About

Acting Teacher - Daniel Bradford
Daniel Bradford is an actor, director and head acting teacher of 'Mindful Acting'. He is also Artistic Director of critically acclaimed theatre and film production company Play With Fire Productions.
Dan's approach to teaching is one of unwavering compassion and commitment to the students he is working with. As Sanford Meisner said, "That which hinders your task, is your task", and this is the approach he takes towards the natural psychological barriers that prevent actors from reaching their true potential, instead of shaming someone for not understanding immediately. His perspective on acting and technique is that by integrating all other acting disciplines with the principles of Mindfulness, one can begin to truly understand what works and WHY it works for your individual mind. We can then discard the things that are unhelpful while investing further in the practical skills that lead to great acting and freedom in performance.
He regularly coaches people on not just how to get the most out of their acting, but also how to get the most out of their lives, through their relationship to acting. He believes that the only way to lead a fully present and fulfilling life in acting is to develop a sustainable approach which takes your whole life and happiness into account, not just your external markers of career "success".
What is Mindful Acting?
At Mindful Acting, we don't just see wellbeing as something separate to acting to help with stress management, but as integral to the very craft of acting itself. We learn how to integrate mindfulness and actor training the same way voice and movement are integrated. Here we teach mindfulness as it was originally intended; not as a bandaid, but as a pathway to emotional, psychological, and physical freedom.
We believe under the right guidance and context, the experiential exercises developed by generations of actors and acting teachers can help people of all backgrounds to access their inherent presence, self-worth, creativity, vulnerability and authenticity.
Mindful Acting is an interdisciplinary technique that combines acting techniques, mindfulness and humanistic psychology in order to break through personal barriers and blocks. These blocks are what inhibit actors and working professionals from being able to fully embody their authentic selves in front of others.
We believe that the wisdom cultivated over thousands of years of empirical exploration in the traditions of mindfulness, secular buddhism and other contemplative traditions, removed of their cultural assumptions offer both a rich vocabulary and no-nonsense, practical approach to cultivating skills important for all but essential to actors and those in the public arena such as attentional endurance and flexibility, introspective and relational awareness, deep listening, working with anxiety and nerves and emotional accessibility and openness.
By forming an interdisciplinary approach that embraces all available sources of inspiration, we hope to help foster the next generation of great performers, artists, leaders, public speakers and storytellers.


Practical Aesthetics
What is Practical Aesthetics?
Practical Aesthetics (PA) is an acting technique developed by the director and playwright David Mamet and actor William H Macy. It was developed as an antidote to the confusing, inaccessible and shame-inducing acting approaches, often promoted in mainstream actor training. Its goal is to provide a practical approach to acting. Its ethos is simple and effective and is an essential tool for anyone who feels they have never had a truly reliable and systematic technique from which to approach any and every script.
Too many systems and teachers ask you to ‘have a technique’ without ever giving you a basic scaffolding on which to develop your own personal approach, or alternatively demand you only adopt and memorise their specific ‘all-encompassing’ textbook. This is not another 12-20 step system that tends to confuse you further. This is a simple 4 step technique that will do the only thing an acting technique should do, set you free.
The technique draws from the later writings of Stanislavsky, the works of Sanford Meisner, Joseph Campbell, Aristotle, William James, Carl Jung and philosophy of stoicism.
Why do we need script analysis?
Ever felt lost on stage? Maybe you’re emotionally charged but are unable to focus it anywhere meaningful. Or perhaps you’re lost in your own head - confused, self-conscious and mechanical. What if you’ve done all your ‘homework’ out of guilt but all it’s done is left you feeling like you’re painting by numbers, lifeless and uninspired. This is where a good script analysis technique comes in.
Why Practical Aesthetics?
There are many script analysis techniques out there and to be sure you need to find what works best over time for your mind, however, they are not all created equal. Practical Aesthetics is a great place to start or come to when the previous techniques have failed. It provides the essentials and a framework giving you a reliable, practical and efficient system to apply to any audition or script situation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course not! We cater to all levels of experience. From beginners to seasoned professionals.
If you're coming to us for the first time and don't have any experience, we recommend starting with private 1-1 sessions with Dan. He can teach you the fundamentals tailored directly to you so that you can feel confident going into group classes, whether it's with us or anywhere else. 1-1 sessions can be done in person or online, whatever suits you best!
Of course! If you have any questions at all, you're always welcome to call me during business hours or message me anytime. Feel free to use the messenger options available on your screen or head to my Contact page.
Not at all! I work with people from all backgrounds to help them find more fulfilment, confidence and presence in their lives. Although my first passion is for working with actors, also being an actor myself, I have clients from all backgrounds. From students to office workers to CEO's, if you like what you see, please feel free to get in touch and have a chat about how we might best work together.
Both! Acting through the lens of mindfulness is transferable to all styles of acting, even audio!
No! A lot has been said about mindfulness in recent years that make it seem like it's simply a mental stress-ball, but that's not really an accurate description.
Mindfulness is about coming into a non-adversarial relationship to your experience so that you can be more effective in all your interactions in life. When properly practiced, communication becomes clearer, self-doubt lessens and your tolerance for difficult thoughts and emotions increases. If anything mindfulness can help you tap into your creative edge more!
Yes! Since the beginning of the pandemic and even before, safety has always been one of our top priorities. You can't allow yourself to open up to your inner world if you don't feel safe! For all in-person classes, we have a set of strict COVID guidelines that we reassess on a regular basis to make sure we are not just complying, but exemplifying safety for our students. Check out our COVID Guidelines at the bottom of the page.
As many as you like! With my private coaching and 'Meditation for Actors' classes the offer to purchase bulk-book multiple sessions at once is available.
It ranges from session to session, from pay-what-you-can with 'Meditation for Actors', to £35 an hour with my private coaching. However, if you book multiple sessions at once you’ll be able to save up to 20%! That means only £28 per hour!
Absolutely! Our Scene Study classes can be paid in weekly instalments. If upfront costs for any of our other classes present a barrier to you attending, please do get in touch as we’re keen to ensure that these workshops are accessible to all.
Don’t worry! People have lives and clashes are unavoidable. Wherever possible we can always rearrange or book you onto a future session. Just make sure to read our terms and conditions when you book.
With 'Scene Study' this is slightly different as attendance at all sessions is compulsory, unless approved personally by Dan previously. Due to the nature of the classes, any absences directly affect other members of the group so we ask you only commit to attending if you can 100% make the dates.
With all classes, if there is any preparation required from you, we’ll make sure to get in touch well ahead of time!
With Scene Study in particular, after booking you’ll receive the scene you’ll be working on throughout the course. To take full advantage of the experience you should be as close to off-script as possible by the time the first class comes around. This is why we recommend booking as early as possible and don’t take bookings less than one week prior to the start of the course, to provide ample time for preparation and assignment of scenes and partners. There is also the expectation you and your partner(s) will meet up outside of our weekly classes to put into practice things we chat about and make the most of the time we spend together.
Book Online Now
Check availability and book your online or in-person acting class with our live booking calendar!