Burnley actor to make professional theatre debut

Jack Hartley, 22, will appear in The Ockerbys on Ice by Debbie Oates at Lancaster’s Dukes theatre, as he plays Michael, the son of Viv and Dennis Ockerby, an regular couple looking forward to retirement when Dennis gets a devastating diagnosis.

After his interest in acting was sparked while a student at Towneley High School and Unity College in Burnley, Jack received a London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) gold medal and has completed a summer course at the National Youth Theatre.

“An actress called Ursula Holden Gill came in to lead a workshop which made me see a new side of acting,” Jack explained. “I learned monologues and performed pieces that were realistic and completely different to anything I’d done, the seed was planted there and one thing led to another.”

A versatile performer, Jack’s two characters in two short awardwinning films currently doing the rounds on the festival circuit -Throw Me to the Dogs and The Truants - are completely contrasting, with Jack also looking to collaborate with the films’ director, Aaron Dunleavy, for their debut feature film.

Currently showing, The Ockerbys on Ice runs until Saturday, October 22nd.