STEPHANIE CONNELL
ACTING
Stephanie Connell is the progeny of an Irish actor father and a renowned film editor mother. Her brother, Michael Connell, is a feature film music editor, working on Matilda, at the moment – so the arts are definitely in the family blood!
She trained professionally as a ballerina at the Hampshire Ballet School, when it was that, where Anthony Dowell first studied. After quite literally breaking her leg, sadly, she discovered that dancing and ski-ing did not mix, so she continued with her acting instead.
Her theatrical roles include: An Inspector Calls (Oxford Playhouse); The Curious Case of Lady Fowler (September 2019 short tour); Go for it, Girl! (September 2018 short tour); Beneath the Blue Rinse (lighting technician and co-producer, 2018 short tour); The Wet Peacock and The Owl & Pussy-Cat: What Happened Next (October 2017 short tour); The Wet Peacock and Heart Broken, (May 2017 short tour); Silent on the Matter (Old Fire Station, Oxford); William Langland, Poet & Dreamer (Malvern Festival); Storyteller (Watermill); The Merry Wives of Essex (Watermill); Best Laid Plans (Soho Theatre); The Song of the Shore (Windsor Festival); The Nearly Man (Windsor Festival); The Merry Wives of Windsor (Salisbury); An Inspector Calls (Everyman Cheltenham & Oxford Playhouse); Table Manners (Wycombe Swan). In Melbourne, Les Liaisons Dangereuses; Bold Girls; The Norman Conquest Trilogy, to name but a few.
Film and television appearances include Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Vauxhall Heroes Ident, The Paradox Series, Rapture, Like a Rolling Stone, Isadora, Call of the Wild, Triple Zero, Angel Baby, GSOH, Shop Spank, National Trust Away Day, Halifax fp, Good Morning Australia, Oxy on the Spot and Living Dangerously.
For full information on her acting credits, click any of the the follow icons:
She is a member of Actors & Writers London and the Watermill Theatre’s Actors Forum, a trained computer systems analyst and an award winning web designer.
NEWS
April-May 2021: Stephanie is back to doing more online roleplays, with the medical students at John Radcliffe – Oxford University Hospitals and RCA training for Complete CSA Courses.
March: Living the Drama’s production of Penetration by Carolyn Lloyd-Davies, has now been rescheduled for the third time, for 22 Sept-9 Oct at the Cockpit Theatre, London. Fingers crossed!
September 2020-March 2021: Stephanie is lead simulator/organiser on online MRCGP Examination Recorded Consultation Assessment (RCA) practice for Health Education England – Thames Valley region.
May-September: Stephanie is back to doing medical role plays but this time online with Oxford University.
March: Sadly, Living the Drama’s production of Penetration by Carolyn Lloyd-Davies, has been postponed until March 2021 due to the Covid-19 Virus.
February/March: Stephanie is currently teaching Communications Skills to the medical students at Buckingham University, Milton Keynes.
January 2020: Stephanie is the Lead Simulator for GP Registrar Interviews in February, for Health Education England for the Thames Valley.
She is also filming a medical short film for Pzifer, a bio-pharmaceutical company.
And been appointed as an Actor Facilitator for Communications Skills training for the medical students at Buckingham University, Milton Keynes.
October 2019: Stephanie appeared in Stephen Daldry’s multi-award winning production for the National Theatre of An Inspector Calls at the Oxford Playhouse, 15-19 October.
Stephanie is the Casting Director for Living the Drama’s production of Penetration by Carolyn Lloyd-Davies, which will be performed at The Cockpit, London 29 April – 16 May, 2020.
September: StageWrite have written to advise that The Curious Case of Lady Fowler has been accepted and want to present it as part of its festival on 28 September 2019 at The Place Theatre, Bedford.
ROLEPLAYER
Stephanie is also a professional medical roleplayer, working alongside training doctors to help medical students obtain the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours to be able to communicate effectively with patients, relatives and colleagues in varying circumstances. She works for the NHS, training clinicians to have a better understanding of patients with chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, depression, chronic pain, COPD and patients with difficult lifestyle behaviours. She is a CSA/RCA Training Roleplayer.
Stephanie is also an Actor Facilitator for Buckingham University, teaching communications skills to the medical students.
And a CSA/RCA Medical Roleplayer Co-ordinator for Health Education England, at The Horton Postgraduate Centre, Banbury, the Lead Simulator for GP Registrar Recruitment for the Thames Valley and Lead Roleplayer Co-ordinator for Paediactrics ST1 Interviews in Oxford.
PLAYWRIGHT
Stephanie has written the following plays:
- The Curious Case of Lady Fowler – selected for Living the Drama’s September Care & Residential Tour 2019; showcased in AWL Showcase in June 2019 and performed in StageWrite’s Festival in September 2019.
- Unblind Date – finalist of AWL’s Don’t Go There Competition 2017
- Heart Broken – winner of AWL’s Change of Heart Competition 2016 and Living the Drama Care Home Tour 2017
- Birds of Prey – co-written with Carolyn Lloyd-Davies and chosen for a play reading at AWL, 2016, directed by Maurice Thorogood
AWARDS & REVIEWS
TVU Media Award 2007 for Best Actress for Like a Rolling Stone
Nominated for Best Actress for The Bold Girls, 1996 Waverley Festival, Melbourne
“Oh yes that was some performance.. you did it, you did it all. The audience were hanging on every line ….So much raw emotion energy lightness, you had it all.“
“When you did the first reading of Betty I was completely ‘knocked out’“.
“Wow. An awesome display of total commitment. No easy task to achieve such deep emotion, to ‘live’ the moment so fully. A casting director’s dream, because clearly you could handle anything less demanding as well – which makes this type of “All-In” audition a wise, strategic approach. Best of luck to you! Cb“
“Stephanie, good job. Just the right measure of pace and unflinching school mistress. You have also given thought to your relationship with Mendel in this clip, which is very subtle and was missed by most.”
“Stephanie, these three clips do you proud. You live up to your excellent reputation and even force us to think beyond what has been written… TWICE! We could go on and on about how great you are, but it’s already been said. You are a fine, fine actor and a wonderful influence on this whole project.”
“You were so moving and very real and good… how great and utterly believable you were.”
“You were absolutely wonderful on Monday night, a truly moving and beautifully realised performance, congratulations to you and the rest of the cast. A fine play.”
Stephanie great work here, your Sandra was certainly flirty and sassy, but there was a definite edge to her that allowed us to understand the predator within – it was mainly in your eyes and how you used them as a tool. Having achieved this layering, the final notes of comedy were just missing or not pronounced enough. That’s a minor criticism of an great audition.”
Stephanie, this is a strong performance. Your Eshu reeks of authority, intelligence, sophistication and threat. You sell this performance alone with your eyes. Your best and bravest work yet.”
“Your face is a picture of heartache. This is solid work that continues to prove your range and talent. Great stuff.”
After Stephanie’s two auditions, the producer and the director were so impressed they changed the character’s gender to female, and renamed him Alika Bardici.
“You were unbelievable good last night – amazing acting in a great play. You had all the emotion and drama in there. Congratulations.”
“Many thanks for playing Cindy so beautifully last night. Just right and great fun. I thought the whole evening was excellent.”
“Stephanie, this was very enjoyable, well done. It’s a difficult brief and you gave yourself a clever helping hand by adopting the school mistress style character. Excellent decision making here. You clearly knew there was a comedy moment in the whole “It’s complicated” section and you went digging nicely for it. Great work.”
“The casting too is superb, individually and when mixed together….and equally impressive….The production was marvellous.”
“Both Astrid Manfield and Stephanie Connell were nominees for the Best Actress award. I would not have liked to have had to split them, they were both fantastic. Suspension of disbelief was very easy watching these two; it is impossible to say how much I enjoyed their performances. Astrid won, and I thought it was unfair. Had Stephanie won, I would also have thought it was unfair.“