Hannah Soulsby-Phillips
Founder & Principal
MA Theatre, BA (hons) Acting, LAMDA Examiner
Hannah trained at Birmingham School of Acting, graduating in 2006 with a BA (hons) in Acting, (Musical Theatre Pathway) and Guildford School Acting, gaining a MA in Theatre in 2022. She also holds ABRSM Music Theory qualifications, Estill Voice Training, she is a Vocal Health First Aider and a LAMDA Examiner.
Her professional performing credits include: Technofear at the Hazlitt Theatre, Kent, Hansel and Gretel (Welsh tour), Mrs. Jessop (National UK tour), King Billy Learns Respect (musical), The Engine/Vita Nova (rehearsed readings), and 'Under Milk Wood' with Conspiracy Theatre Company.
In 2012 she co-founded Rummage Theatre, a professional Theatre Company for whom Hannah wrote three plays - 'Cleansed', 'Captive Minds' & 'Behind the Wallpaper'. Rummage enjoyed popular runs at Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Directing and Musical Directing Credits include: Singing in the Rain, Around the World in 80 Days, Crazy For You, Alice Returns, The Importance of Being Earnest, An Ideal Husband, Footloose, Ravers (NT Connections), Little Women, Grease and The Wizard of Oz.
For almost 20 years, Hannah has been working with performers across the UK as a singing and drama coach.
She is currently on the Teaching Faculty of The Dorset Foundation College and Wilkes Academy in Swindon, training BTEC and Degree students.
Hannah recognised that there was little choice for a budding actor who wished to train in Acting and Film, rather than Musical Theatre, so she created DDA to provide specialist actor training to under 21's.
Hannah's students have been cast in professional music videos, short films and plays and many have gone on to train at some of the country's top drama schools.
Victoria Eldon
Pre-Juniors & LAMDA Teacher BA (Hons)
Victoria is a professional actress from Bournemouth. Her theatre training began in Stratford Upon Avon where she spent a year on an intensive course in conjunction with the Royal Shakespeare Company and then went on to complete her BA (Hons) in Acting at the Arts University Bournemouth graduating in 2011.
Since then Victoria has worked extensively in both film and theatre and has appeared in several feature films including "Stalled" and "Territory" as well as numerous TV adverts and many short films.
As a keen teacher and workshop leader for children of all ages Victoria has taught for various drama schools across Dorset and Hampshire and has taught LAMDA for over 5 years with a 100% pass rate for her students.
DDA are proud to have one of the best LAMDA results rates in Dorset, with 90% of their students achieving Distinctions.
Melissa Gotobed
Film Class Teacher BA (Hons)
Show Videographer
Melissa has a first class BA (Hons) Television Production degree at Bournemouth University.
Her professional production credits include being the 2nd Unit Director/Assistant Editor/Production Assistant for Dan Fam Productions and DAL Productions on their TV Pilot Jenna The Great and other recent projects, assisting on several film sets, and running MG Showreels in association with Hashtag Talent.
Melissa has a passion for film and TV and loves helping others to develop their production skills to create their own productions from concept to filming.
Hattie Gotobed
Junior Drama Teacher/LAMDA Teacher
Hattie is a professional actor and facilitator from Dorset. She has 15+ years' experience in the film and theatre industry and at the age of 14 Hattie was named one of IMDB's rising stars and won Best Actress at The Marbella International film festival.
In 2026, Hattie has been a co-founder in a Dorset Young Company, spent 5 weeks theatre Directing across Asia, and become a National Youth Theatre member after training with the company in London. Hattie got her start in facilitating for Dorset Drama Academy, and is approaching her 10 year anniversary, she now facilitators and teaches LAMDA exams at multiple schools. Her favourite thing about working in youth theatre is the ability to build imagination and storytelling from the bright, curious lense of children.
Screen:
Game of thrones (HBO), Kind of Spark (BBC), A Taste for Murder (ITV), Snow White & The Huntsman, Beast (BFI), Doc Martin (ITV), Tom Jones (ITV), Doctors (BBC) and more.
Theatre:
Perdita in A Winter's Tale (Brownsea Open Air Theatre), Yernagate's Enterprises (Forest Forge), Learning Adventure (State of Play)
R&D's- The Huger Games on stage, Missing Dan Nolan, Feather boy.
Directing/ assistant directing:
Wendy & Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Wicked, James & the Giant Peach, Yeregate's Enterprise, Mulan, Zodiac and Aladdin.
Celia Jones
LAMDA Teacher
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Celia is an award winning, professional actress and has been working in the entertainment industry for over twenty years. With a passion for theatre, she has performed on many stages and toured shows all over the UK and abroad. She has also appeared in music videos, pantomimes, feature films, TV shows and a Vauxhall car commercial directed by Jake Nava, (who famously directed Beyoncé’s ‘Single Ladies’ Music Video!)
Celia has an aptitude for communication and has helped many people over the years to build confidence and find their voice.
“I’m so excited to become an official member of the DDA team! I always enjoy working with the students, who bring such enthusiasm to the classes. Bring on September!”
Chaz Davenport
Inters 2 Teacher
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Chaz has been acting, directing, staging and writing for over thirty years. Chaz started, like many, giving children’s theatre – his first production
being a short play where he played a singing toy soldier. Soon, finding a taste for direction, he moved to more contemporary productions by Willy Russell and Alan Ayckbourn as both actor and director.
In the late 1990s, having been cast in a small scale production of The Comedy of Errors, Chaz began a journey into the works of Shakespeare – performing in other smaller scale productions before moving to the nationally respected and renowned Brownsea Open Air Theatre in 2006 where he played Leonato in Much Ado about Nothing.
Chaz also performed in several shows at Christchurch’s Regent Centre as part of the in house company there “Regent Rep”, being part of the cast who took part in the Sky TV “Sky Arts” show playing Edgar/Poor
Tom in an extract from King Lear at the RST in Stratford upon Avon – for the TV cameras.
For B.O.A.T Chaz has played Capulet in R&J, Stephano in The Tempest, Gower in Pericles and Falstaff in Henry IV parts I and II being part of the winning cast chosen by the Royal Shakespeare Company to perform (again) at the RST in Stratford.
Chaz directed the last full production to be performed on Brownsea Island – Macbeth in 2024, which saw critical acclaim and, for Chaz, found him working so well with the many younger players in his cast that the next logical step for him would be to take natural energy and his love of acting to pass it on and bring the next generation of actors his wealth of
experience and enthusiasm.
Now in his second academic year with DDA, Chaz is finding that the bringing out the natural talent and raw energy of his students is one of the most satisfying elements of his career in the performing arts.
Mark Phillips
Mark, better known as 'The Theatrical Carpenter', is our resident set-designer and props maker. With decades of carpentry and construction experience and heaps of creativity, he has created some fabulous set pieces and fun props for all kinds of DDA shows!
He is also the friendly face you will see Front of House at all DDA Classes and if you're really lucky, he might even make you a cup of tea!
Mark is a trained first-aider and experienced SEN teaching assistant.
Caitlin
Juniors Class Assistant
Leonardo
Inters Class Assistant
