Greek theatre; Shakespeare; Anton Chekhov; The Theatre of The Absurd; emotion & language.