Jay Woods
Jay is a facilitator and an applied theatre practitioner, with experience in designing and delivering workshops for different community groups, including within social care, criminal justice, and mental health settings. He has a particular interest in promoting accessibility and inclusivity within the arts, and believes in the power of theatre to bring about both personal and social change.
Who is Jay?
Actor
Jay studied acting at East 15 and since graduating has performed in a variety of shows and productions. Currently he is performing as Littlefield in Phantom Peak, which recently received a 5 star review from Broadway World. He is represented by the Actors Network Agency.
Writer
Jay also writes and performs poetry, and recently won the annual Dreading Grand Slam, and qualified as a finalist for the Farrago Poetry National Grand Slam. He has also worked alongside Chia Phoenix and Lady Unchained to deliver spoken word and poetry workshops to youth offenders at Cookham Wood.
Facilitator
Jay studied Community Theatre at East 15, where he learnt how to facilitate theatre projects and workshops. He now works with a variety of different companies to run workshops, based upon the facilitation principles of Augusto Boal. He is also a Bronze and Silver Arts Awards Advisor.
Recent Projects!
The Mitten - Unpuzzled Theatre
I worked alongside Unpuzzled Theatre to deliver The Mitten, an interactictive show based on a Ukranian Folk Tale, made in response to the refugee crisis and in collaboration with Welcome to the UK. You can find me talking more about the project on BBC Essex Radio!
“ Children do not just sit in the audience and spectate, they are very much part of the show and work with the trained actor facilitators interactively. They become performers.”
Youth Action for Change - The Change Project
Involved in helping to deliver Youth Action for Change workshops on healthy relationships and consent with Southend United Community and Educational Trust (SUCET) between April 2024 and June 2025.
Hello, London! - Rikki Beadle Blair MBE
Performed in the first ever play at City Hall, produced by Zach Polanski, and written and directed by Rikki Beadle Blair MBE.
Phantom Peak - League of Adventure
I have been performing as Littlefield at Phantom Peak, an immersive theatre show co-founded by Creative Director Nick Moran (Co-writer and designer of Sherlock: The Game is Now with Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat). Phantom Peak recently won the international Blooloop Innovation Award for Best immersive experience.
“The high standards we praised in our first review are still here, as is the highly impressive quality of improvisational acting.”
Cookham Wood Theatre Programme - Icon Theatre
Working in collaboration with Icon theatre, alongside celebrated poets Lady Unchained and Chia Phoenix we delivered a series of workshops for youth offenders in Cookham Wood, based around poetry, rap, and theatre to work with them towards personal growth and rehabilitation. Some of these young people’s poems were than shared on BBC Radio Kent.
“I’ve started to look for opportunities on the outside, and see that there is life after prison.”
Gender, Harassment & Abusive Relationships Workshops - Voicebox
Delivering interactive assemblies and workshops to secondary schools to give young people a place to explore and embody healthy masculinity by enhancing their understanding of gender and gender stereotypes, and challenging misogynistic attitudes.
“
Jay did an excellent job prompting thoughtful discussion on personal values and their connection to sexual consent. He also encouraged students to reflect on cultural norms and consider how they don’t need to conform to stereotypes. The session was clear, well-structured, and effectively delivered.”
Who has Jay worked with?
Voicebox
Jay has been working with Voicebox to deliver assemblies and workshops across secondary schools to tackle misogynistic attitudes and challenge harmful gender stereotypes. Instead, he encourages young people, particularly young men, to explore their own values and to move beyond gender stereotypes by embracing healthy masculinity as an alternative.
Peer Productions
Prior to drama school, Jay trained with Peer Productions on their one year actor development course. Since graduating, he has returned to work with them professionally as a workshop facilitator for a variety of projects, and has also helped them design the teacher pack for their play, ‘As I See It.” Most recently he worked for them as the lead on a project mentoring young people with SEND, designing, delivering, and evaluating the project.
Attic Theatre
He started working with Attic in collobration with Shine, in celebration of the Queen’s Jubilee. As part of the celebration, he assisted in facilitating primary school children to make their own short film for it,and was responsible for writing up the evaluation of the project. Since then he has occasionally returned to run drama workshops for them.
Crew
Jay has been working with Crew to deliver fun and interactive workshops to primary schools across the country, predominantly exploring historical topics such as the Great Fire of London and The Black Death.
Icon Theatre & Theatre31
Jay started working with Icon as a assistant facilitator, helping to run and evaluate the weekly sessions for their youth theatre, before becoming part of their pool of lead facilitators. He also worked with them to help deliver workshops within Cookham Wood Young Offenders Institute, in collaboration with Lady Unchained and Chia Phoenix.
Unpuzzled Theatre
Jay works as one of Unpuzzled’s freelancers, and has just recently finished performing in their interactive show, The Mitten, which explores the refugee crisis in a way that is accessible for children and their families. He also arranged an interview with BBC Essex to talk about this project.
Tic Box Productions
Jay is one of their freelance actors, helping them to deliver their forum theatre shows to young people across the country. He has most recently performed in their show Stronger Together, delivered to young people in a Pupil Referal Unit, which tackled misogny with a particular focus on incel culture.
Education Group
Jay is one of their freelance facilitators, delivering a variety of workshops and shows across the country in educational settings. Workshop topics have ranged from Mindfulness to Forensic Science, and he has had great fun being a ‘mad scientist’ conducting a variety of experiments in their Silly Science show!
The Change Project
Jay has been working with the Change Project to deliver workshops to young people to challenge misogynistic attitudes and tackle violence against women and girls by encouraging an understanding of harmful and limiting gender roles and improving understanding of consent and healthy relationships. Through the Change Project he is also a white ribbon ambassador.