Director, producer, writer and actor Tim Evans left Hereford two decades ago to go to The Central School of Speech and Drama. Now he’s come back to the city to pick up the baton left by his brother Alex, a stalwart of the dramatic life of the county.
There is nothing sentimental about his decision to leave London for his home city, rather a steely determination to ensure that access to a life in theatre is given to people who have found that provision of drama classes comes to an abrupt end when they leave their teens behind.
“When I was growing up in Hereford I was given some of the best experiences a young theatre-maker could have,” says Tim, who will open the Powerhouse Academy later this month. “The Courtyard had an incredible buzz of energy and concentration of talent and we launched it with Romeo and Juliet - I was Tybalt to James McAvoy’s Romeo!
“One long email Alex wrote had struck me with his frustration - he wanted what I had - a good high quality training in the arts but Hereford-based, accessible and on the doorstep.”
It’s a bug bear that Tim shares with his late brother - “In Herefordshire, theatre making, performing arts and acting seem to be a youth theatre thing.
“I have always said that some countries have national service and I think there should be three years where everybody does drama training whether you want to be an actor or not.
Because Tim, who trained at The Central School of Speech and Drama before co-founding the London-based theatre collective The Factory, is evangelical about the benefits such training can equip you with in terms of essential life skills.
“I am putting in place what Alex wanted and needed, but there are other Alex Evanses across the country wanting to develop their skills in this way.
“It’s unimportant whether people want to be the next Gary Oldman or not, but it is important that they have the opportunity to play and have fun and acquire skills and confidence, to learn how to be seen and heard.
Courses in acting, voice and improv will run once a week for seven weeks. “The acting class is not one you have to be a beginner to attend, you can have had experience - it’ll be like an actor’s gym.
“The voice class is for people who just want to develop their public speaking skills, whether they have a wedding speech to make or they feel they have trouble being heard in meetings. 
The Powerhouse Academy will open its doors at The Kindle Centre later this month: Acting and voice classes start on February 27, with the first improv class on February 28. Find out more at www.powerhouse-academy.co.uk​