East 15 Acting School

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East 15 Acting School
East 15 Hatfields.jpg
Hatfields House, Loughton Campus
Other name
East 15
Type Public
Established1961
2000 – merged with University of Essex
Parent institution
University of Essex
DirectorChris Main
Location, ,
UK
Affiliations
Website www.east15.ac.uk
East 15 Acting School Wordmark.jpg

East 15 Acting School, sometimes known simply as East 15, is a drama school based in Essex, England. It provides vocational training in acting, specialist performance disciplines, theatre directing, stage management, and creative producing. The school was established in 1961 by Margaret Bury, a member of Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop. Since 2000, its degrees are conferred by the University of Essex.

Contents

History

East 15 Acting School was founded in 1961 by Margaret Bury. [1]

East 15 draws its origins from the work of Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop. Margaret Bury was part of the Theatre Workshop for 14 years before starting East 15 Acting School in 1961. She drew on the teaching methods and philosophies of the Theatre Workshop, and its guiding principles continue to inform East 15's teaching and productions today.[ citation needed ]

In 2000, East 15 found established its partnership with the University of Essex. At its inception, Essex's founding Vice-Chancellor, Sir Albert Sloman, emphasised that "radical innovation" would be at the heart of its approach, including new specialist performance courses and the creation of new facilities, including the Clifftown Theatre and a motion capture studio served by 30 Vicon sensors.[ citation needed ]

Description

East 15 is located in the county of Essex in England. [2] The school provides vocational training in acting, specialist performance disciplines, theatre directing, stage management, and creative producing. [2] It offers a number of undergraduate and postgraduate courses across two campuses, located in Loughton and Southend-on-Sea. Its degrees are awarded by the University of Essex, with which it merged on 1 September 2000. [3] [4]

Since around 2014 and as of January 2025 the director of East 15 is Chris Main. [5]

East 15 is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools. [6]

Ranking

In 2024, East 15 (as part of the University of Essex), was ranked fourth in the UK in The Guardian's University Guide rankings for Drama and Dance. [7]

Notable alumni

Notable graduates from East 15 include: [8]

Damon Albarn and Marc Warren attended the institution but did not graduate.

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References

  1. "East 15 Acting School: BA (Hons) Acting Course (3 year)" Archived 13 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 26 May 2008
  2. 1 2 "East 15 Acting School | University of Essex". www.east15.ac.uk. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  3. "East 15 Acting School: University of Essex" Archived 13 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 26 May 2008
  4. "University of Essex". www.essex.ac.uk. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  5. "Chris Main". University of Essex. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  6. "Rainy season". Encyclopedia of Korean National Culture. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  7. "The Guardian University Guide 2024 – the rankings". the Guardian. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  8. "East 15 Alumni". east15.ac.uk. 2020.

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