about

Yure Covich

creative director & acting teacher

” My job is to nurture and inspire the actor to be the best they can be.”

For 20 years I have been an acting teacher and actor coach. In Australia, I have worked with actors from NIDA to major feature films, to the far outback – specializing in indigenous actor training. Internationally I have coached actors from Spain to London to Los Angeles.

One thing I’ve learned from the best teachers I had, is that every actor should be treated with respect and given permission to explore their craft in a safe environment. I’ve lost count the amount of classes I walked into as an actor where the teacher spoke of “play” and “freedom”, and yet accosted the actors (including myself), when they actually tried to be free.

Our acting classes are not just for the “professional” actor. I believe too many actors are told they are not ready for the industry, constantly thinking they are unworthy. I am interested in the person underneath the acting techniques – engaging your truthful essence as an actor is what makes you ready… not because some teacher tells you.

An unconventional actor…

” I had an unconventional start as an actor. I began as a roof plumber. But once I started acting, I didn’t stop…”

Growing up in Western Australia, as a teenager, I completed my trade and was building sheds in the Pilbara desert. But something else was calling. My first audition was at The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. It went so badly, they told me to go back to roof plumbing. Years later, that same auditionee congratulated me at my opening night of my first performance at The Sydney Theatre Company.

After graduating from The National Institute of Dramatic Art, I went on to develop my craft as an actor, performing for the Sydney Theatre Company, Belvoir St, Darlinghurst Theatre Co. and The Old Ftizroy Theatre. Feature films I’ve had fun on are Red Dog, Wyrmwood and Event Zero.

Trained to teach…

“Unlike many acting teachers, I have trained to teach…”

I remember being a younger actor in acting classes. The teachers would yell at students and belittle them to the point of tears – all in the name of a “breakthrough”. They would make inappropriate comments about an actor’s personal lives, trying to engage an “emotion”. I thought this was normal. It wasn’t until years later when I completed my teaching degree at The University of New South Wales, where I learned about morals, ethics, and patience in the classroom that I realized many of my teachers had not trained to actually teach. They had just walked into a room of student actors and started talking. It was then that I learned- teaching the craft is much more than just knowing the craft.