A juggling act

If only my career had been linear – with one job leading to the next and the next – but in truth it has been a juggling act, trying to keep five roles in balance. I have been a writer/director; a teacher/coach; a performer; a higher education manager; and an expert reviewer for higher education.

20 years in education and performing arts has been eye-opening, challenging and fulfilling, and each role has guided me to where I am today. It seems I have always been working towards becoming Principal of a conservatoire.

Finding voices

After falling in love with opera as a teenager, I always wanted to direct it. While completing my degree, I was an assistant director to Malcolm Fraser at Buxton international Opera Festival.  Malcolm was a role model: an educator and a director who moved easily (it seemed) between the two. 

As I worked with voices, I was asked to teach voice at my old college. From there I applied for a role at the then new Arden School of Theatre in Manchester, headed by Rob Ely and Wyllie Longmore. Wyllie had noticed the phonetics strand of my degree and wanted a phonetics tutor so, once again, voice was my pathway.

Entry to education

My approach to education owes much to Wyllie’s vision. The 90s were an amazing time for developing regional actors for the burgeoning market in Manchester. Many went on to greater things nationally. 

From three-hours weekly teaching, with support and encouragement I was appointed voice tutor for the Arden. From Wyllie I learned that as a manager you can’t just take, you must give back. Happy and informed staff shape a community.

Dialect direction

While a phonetics and dialect tutor, I was invited to coach for theatre and TV productions. Work with Granada, the BBC, the Royal Exchange, the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Oldham Coliseum and Stoke New Vic signalled a very productive period, guided by some great people: Deborah Paige, Gwenda Hughes, Theresa Heskins and the late great Kay Magson.

You can learn so much from actors. No matter how much you understand an accent, each actor learns it in their own way. They are the one who have to stand on stage and speak it. You also learn from directors. 

I remember watching Michael Grandage working on The Man Who Had All the Luck at the Sheffield Crucible. He would ask his actors how they felt the scene went, let them analyse and define what they thought needed to happen, and then let them do it. 

Watching great people make great work informed my work as an educator and as a creative. No matter how much you might feel an imposter, you learn that you have knowledge and skills to make work better. Teaching and creating, I quickly realised, involve the same process. They only work if you listen and encourage.

During this period, I continued directing, moving away from opera (the Thatcher government saw a lot of funding pulled) into plays and musicals, transferring my learning from others to my own work. Self-improvement is fundamental to my work.

Moving into management

Perhaps that why, in 2009, I started working for the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA). As I took on managerial roles, at QAA I was able to observe managers in much the same way I had observed actors and directors. Directing is a form of management and my experience at QAA enabled me to focus my improvement on the managerial aspect of my career.

At this time, I returned to the stage as a concert host. For some 15 years I wrote, directed and performed in countless programmes across the country. I believe as a teacher, you must be able to do the thing you teach. Whether that is a fun New Year’s Eve programme or a performance where I’m the composer under scrutiny, it all informs my teaching. I also returned to opera, but not in the way I expected.

Heading into higher education

In a big gear shift, in 2012 I applied to become subject leader in performing arts at Bath Spa University. In a university, the sensitivities of creatives are not at the forefront of strategy. Not everybody understands how many hours it takes to train an actor, a dancer or a singer. 

Over 12 years in Bath, progressing to head of department and then head of school, I grew into a respected colleague with a sector-wide sense of what makes higher education work. My coaching work decreased during this time; it’s challenging to take a few weeks to coach a movie when you have a timetable to deliver. But the time that freed up was filled by increased managerial work and, in time, studying for a PhD. 

I also worked to develop partnerships with the school, whose degrees Bath Spa validated. This allowed me to keep my foot in the conservatoire camp while still working in a vocational academic mode. One of those partners was The Scottish Institute, never imagining I would one day become its principal.

I continue as an Expert Reviewer for QAA, I have gained a PhD, and I am immersed in how we create work. Being Principal of a conservatoire, I bring all my experience gained over the years to the role.

Mark Langley is Principal of The Scottish Institute of Theatre, Dance, Film and Television.
 themagaacademy.com
 @_TheSInstitute