Meet the team

Find out more about us…

  • Vanessa Boland

    Company Director, Principal and Agent

    Vanessa trained at the age of 18 on a 3 year scholarship. She went on to work professionally in Theatre and TV and Film. Credits include; Mimi in Guys and Dolls (Cambridge Arts Theatre), Barbara Windsor in Big Time (Stratford East Theatre Royal), Lee Nelson’s Well Funny People (BBC3), BBC’s Church of Now, Clouds of Grey (Moors Theatre), Show Off (Waterloo East Theatre), H.M.S Pinafore (The Little Opera House) as well as performing in various Pantomimes and voiceovers.

    In 2013 she trained at The Salon Collective London, studying the Miesner technique.

    Having taught for over 10 years in drama and theatre schools in and around Europe whilst working as an actor herself, she found that her passion lies working with young actors. She loves to spark their imagination and watch their confidence grow each week.

  • Bo

    Company Director and Agent 

    Bo began his Performing Arts training at 17. After 5 years of training in Acting, Dancing and Singing Bo was lucky enough to land his first UK Tour working with the likes of Stephen Schwartz, Scott Schwartz, David Pugh and Gareth Owen to name but a few Olivier and Tony Award winning names. His future went on to hold many more Stage performances along with TV shows like Waking the Dead and The Bill. After some time as a performer, Bo decided that his passion had extended to not only performing but also crafting and building the work. Directing and working on Films, Music Videos and Stage Performances came next culminating in Broadway World Nomination for Best Director in 2013 alongside big names such as Daniel Evans and Sir Richard Eyre. After reaching hugely acclaimed success in this area, Bo decided it was time to share his experience with others by teaching at schools all over the UK and Europe. After working extensively with 3rd year students and some of the top colleges in the UK on how to prepare and break into the industry, the next phase was a natural one and Bo’s building of an Actors Agency, Boland and Reeve LTD (Now Collective Agents) was inevitable.

  • Nikki Perry

    YAC Liaison Coordinator

    Nikki is our Administration Manager, she helps with the day to day running of the company. Nikki worked in school Finance and Administration for many years before joining Young Actors 3 and a half years ago, she is also 1 of our chaperones and takes care of our Young actors when they are performing on stage and screen. When she isn’t working for us Nikki is also a freelance 1st aid trainer and she travels all over the county delivering training.

  • Abbie Livermore

    YACtots Director

    Abbie has been performing since she was very young in a variety of amateur productions. After leaving school she went on to achieve her Diploma in Musical Theatre and went on to perform professionally. As well as performing, Abbie has over 10 years’ experience working with early years children. Abbie has worked teaching and directing for LDC for the past three years. It is here that Abbie discovered her passion for leading workshops and where she made her directorial debut with their first full scale production of Annie JR.

    Abbie is thrilled to be joining the YAC as YACtots Director and loves to help our youngest actors build confidence, discover their creativity, learn new skills and most importantly have fun!

  • Jack Eccles

    Peterborough Manager and Stage and Screen Academy Director

    Originally from Derby, Jack started performing in musical theatre from the age of 7 and still loves to perform and sing daily. Jack trained at East 15 in Southend where he studied Acting and Stage Combat. His professional Credits include Sleeping Beauty and Jack and the Beanstalk (nominated for best pantomime in 2020) with Little Wolf Entertainment.

    Jack ran his own theatre company, Chronologics, where he appeared in various productions across Cambridge and London. Jack has worked for many years shooting and producing professional showreels for actors and loves being behind and infront of the camera. He has vast knowledge of working in screen and worked previously for the award winning SP Media and has appeared in many short films.

What people say about us

Kitty will be returning for the spring term. I think YAC keeps her sane!!!!

Meredith will definitely be continuing with YAC – that was never in any doubt!

Luka would very much like to continue. I have to thank you very much for all that you are doing for him. He absolutely loves to come to screen academy, and this is for the first time ever that he loves something so much, which also makes us as parents very happy.

I’d like to say a whopping thank you for all your collective hard work because YAC is central to my girls’ week. They absolutely adore the sessions for many reasons other than just the drama “lesson”.

Thanks so much for all of your and the rest of YACs work on this; Holly will be very excited about it. She continues to love her YAC classes, as ever a highlight of her week!

Let me share the words of Sir Laurence Olivier: “I believe that in a great city, or even in a small city or a village, a great theatre is the outward and visible sign of an inward and probable culture.

Culture… What else could we wish for our children? I KNOW: Maybe a troupe of friends, actors and performers for the stage: villains, cardinals and kings, the doubt of Hamlet, the hopelessness of Lear, three witches and one bear, the summer of our discontent and a winter’s tale. And: the smart Portia, Falstaff riding the last horse of Richard, the play and the drama…The life… all that and even more. Thank you for these months. Thank you for giving so much to my daughter, for showing that happiness is not a place, but always a direction.

- Agustín García

“Joining The Young Actors Company was the single most important step I took as an aspiring young performer. They gave me a push in the right direction and the ability to expand my horizons at an important time in life. Anything I have now and any success I may have in the future, I will always owe to The Young Actors Company.”

- Himesh Patel

Our connection with The Young Actors Company goes back over 12 years – we’ve seen our boys blossom and grow in confidence with each class, workshop and production that they’ve taken part in. They’ve learnt the importance of discipline, being prepared, speaking up and teamwork. They’ve done voice recordings, been on TV, in film and on stage. Most of all they’ve gained a life-long love of acting.

- George & Ann Lynn

My 12 year old daughter LOVES coming to YAC…she attends a studio class and a screen class and said to me that if we ever won the lottery she would like to go to ALL the YAC classes! She finds the classes fun and stimulating and looks forward to them. She likes the opportunity to develop her acting skills with likeminded people and get involved in cool projects, like the recent filming day at Nene Valley Railway. I find YAC staff professional, knowledgeable, enthusiastic and kind. I would thoroughly recommend YAC to the parent of any young person who is passionate about acting.

- Darcy Simpson

When I started at The Young Actors Company I never even imagined the impact it would have on my future. I went in with a heart full of dreams and came out believing they could actually come true. And they did! The training helped me develop my ability and my passion, and gave me my first step into the industry. Joining YAC was one of the best decisions I ever made!

- Zara Azam