Jayden Stirland-Brown

Teacher of Drama / Equality, Diversity & Inclusivity Coordinator

I have no doubt that I wouldn’t be teaching drama every day now if I hadn’t have joined STAMP when I was only ten years old.

I remember wanting to give theatre a try, and two of the STAMP leaders coming into my school to deliver an assembly advertising their first summer school and thinking how that sounded fun. Although I couldn’t do the summer school in the end, I signed up to join the group in the September, and went on to spend 5 wonderful years with both STAMP and The Nearly Famous Performing Arts Group.

My time at STAMP not only taught me all things acting, singing and dancing, but so much more. I genuinely felt like I was part of a big, theatre-loving family; everyone was so supportive and I made some lifelong friends.

STAMP helped nurture my love for performing, firmly making me realise that I needed to do something related to Drama for my career.

My favourite shows had to be:

The Wizard of Oz
Bugsy Malone

After my time at STAMP, I started to specialise more in acting and then in technical theatre, completing my Degree in Drama whilst working at The Customs House as Director of their Junior Youth Theatre and as a casual hours technician, before then deciding to do my PGCE to become a secondary school drama teacher.

I am incredibly lucky to now share my passion for theatre with my students every day, and I definitely have STAMP to thank for helping me at the very beginning of that journey.

Just this December I directed Bugsy Malone myself with my students, knowing how much I enjoyed being in it with STAMP, and my Blousey Brown wore the very dress I myself wore playing that part 17 years ago at STAMP, which was my own little way to pay homage to everyone at STAMP who taught me in my time there.