Acting Impact
Playtime Theatre
Playtime Theatre is a team of three: Harriet Thompson, Schuyler Hedstrom and Mariano Alba who, since 2011, have created musical shows for primary schools. Working alongside major educational publishers and currently Cambridge University Press Spain, they have performed for and entertained thousands of children along their careers.
Harriet Thompson
Harriet was born in Shropshire in the UK. Graduating with a language degree from John Moores University, Liverpool, she started her teaching career in Chile. Moving to Madrid in 2000, she has worked as a language teacher, director of studies and has written arts-based resources for local education authorities, Macmillan publishers and Cambridge Univeristy Press in Spain. She currently co-directs Acting Impact Theatre Company with Schuyler. Drama in the English Classroom is a popular course that has been received by hundreds of primary and secondary school teachers. In her spare time Harriet loves to garden!
Schuyler Hedstrom
​Schuyler graduated with an English and Theatre degree from Dartmouth College, USA in 1999. Since then he has worked with various theatre companies including The Missoula Children’s Theatre in Missoula, Montana and The New Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, California. He has taught English through Theatre in various schools and Arts Centers including The International Ballet School, Numont Evening School and Marsillach Acting Academy. He also works as a teacher trainer for CTIF Madrid Capital providing advanced education for Madrid's bilingual school teachers.
Mariano Alba
Mariano is from Argentina and has lived in Madrid since 2001. Trained at the National Academy of Music in Buenos Aires and at the Musician’s Institute of Technology in Los Angeles, USA, his instruments include the classical and electric guitar, piano, bass and drums. Mariano’s professional career has involved teaching music to children and adults as well as tutoring courses in music theory, recordings and demos. More recently he has become involved in writing songs for children’s shows. He has been a member of “Sogni di Napoli” a Napolitanian operetta company and Matritum Cantat choir in Madrid.