 |
The Academy Drama School (often referred to as the Academy) was a British drama school in London. It was founded in 1985 and closed in 2007.
| |
The Academy Drama School (often referred to as the Academy) was a British drama school in London. It was founded in 1985 and closed in 2007.
The Academy was founded by Tim Reynolds and his wife Judith in 1985 as the Evening Academy of Dramatic Art (EADA). They saw the need for a drama school offering semi 'professional' instruction for those with the desire and 'talent', but not the money or local authority grant to pay for it, although they still had to pay fees every term. Accordingly, they put together the Full Time Evening Course, a two-year (six-term) programme which enabled students to earn a living from a daytime job, while pursuing an intensive drama training at the school in the evenings and weekends.
The school was initially located at cold and damp premises in Oxford Street, but the rapid rise in demand for the Evening Course soon necessitated a move to its long-term location in Whitechapel. Which at the time of moving in was in an unfinished and dangerous condition and resembled a building site.
The Full Time Evening Course was always the core of the school's activities, but the Academy also established a one-year (three-term) Postgraduate Course and a one-year (three-term) drama school access course ('The Foundation Course') which culminated in a LAMDA Foundation Certificate in Acting (Level 3). A one-year (three-term) Acting with English Course was later created to help talented students with a lack of higher English skills. For these last three courses, classes were taught during the daytime.
The Academy also offered a variety of shorter courses, some oriented towards leisure but all offering the same standard of teaching as on the main vocational courses.
The school's patrons included Richard Briers, Edward de Souza and Ron Moody.
The school had its own theatre space on-site (The Andrew Sketchley Theatre), in which all in-house productions during the training were performed. However, those graduating the Full Time and Postgraduate courses had their final production presented at a London fringe venue. There was also a showcase staged for these graduates, which was presented to an invited audience of agents and casting directors at a West End theatre (venues for this included the Fortune Theatre and the Duchess Theatre).
Tim Reynolds died in 2006, and after 20 years of struggle, the Academy was finally forced into receivership in the face of mounting financial difficulties.
A statement on the school's official website read: "Following the tragic death of the principal, Tim Reynolds, the Academy closed in January 2007. His widow, Judith would like to thank everyone in the industry and most especially the graduate students who have been so supportive. Tim was very proud of them and their success, they are his memorial."
On the closure of the Academy, then principal Daniel Brennan established a new drama school in Wapping, called Actor Works. The new school offers a full-time evening course, a foundation course in acting and a postgraduate course in a similar tradition to the Academy. A new Part-Time acting course began in January 2007, and various part-time specialist courses for professional actors started in 2009.
At the inception of The Actor Works on 18 December 2006, all mid-course Academy students were offered places and given the opportunity to complete their training at the new school. The great majority accepted a place at The Actor Works. Many former Academy tutors also joined the staff of the new establishment. The school is now in its sixth year of existence, having auditioned and accepted full complements of new Full-Time students each year.
Graduates of the Academy's various courses have gone on to work for esteemed theatre institutions such as the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, or in successful plays and musicals in London's West End and on national/international tours with companies such as Graeae, Chapterhouse and Pendle Productions. Others have appeared in films, or in television shows ranging from Doctor Who to Little Britain to Band of Brothers .
The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz along with drama and production arts. The school has students from over seventy countries. It was ranked the number one UK conservatoire in the 2021 Guardian league tables for music and as the sixth university in the world for performing arts in the 2020 QS World University Rankings.
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, television, film, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senate House complex of the University of London and is a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools. It is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, founded in 1904 by Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree. It moved to buildings on Gower Street in 1905. It was granted a Royal Charter in 1920 and a new theatre was built on Malet Street, behind the Gower Street buildings that was opened by Edward, Prince of Wales, in 1921. It received its first government subsidy in 1924. RADA currently has five theatres and a cinema. The school’s Principal Industry Partner is Warner Bros. Entertainment.
The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a constituent college of the University of London in 2005 and is a member of Conservatoires UK and the Federation of Drama Schools.
The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School is a drama school in Bristol, England that provides training in acting for film, television and theatre.
The Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts is a performing arts educational institution based in London, England. It was founded in 1911 by the actress Italia Conti and delivers a variety of disciplines and theatre training at Secondary Education, Further Education and Higher Education.
The Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA) is a British drama school. It has two sites: ALRA South on Wandsworth Common in south London and ALRA North in Wigan, Greater Manchester. It was founded in 1979 by director and actor Sorrel Carson who then directed the school as its principal until 2001. The current acting principal is Kieran Sheehan.
The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama is a conservatoire located in Cardiff, Wales. It includes three theatres: the Richard Burton Theatre, the Bute Theatre, and the Caird Studio. It also includes one concert hall, the Dora Stoutzker Hall. Its alumni include Anthony Hopkins, Aneurin Barnard and Rob Brydon.
The Russian Institute of Theatre Arts – GITIS is the largest and oldest independent theatrical arts school in Russia. Located in Moscow, the school was founded on 22 September 1878 as the Shostakovsky Music School. It became the School of Music and Drama of the Moscow Philharmonic Society in 1883, was elevated to the status of a conservatory in 1886, was renamed the Institute of Music and Drama in 1918, and was known as the Lunacharsky State Institute for Theatre Arts (GITIS) from 1934 to 1991.
A drama school, stage school or theatre school is an undergraduate and/or graduate school or department at a college or university; or a free-standing institution ; which specializes in the pre-professional training in drama and theatre arts, such as acting, design and technical theatre, arts administration, and related subjects. If the drama school is part of a degree-granting institution, undergraduates typically take an Associate degree, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, or, occasionally, Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Design. Graduate students may take a Master of Arts, Master of Science, Master of Fine Arts, Doctor of Arts, Doctor of Fine Arts, or Doctor of Philosophy degree.
Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance is a drama school in the south London suburb of Sidcup. The college has degree programmes in acting, actor musicianship, directing, theatre arts and various disciplines of stagecraft.
Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, formerly Mountview Theatre School, is a drama school in Peckham, south London, England, founded in 1945. The Academy provides specialist vocational training in acting and musical theatre, as well as production arts. The President of the school is Dame Judi Dench, and the Principal and Artistic Director Stephen Jameson.
Drama Centre London is a British drama school in King's Cross, London, where it moved in 2011 after a major reshaping of the University of the Arts London. The school is part of Central Saint Martins, a constituent college of the university. In March 2020 UAL announced that the Drama Centre would close when the current students had completed their courses.
AST National Academy of Theatre Arts, is a drama school based in Kraków and Wrocław, Poland. It was founded in 1946 by actor Juliusz Osterwa, who took the initial steps leading to the establishment of the Academy through the amalgamation of three local studios; Stary Teatr, the Słowacki Theatre, and Iwo Gall's Dramatic Studio.
Bexhill College is a sixth form college in the south-east of England. The college is based in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex and is located on Penland Road, north-east of the town centre. The college has maintained an Ofsted rating of Good in its Ofsted report since 2010, with its most recent being in 2019.
The Oslo National Academy of the Arts is a university college in Oslo, Norway, that provides education in visual arts, design and performing arts. It is one of two public institutes of higher learning in Norway that teaches in visual arts and design, the other is the Bergen National Academy of the Arts in Bergen.
The School of Drama is an undergraduate and graduate theatre school in the Arts Division of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington.
The Manchester School of Theatre also known as The Manchester Metropolitan School of Theatre is a drama school situated in the city of Manchester UK founded in 1970. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools.
The Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts, based in the Niederschöneweide district of Berlin, Germany, was founded in 1951 as the National Theatre School in Berlin with the status of college. In 1981, it was granted university status, and a year later it was renamed after the singer and East German actor Ernst Busch.
The Urdang Academy, commonly known as Urdang, is an independent performing arts academy based in Islington, London. Founded as a ballet school by Leonie Urdang in 1970 and has been under the direction of CEO Solange Urdang since 2001, the academy now provides specialist vocational training in dance and musical theatre at Sixth Form, further and higher education level.
Associated Studios is a drama school in London, offering courses in acting, musical theatre, opera and commercial/popular music.