PQA Middlesbrough and Tees Valley.

Cymon Allen

Danny Mitchell

Hi I’m Danny Mitchell, and I am the TA/Vocal Coach at PQA Wickford. I started my PQA journey at PQA Brentwood where I was a student for several years. I then went on to study Musical Theatre at Italia Conti, gaining a Level 6 National Diploma in Performing Arts and have performed on the west end stages. I specialize in confidence building, singing, acting and dancing. In addition to teaching at PQA Wickford, I have taught performing arts and confidence building as part of programmes in Canada and Spain in the past year.

Lilli Dean

Hello, I am Lilli and I am thrilled to be the Musical Theatre teacher and Vice Principal of Wickford’s Friday Academy. I have been performing since I was 18 months old, where I attended East London Theatre School, taking lessons in Ballet, Tap, Modern and Drama. I have distinctions in ISTD graded examinations in all dance disciplines up to intermediate level. I work during the week at a local primary school where I am the learning support assistant and am also studying for a degree in Childhood and Youth Studies via the Open University. I work at PQA Wickford’s Saturday academies as the Poppets teacher plus MT cover and really enjoy being part of the team. I am very excited to be involved in the Friday academy’s performance of Across the Line at HMT in March 2026! Likewise, with the Saturday academies' performance of Shrek Junior in the Summer at The Thameside Theatre. I love being part of the Friday and Saturday schools and seeing the students develop their skills and see their confidence grow.

Olivia Skitmore

Steven Dorrington

Steven Dorrington runs Essex based film production company Aura Films and is the founder and director of the Colchester Film Festival. He has directed a host of productions including music videos, commercials and web series and his award winning short films have been screened at over 100 film festivals across the world.

Summer Rowley-Kirby

A former PQA student herself, Summer has worked with PQA Wickford for 7+ years. Summer is a writer and theatre-maker who specialises in youth theatre and facilitation. Some of her professional works include Shakespeare in the Castle with Italian theatre company Teatro Dei Borgia in 2019, and most recently, Coming Write Up at The Ecetra Theatre in 2023. In 2020, Summer gained a place at London Drama School, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama where she then studied Contemporary Performance Practice specialising in Writing for Performance. She graduated in July of 2023 and is thrilled to be the Comedy and Drama teacher for the Friday Academy!

Tessa Maxwell

Tessa has been performing and teaching Performing Arts for the past 17 Years. From touring with Circus' internationally as a Singing Ring Mistress and Aerialist to Dancing on TV and festivals across the Uk and Europe. She is a multi-skilled performer and transfers her skills from the stage to her classes at PQA.