Who We Are
Play4Real works in association with members of the growing coterie of actors and other artists in the UK who have a business or non-arts career background as well as theatre training. This gives them a practical understanding of business as well as a breadth of professional experience as theatremakers.
This rich mix of specialist skills ignites new ideas and insights, to make learning & development engaging, memorable – and fun. By experiencing something of the professional rehearsal room, people from all walks of working life open up whole new ways of addressing the needs of the business world.
The Key Player
As a Play4Real client, you can be confident that we’re
providing the best people for the job.
In the world of the arts, networking and collaboration
are the essence of our culture – and we’re at ease with
paradox. So we’re happy to recommend and work
alongside counterparts who may also be competitors.
That means our response to your brief is grounded in a
diverse range of expertise and delivers just what you
want – in ways you may never have thought possible.
We regularly associate with consultants and artists like those below.
SAUL CAMBRIDGE read law at Cambridge University and trained as a solicitor with
Norton Rose in London, specialising in investment banking. He spent some time with
Citicorp Investment Bank before joining the prominent Midlands law firm, Freeth
Cartwright, where he became a partner and Head of the Company and Commercial
practice.
In 1995, Saul made a significant career change and became an actor, having won a
place at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, one of the UK’s leading drama schools.
Since graduating, most of his professional acting work has been on the UK stage,
including 3 national tours.
He now combines his acting career with his legal and corporate experience, working as a consultant and trainer. His clients include Zurich Financial Services, Red Bull, Pfizer and Scottish Courage amongst many others.
You can see Saul’s work in interactive Forum Theatre in The House That Danny Built, a customised play performed for two companies working in partnership.
ANNA TOLPUTT studied languages at Sheffield University and trained as a director
in St Petersburg and an actress in London. Her work as an actress has extended from
the London fringe to the National Theatre and independent British films to
commercial horror sequels. She also works as an opera director and a storyteller for
book publishers.
Since 2004, she has worked regularly in the corporate sector as a consultant. She
specialises in Forum Theatre as a corporate training method and has facilitated
workshops on Presentation Skills and Leadership amongst others. Clients have
included Zurich Insurance, ITV news, ITV Sales, National Archives, KMEBP, Mars and
WRVS – and for Play4Real, the NHBC and Mars Mexico Petcare.
She has also used role-play as an assessment tool for the NHS, Samaritans and Vodafone and writes and delivers interview skills Forum Theatre for young people in and around South London.
Anna combines her knowledge of languages and theatrical terminology as an interpreter for the Barbican Theatre and Sadlers Wells (in Spanish and Russian), manages educational tours around Europe and project manages international gala events for arts organisations.
MIRANDA KEELING grew up in Yorkshire, London, Wolverhampton, Holland and America. Add studying Russian into the mix and it’s easy to see how she developed her aptitude for character-work. As part of an improvised theatre company for many years, she built up a strong background in improvisation and forum theatre, connecting with audiences to create bespoke performances every time.
In the last 10-plus years, she has worked as a role-play actor, facilitator and/or presenter for a wide variety of companies and private clients, and loves working with Play4Real.
Corporate clients include: the NHBC, Microsoft, DHS, The Royal College of Surgeons, The NHS, Sony Ericsson, The Royal College of Anaesthetists, WOMAD Festival, Empire Cinema Leicester Square, Orange, American Express, L’Oréal, Cancer Research and Amnesty.
Theatre includes: Fatal Attraction in London’s West End, King Lear at Richmond’s Orange Tree Theatre, and a National Tour of Hamlet. TV includes: Emmerdale (ITV), Doctors, The Jigsaw Man (BBC 1), Crisis Control (CBBC) and Innocent: the Colin Stagg Story (BBC 1). Radio: Winner of the Norman Beaton BBC Radio Drama Award, Miranda has also been in many productions for BBC Radio Drama and independent companies, including Doctor Who.
Play4Real is run by Lin Sagovsky, who has been using her background as a professional actor, voiceover and writer for over twenty years to facilitate learning and development in business in creative ways.
Having trained to act at Manchester University and the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Lin studied for a Master’s degree in Playwriting in the USA. Alongside a career as an actor and voice artist, in the mid 1980s she began scripting corporate training and marketing films for organisations like Shell International, British Aerospace, Prudential, the Post Office, the Alzheimer’s Society and the Foreign Office.
Over the years she has become increasingly passionate about taking drama beyond the walls of the theatre or recording studio to combine her skills in a spectrum of live business contexts: as a roleplayer and forum theatre performer, a writer and director of interactive plays, a facilitator of interpersonal skills workshops, a private coach in speaking with confidence (both on Zoom and in person), and a creative consultant.
Often working in association with other arts-based training organisations, Lin has undertaken contracts for clients ranging from retail to blue chip companies; from local authorities to central government departments; and from small voluntary sector organisations to major financial services providers.
Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.
Miles Davis
Lin undertakes every new project with an approach that is special to the occasion and participant. She believes wholeheartedly in combining serious professionalism with sheer fun – as a creative structure in which people can learn new skills as well as find their own answers.
Surround yourself with people who take
their work seriously, but not themselves, those who work hard, and play hard.
Colin Powell
Others Who Play As Cast
