TJ’s creativity and seemingly boundless curiosity are matched only by his willingness to move forward into further creative endeavours. We’ve taken our love for Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Batman and transformed it into theatrical expressions that embody truth and love. These solo shows have transcended borders and won over the confidence of Lucasfilm and the Lord of the Rings people. TJ was the key to this success. He helped me confront my concerns and doubts surrounding my own limitations (both as actor and writer), and he walked through the many doors with me. As an actor, writer and director, TJ continuously challenges his own self-doubts and sees a production to its fruition. He does not give up and because of that I refuse to. - Charlie Ross (creator/performer: One Man Star Wars Trilogy, One Man Lord of the Rings, One Man Stranger Things)

 

Working with TJ has made me a writer with guts. That is to say his encouragement, guidance and teaching has helped me to trust my gut, and write with a sense of abandon. He has also helped me to find humour through exploring the truth, and poetry through writing with honesty. -Alice Nelson

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TJ Dawe makes a jungle gym of his expertise and experience: you climb through and discover your own instincts, fears, and fascinations. His teaching process focused on finding my own voice for my own show. - Devon More (writer/performer: Berlin Waltz)

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From the first day, TJ (without any obvious effort) created such a safe place - to say whatever, try anything and open myself up to honest feedback. What emerged from the experience was unexpected and wonderful:

    •       I found a creative community - now, months later, we still meet to create, collaborate, attend each other's shows and readings

    •       I found my voice, started a blog and performed several times at storytelling events

-Maia Gibb

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TJ’s teaching style is highly supportive, accepting, and non-judgmental, allowing we the students to relax, as much as possible, given the degree of self-exposure each of us feels with our personal material. But his exercises also usefully allow and challenge us to express and reveal our stories, to experience different ways of presenting the material, and to find our own personal ‘voices.'  - Falcon O’Hara

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TJ has an empathy for the story like no other dramaturge I know. He inspired a belief in me that my story needed to be told. He freed the words from my grasp, held them to the light and then gently handed them back to me.  - Richard Lett (creator/performer: Sober but Never Clean)

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TJ has helped me develop four solo plays. He is a joy to work with as he is always positive and always looking to improve the work. He draws on more than twenty years of experience and has an exceptional career as a solo artist himself. - Keir Cutler (creator/performer: Shakespeare Crackpot) 

 

TJ has this magical way of guiding you to push through your fluff and find your truth, but in such a way that he guides you to authenticity for you to find it for yourself. He creates an extremely safe and fertile environment that supports deeper and deeper creative growth, and gently nudges you into mining your own experiences to alchemize into creative gold. I already have years of writing and performing under my belt, and my confidence as a writer, performer, and human skyrocketed under TJ's supportive, nurturing wing. - Megan Phillips (creator/performer: Breaking Velocity, Not Enough, Periscope)