The WORKS Workshops

...were created by Roger Irvin Dunn and Mark Montgomerie, who between them, have over forty years of performance experience. They have collaborated artistically on several productions and other artistic ventures. This project has a sense of culmination of their 18 year friendship. They wish to pass on their knowledge to other actors, writers and directors, using a system of tangible tools that can be used for any performance based project.

Roger Irvin Dunn

Rogers performance career began in the jazz-funk fusion clubs of the early eighties, at the age of 19 he began to study contemporary technique and ballet at the Leicestershire County school of Dance, with whom he later performed at the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester and at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

His first public performance took place some two months later. This was followed by two weeks in attendance at The Jamaican School of Dance (Kingston, Jamaica), where he took class with Jackie Guy and Barrington Moncrieffe. He went on to take A-levels in Dance and Drama (the dance course being the first of its kind in the country) at Charles Keene College, Leicester.
Simultaneously he was a member of a community dance group, Leicester Ensemble of Dance. While with L.E.D. he created his first piece of choreography, which debuted at the Haymarket Studio, Leicester in 1985.

In 1986, he was accepted into the Dance Theatre course at the Laban Centre for Movement and Dance, where he studied under Dale Thompson, Peter Curtiss, Karen Greenhough, and many other influential mentors.

Upon leaving the Laban Centre, Roger decided that it was time to return to his love of drama rather than follow a purely dance oriented path, as it had always been his ambition to close the gap between the disciplines. In 1990 he co-founded the fringe theatre company Fingers In Pies, where he gained experience as a Director, Lighting Designer, Administrator, Script Editor and Casting Director.

Roger went on to work as an Actor, Dancer, Choreographer, and Percussionist on the London fringe, as well as small and middle scale theatres throughout the UK. In recent years his interest has moved more and more towards the medium of film working on a number of shorts, and several features, as either an Actor or Dancer / Choreographer.

Mark Montgomerie

While studying sciences at college in Leicester, Mark discovered a great love for acting which led him to study "A" level Theatre Studies at Charles Keene College, Leicester (the first "A" level of its kind). While studying he joined `Lansdowne Theatre Workshop' and was also a founder member of `Unlimited Company' a sister group of `Lansdowne'. `Unlimited Company' developed workshops for schools and community groups, aimed at creating tolerance and understanding between the sexes, sexuality and race.

After the Theatre Studies course he moved to London (the place to be) and worked for the Manpower Services Commission (MSC) as a facilitator of acting workshops for the unemployed.

He went on to attend East 15 Acting School on the 3-year acting course. Upon graduating in `89 he made his professional debut with the `National Student Theatre Company' in a premiere of a new translation of Federico G. Lorca's "When Five Years Pass". The show opened, to much acclaim, at the `89 Edinburgh Festival and was a Fringe 1st winner.

Mark then became a founder member of `ShoWoMan Productions' - a company set up by two former Directors of East 15 acting school. The two productions ("To The Ladies Who Drive Mercedes" and "Stroking The Pigeons") enjoyed a season each at the Edinburgh Festival, Mark was involved as lighting, sound and stage manager in one and performed in the next.

Mark has since gained plenty of experience in Theatre and Television performance, several Films and a brief but informative dip into Radio.