Tilly manages to strike the rare balance of being incredibly patient yet uncompromisingly demanding. This, combined with her generosity of spirit and good humour is an absolute necessity during the often strenuous process of applying to drama schools. She creates an informal and relaxed workspace which allows you to feel completely unselfconscious and free to experiment while simultaneously compelling you to justify why you have made certain decisions. Her rigorous attitude towards her teaching means that you never feel that you have taken the easy option as she draws your attention to the myriad of alternatives.

Her extensive experience in theatre means that she expertly appraises your individual strengths and plays to them yet also alerts you to the inevitable bad habits that every untrained actor unknowingly assimilates. Her unceasing pursuit in trying to extract what she knows you are capable of sometimes culminates in, what she calls, “a break-through moment”. This is when all the advice she has given you, after weeks or perhaps even months, finally percolates and you do your speech in a way that surprises even yourself. You leave with the heady exhilaration of the high-five she’s just given you (these are administered sparingly and when you get one, you quite literally feel like top dog) and the progress that you’ve made. There lies her true brilliance- in getting you to believe that it was all you, when actually, there is absolutely no way you could have got there without her.
Bel Knight