who we are

Sue Jenkins

Creative Director and Co-Founder of The Actors’ Lab

After leaving drama school Sue has been an actress for over 35 years, starting her career in repertory theatre, working for the first 12 years in theatres up and down the country before embarking on a long television career.

During her career, Sue has had the pleasure of working at many renowned theatres including The Royal Court, London, The Lowry, The Empire, The Library and The Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester and in 2010 starred in the three month National Tour of The V Monologues playing in a total of 65 theatres across the country.

Sue is perhaps best known for her roles as Gloria Todd in Coronation Street and Jackie Corkhill in Brookside and has appeared in countless TV programmes, including, How We Used To Live, The Beiderbecke Affair, Coasting, Merseybeat, In Deep, Heartbeat, The Royal, Doctors, The Girls Who Came To Stay, Holby City, Grownups, Emmerdale, Midsomer Murders, Casualty and Dalziel & Pascoe. She has worked extensively in radio drama for the BBC, recording over two hundred plays, serials and story readings.

Sue is also a experienced director, directing and producing the highly acclaimed Night of Stars and Night of Stars II at the Palace Theatre, Manchester and Gala Night of Stars at the Tameside Hippodrome. She has also been part of the 2011 24:7 festival which celebrates new writing, directing Shadow of your hand.

Sue was honoured to be the subject of This Is Your Life in 2001 and was awarded Woman of the Year 2008 for her Charity work.

David Fleeshman

Co-Founder of The Actors’ Lab

David has worked in Theatre, Television, Film and Radio for over 35 years and also lectures in drama.

As a director David has worked at Leeds Playhouse, Theatre Royal York and spent 2 years as Associate Director of the Coliseum Theatre, Oldham. At the Library Theatre, Manchester he directed the European Premiere of Neil Simon’s Biloxi Blues, and My Night With Reg, which won the MEN award for best production. David works regularly for Qdos where recent productions include Peter Pan and Dick Whittington and Aladdin. He also directed Peter Pan the Musical and Wizard of Oz at The Lowry.

As an actor David’s work includes: As You Like It and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, A View from the Bridge and Death of a Salesman at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton and To Kill a Mockingbird at the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester.

For the Library Theatre, David has played the leading roles in the European premieres of Neil Simon’s Laughter on the 23rd Floor and Jake’s Women, David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross, Charles Dickens’ Hard Times, Arthur Miller’s All My Sons and The Price for which he won the MEN award for best actor.

Television appearances include; Boys from the Blackstuff, Edge of Darkness, Only fools and Horses, All The Small Things, Heartbeat, Trial and Retribution, The Innocent, At Home with The Braithwaites, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Believe Nothing, The Royal, The Last Detective, Donovan, Bad Girls, Where The Heart Is, Spooks, Coronation Street, Eastenders, Brookside and 3 years in Emmerdale.

David has recorded over 200 radio plays and appeared in several films including Hollywood movie Unstoppable with Wesley Snipes.

Emily Fleeshman

managing director of the actors’ lab

Emily has worked as an actress from the age of 11, beginning her career at The Library Theatre, Manchester in Neil Simon’s Jake’s Women where she played the daughter to real life father David Fleeshman. Early TV work includes regular characters in the children’s series My Parents Are Aliens and 24:7. She has also recorded many Radio Plays for BBC Radio 4 Drama.

Emily graduated in 2008 with a degree in Theatre Studies from Lancaster University and travelled throughout Asia and the Far East before settling back in her home town of Manchester. Her Television credits since have included: Shameless, The Royal, Doctors, Jimmy McGovern’s The Street and Series 3 of Moving On. Theatre credits include: The Crimson Retrubution as part of the 24:7 Theatre festival and Once in a House on Fire at The Lowry Theatre, Salford.