About
Learning should feel alive
Time to Perform was created to help people experience learning actively — by stepping into roles, exploring worlds, asking questions, speaking up and discovering what they are capable of.
Founder
Founded by Joe Riley
Time to Perform brings together Joe Riley’s unusual mix of performance, engineering, education, communication and live experience. Joe holds an MEng in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Warwick, specialising in Fluid Dynamics, and a Bachelor’s degree in Acting from Guildford School of Acting.
That combination gives Time to Perform its distinctive character: structured enough to support clear learning outcomes, theatrical enough to make a room come alive, and practical enough to adapt to real schools, nurseries and organisations.
Experience
A background built for immersive learning
Joe’s experience spans professional performance, science communication, education, corporate environments, events, sales, visitor experience, management, marketing and public-facing delivery. He has worked as a professional actor and live performer, including cruise ship performance work as a Mission Control actor on Arvia, and has developed a strong ability to hold attention, respond in the moment and make audiences feel part of the experience.
As a science communicator, Joe has also delivered lively, accessible learning experiences for young people, translating complex ideas into memorable activities, demonstrations and stories. His corporate and customer-facing work adds another layer: understanding how adults communicate, lead, collaborate, present themselves and perform under pressure.
Approach
Engage minds. Inspire hearts. Empower futures.
Time to Perform uses story, role, movement, evidence, performance and reflection. The style is polished and professional, but never cold. It aims to feel exciting, human, memorable and useful.
People learn by doing, speaking and responding.
Every workshop has a clear learning or development purpose.
Sessions can flex around age, group size, space and confidence level.
Each session aims to create moments that last beyond the day.
Why it works
Academic rigour meets theatrical imagination
For schools and early years settings, this means workshops that are energetic, age-appropriate and rooted in purposeful learning rather than passive entertainment. For business clients, it means training that is practical, human and memorable — helping people communicate with clarity, confidence and presence.
The goal is not simply to perform at people. It is to create a shared peak moment where participants feel involved, capable and ready to take something useful back into the classroom, workplace or wider world.
Future development
Digital learning, carefully framed
Alongside live workshops, Time to Perform can develop companion digital resources over time, including evidence-guided historical character interactions and post-workshop learning tools. These would be clearly educational and source-led, designed to extend curiosity rather than replace live human delivery.
Want to discuss an idea?
Whether you are a school, nursery or organisation, Time to Perform can help shape a workshop around your goals.