Acting staff get seal of approval

Stage presence is everything – now staff at the West Midland Safari Park at Bewdley have really earned the seal of approval for their acting skills after taking special lessons.

They thought their show lacked true star quality and decided to seek help from lecturers in the business unit at Kidderminster College.

Twelve members of staff from the attraction's Discovery Zone signed up for a six-week course, led by acting tutor Naomi Coleman.

Edward Dalley, aged 20, who has been working with the sea lions both voluntarily and as a trainer for the past four years, said: "This year we have developed a new Peter Pan-themed sea lion show and we really wanted some help in perfecting our acting skills so we could make it as fun and professional as possible.

"Our tutor Naomi, was brilliant. Not only did she teach us how to present to the audience but also how to act while integrating the sea lions into the show.

"This is something the whole department has found difficult to do. Since doing the course, we have been able to tweak the show and really work on our skills to deliver the best performance time after time.

"My favourite part of the training was the section on ad-libbing.

"More often than not Moocha, or one of the other seals, misbehaves which makes it hard to keep the show on track, so being able to ad-lib well is a real bonus for me."