Best Mentorship Programme for Professional Actors

Hey, you -- need some help bringing
your own original work to life ?

Slow down, do less, be more:

The Art of Writing, Acting & Directing Mentorship

For actors who wish to be mentored in writing and directing led by three international teachers with over a century of combined professional experience across film, television, theatre, voice, and creative training.

I need this

INTRODUCING...

You'll get the chance to write, direct and act
in your own or another actor's piece.
Spending eight days creating from seed
to edit a 3 to 5 min short film.

Apply to join

Location:

All in-person workshops takes place at Helena Walsh’s home studio in Castleknock, Dublin 15 — a private, contained creative environment designed for focused ensemble work.

This is also where you will film your scenes.

One location.
One shared world.
Deeper collaboration.

Investment:

This programme is offered on a sliding scale, guided by trust and integrity.

€1500 EUR

Flexible payment plans are available.

BONUS: As this mentorship programme is limited to 12 participants, you'll get plenty of time for 1:1 feedback with each of the mentors. If this sounds like something that you would love, then come join us!

Apply now to join!

Here's what's inside:

You're going to

love

these

The Art of Script Writing

Beginning with being mentored by Conor, will spend two days working on the story with you, which you will then go away and write.

The Art of Acting

Working with Helena on fleshing out the character and world in the piece before a second edit.

The Art of Directing

Chris will work with you as a director and actor and shoot it, which you will then edit. You will be put in small groups where you will direct and act in each others pieces. You can choose to direct and act in your own or direct and act in another. This will be decided in Conor's workshop.

"A MASTER IN THE CRAFT OF DIRECTING"

"Chris Edmund is a master in the craft of directing. He creates a safe container for actors to play, explore, & collaborate…gracefully & elegantly inviting us into the unknown, like a magnificent sculptor, until the characters, story & piece itself are discovered and revealed. Chris’ process felt pure, energizing & expansive."

Kate Walsh
Actress

'There is not one job that I do when I’m not using one of the pearls of wisdom that Chris gave us. He was a very influential director, teacher and writer.'

Hugh Jackman
Actor

"LIFE-CHANGING"

"Helena Walsh's retreat was glorious and life changing. I love the community of actors she has curated and her teachings are inspiring and healing, on top of helping actors go to places inside ourselves we may never ever have gone to before. Truly wonderful. I love and miss everyone that I met there. I will be doing this more in the future. Hopefully at least once a year. It's a nice way to live too, in a daily practice of being present which only enjances our work as actors."

Rosanna Arquette
Actress

'It was great to work on an ensemble piece instead of the usual two hander scene to work on as we were all working together. Even though we were working on a scene from a play it felt more like screen work in the way the workshop was put together. To have the whole cast act out the scene around an actual dinner table was so immersive and engaging. I could easily have spent two more days working on it with Conor and he was a genuine joy to work with, and because he’s a working director on contemporary television his insights for that environment were essential learning. I loved every minute of it and would highly recommend the experience for anyone else to try. I’ll keep my eye open for the next one!”

Mark O' Loughran
Actor

"EXTRAORDINARY"

"Just had the BEST acting intensive with the fantstic Helena Walsh. To my fellow actors - make sure to check her out, she's really extraordinary! I learned so much about trusting my senses, working with the unconscious and it was just truly magical"

Marie Von Bose
Actress

'He pushes us as actors to be in relationship with the other actors on stage to work together and take the focus off ourselves"'

Andrew Hearle
Actor

Who will be teaching you The Art of Script Writing?

Me! I'm Conor Morrissey

Multi award-winning writer & director with over 20 years experience in the industry

Conor's credits include IFTA winners 'The Only Viking in the Village' and 'Hell Week'.

He was lead director on the breakout drama 'Red Rock, the first Irish show to be acquired by Amazon Prime. Since 2018, Conor has worked extensively in the UK, directing over 40 hours of Prime time Drama for the BBC.

He us currently developing the feature film 'Without Love', written by Booker Prize winner Paul Lynch.

Who will be teaching you The Art of Acting?

Me! I'm Helena Walsh

Voice, Acting and Human Empowerment & Resiliency Organic Intelligence® Coach | Teacher | Mentor. working internationally with conflict resolution

Helena Walsh is an internationally recognized voice, acting and empowerment coach with over 30 years of experience. As founder of Helena Walsh Empowerment Studios, she blends the performing arts with Organic Intelligence® and Neurosystemics™ to help individuals access greater truth, resilience, and creative freedom. She also works with people on the ground in areas of conflict.

Creator of "The Actor's Practice™: The Creative Path to the Integrated Actor", Helena’s methodology integrates nervous system intelligence, from a system's perspective with artistic and relational awareness. She has established an international creative hub with artists from different continents across the world, empowering their voices and creative process to be rebalanced, restored and inspired from a place of conscious, social and environmental awareness.

Helena also designs empowerment and resiliency programs, working with activists and people who wish to establish systemic change in the world. She works with people from all over the world coaching and teaching frameworks to support people living in areas of clonflict, both in countries at war and within organisations, who wish to affect change in the world. Helena's work is a practice in the art of conflict resolution towards peace and reconciliation within one's own human neurobiology, one's own relationships, within society and towards our planet. All dimensions of reality experienced through the lens of the creative process.

She is co-founder of The Actor’s Practice and holds certifications in multiple somatic and voice methodologies. Whether working with artists or changemakers, Helena empowers people to live, create, and lead with clarity, compassion, depth and connection.

Who will be teaching you The Art of Directing?

Me! I'm Chris Edmund

Director, teacher, writer, and artist with over 40 years of international experience in theatre, performance training, and creative development.

Chris has spent more than 25 years as Head of Acting at WAAPA (Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts), where he played a central role in shaping one of the world’s most respected acting and directing training programmes. Over that time, he directed more than 100 productions, championed new writing, and developed work that continues to influence contemporary theatre practice.

Chris has directed over 150 productions worldwide, working across Australia, the UK, Europe, Asia, and South America. His career spans classical, contemporary, and original work, and his plays — many of which he wrote and directed — have received high critical acclaim and international publication.

Actors trained under his guidance include Hugh Jackman, Frances O’Connor, and Jai Courtney. Hugh Jackman has described Chris as a formative influence, crediting him with insights he continues to use throughout his career.

Alongside his theatre work, Chris has directed for film and worked internationally as a voice director, including on Emmy Award–winning animated series. His teaching is known for its depth, humanity, rigour, and care — creating rehearsal environments where truth, vulnerability, and craft can meet.

Let's Talk Modules

The breakdown

Part One

Story, Structure and Voice

with Conor Morrissey — 20+ years in screen storytelling

Saturday & Sunday · April 11–12, 2026
🕙 10am–5pm
📍 Helena Walsh’s Home Studio, Castleknock, Dublin 15

Conor brings two decades of professional experience directing and developing drama for film and television — where scripts must work, not just impress.

This workshop focuses on:

fundamental storytelling principles
character, structure, genre, and world-building
finding your voice within professional frameworks
writing from environment and limitation

You’ll work both as a group and individually, with each story explored in front of the ensemble — so learning happens collectively.

Outcome: a disciplined script in strong shape, ready to move into rehearsal and direction.

Part Two:

Dream State Work of the Writer

with Helena Walsh — 30+ years of voice, acting & nervous-system regulation practice

Helena's Home Studio · Sunday, March 29, 2026
🕛 11am–4pm

Helena’s work integrates decades of experience across the performing arts, somatic intelligence, and empowerment practices — supporting artists to stay open, resourced, and creatively alive.

This workshop deepens:

character identity and inner world
image-based storytelling
first-person narrative and voice
nervous-system conditions for sustainable vulnerability

This is where the story gains depth, resonance, and coherence from the inside out.

Part Three

The Art of Directing

with Chris Edmund — 40+ years of international theatre & training lineage

Wednesday-Sunday · April 15–19, 2026
🕙 10am–5pm
📍 Helena Walsh’s Home Studio, Castleknock, Dublin 15

Chris brings over four decades of directing, teaching, and developing original work — including training actors who have gone on to international careers.

This workshop centres on:

relationship and contact between actors
directing with clarity, precision, and care
rehearsal as a responsive, living process

The atmosphere is intentionally supportive and light — a hallmark of long-term practitioners who understand how deep work is sustained over time.

ACCESS The art of writing, acting and directing Mentorship

Apply now to join ➡

"Her work is extraordinary"

"Helena assisted me in opening up doors to my character’s history & helped to unlock elements to their story. Her work is extraordinary and drives you to build a world around your character through narrative and imagination. Her help and support is like no other. Highly recommend working with this master craftswoman.."

LAURENCE O' FUARAIN
ACTOR

I've been working with Helena since we met in acting school a number of years ago. She's like a wizard that can see and bring out things in you that you might never thought possible without her. Helena has genuinely helped me be a better, happier and more balanced actor and human. Couldn't recommend her and the team enough

Jason Daly
Actor

Working with Helena was one of the best decisions I've ever made. It has transformed my approach to acting, and since working with her I've seen huge self-growth - both as an actor and on a personal level. I'm excited to continue working with Helena and to see where her work and support takes me next.

Aine Flanagan
Actress

Helena’s teachings and support will guide you through a journey of discovery and exploration of the humanity in not only you as the artist, but also in you as yourself. You’ll feel more empowered and fearless as she brings light into the unknown ahead of your artistry’s journey. I’ve been studying with her for a while and all I can say now is that, reading a script, working on character and telling stories have become so nuanced, so humane and magical. So, I can’t recommend her enough. She’s a badass coach and human being!.

Matheus Tonon
Actor

The most brilliantly adaptive acting training imaginable, one of the greats.

Justin Ensor
Actor

I'm ready to join

I'M IN

Still Got Questions?

What are the logistics?

HOW MUCH IT COSTS?

WHAT IS FITZMAURICE VOICEWORK?

What is Fitzmaurice Voicework®?
The purpose of Fitzmaurice Voicework® is to support people in finding and using their unique voices—in healthy, clear, and creative ways—while developing greater freedom and presence.

Fitzmaurice Voicework® combines adaptations of classical voice training techniques with modifications of yoga, shiatsu, bioenergetics, energy work, and many other disciplines (see primary sources for more information). This integration serves to harmonize the voluntary and involuntary aspects of the nervous system, and the voice.

Through deep and practical explorations of the dynamics between body, breath, voice, imagination, and language, the work develops vibrant voices that communicate intention and feeling without excess effort.

Fitzmaurice Voicework focuses on the whole human voice, and can support speaking for performance, public speaking, singing, voice with movement, vocal rehabilitation, and developing greater presence. Since breath and voice lie at the intersection of the material and the non-material, this work can also assist in creative, intellectual, and spiritual growth. Visit Writings to explore further.

Where is it taught?
Fitzmaurice Voicework® is taught at Yale School of Drama, Harvard University/American Repertory Theatre's Institute for Advanced Theatre Training, New York University's Graduate Acting Program (and some NYU undergraduate studios), the University of California-Irvine, and hundreds of other institutions around the world.

Fitzmaurice Voicework® includes:

Destructuring
Destructuring promotes awareness and aliveness in the body, spontaneous and free breathing, and wide-ranging vocal expressivity—using Tremorwork®, a variety of other dynamic exercises, and hands-on work.

Restructuring
Restructuring encourages a healthy economy of effort while speaking or singing—and a deep connection to language and listener—using modified bel canto techniques and the "focus line."

Presence
Presence work develops natural vibrancy and the capacity to be open to the world while still having healthy boundaries. It is rooted in being fluidly aware of internal and external experiences while focusing on what matters in the moment.

Play
Play invites you to bring your whole spirit and curiosity to whatever you're engaging with. Within the context of play, you can explore all applications of Fitzmaurice Voicework.

What is Organic Intelligence®?

What is Neurosystemics?

What is NeuroSystemics

NeuroSystemics is a mindfulness-based and relational method for people's personal and collective development towards greater levels of well-being, resilience, and empowerment in dealing with the challenges of daily life (work, relationships, community, culture). So that we can begin to meet and master life's challenges, which deepens our experience of meaning, aliveness and belonging.

How does NeuroSystemics work

Neuro = nervous system (which organizes the way we process information and experiences)

Systems = the many layers of systems (relational, cultural, societal, ecological) that we live within

NeuroSystemics session = we have a free and unstructured conversation in which we'll talk about whatever is at the foreground of your life's unfolding that day (personally or as a group). As a Neurosystemics practictioner, I will help you explore your here-and-now experience that goes along with the content of our conversation. As we'll begin to explore and expand on -- often unnoticed -- signals that are coming from your body and mind, we find that when these signals are noticed and nurtured by our shared attention, they will begin to bring new insights and resources for meeting and mastering your challenges and goals in life.

What's different about the approach

Working with the whole nervous system (MOSAIC) instead of one channel (like CBT, or emotion-focused, or hypnotherapy with imagery, etc.)
A positive reinforcement and non-pathologizing framework (looking for signs of health and healing instead of disease and disorder)
Going beyond Resiliency (phase 2) towards Prosilience / Coherence (phase 3). Prosilience (and coherence) mean our capacity to grow in many ways. This happens by meeting and mastering life's challenges. We therefore hold the possibility of living a full life, with on-going exploration of our human experience and an ever-increasing curiosity that fuels learning, growth and (spiritual) development.
Leaving behind the excessive reductionism and individualism of traditional therapy. We rather include all systems that we (and our clients) live in and engage with (i.e. Sense, Self, Social, Societal, Soil, Stars, what have you). To do that we offer different practices (self-regulation, 1on1, circles, forums)
We are utilizing the importance of the healing relationship and actively engaging as therapist/facilitator as compared to ‘doing a protocol’.

MY LAST PIECE OF ADVICE

In practice, we open space for story to happen.

Being in story requires experiencing it, which is very different to analysing it. For stories to emerge imbued with complexity, you need to offer your body the initial conditions of safety and pleasure - so then you can risk and discover and surrender to the unknown. Trusting your embodied imagination reveals the story to you - so you and the audience are constantly surprised. We practice until it happens.

Hey, you -- need some help bringing your own original work to life ?