This article needs to be updated.(March 2020) |
Manchester School of Theatre | |
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Address | |
Arts and Humanities Building, Manchester Metropolitan University, Cavendish St, Manchester M15 6BG [1] , , M15 6BG | |
Coordinates | 53°28′12″N2°14′13″W / 53.470°N 2.237°W |
Information | |
Type | Drama school |
Established | 1970 |
Founder | Manchester College of Art and Design and Manchester Polytechnic |
Affiliations | |
Validating University | Manchester Metropolitan University |
Website | Official website |
The Manchester School of Theatre (originally the Manchester Polytechnic School of Theatre) is a tertiary school of theatre, drama and performance situated in the city of Manchester, founded in 1970. [2] It is a part of Manchester Metropolitan University, and, in its work as a conservatoire, a member of the Federation of Drama Schools. [3]
Manchester Polytechnic School of Theatre evolved out of an early training course for drama teachers that was introduced by the Manchester College of Art and Design between 1964 and 1966. The theatre school was officially established in 1970 as part of Manchester Polytechnic under its charismatic Head of School Edward Argent and Senior Lecturer John Cargill Thompson. It was established to provide a professional training for actors that went beyond the rather staid traditions of the established drama schools: at the time, the Central School of Speech and Drama would examine prospective students' teeth, like a horse, to see if they had the teeth of a professional actor. Argent and his team believed that the authentic spirit of an actor, even if contained within a less-than-conventionally-perfect body, was more important. [2]
Based initially at the former Congregational Church on Cavendish Street (now demolished) and the adjacent former Righton's Haberdashery (which survives), in 1971 the School of Theatre moved to the Capitol Theatre, Didsbury (also now demolished), a former cinema from where in the Sixties ABC Television's influential Armchair Theatre series had been broadcast. The School established an outstanding national and international reputation due largely to the authenticity and individuality of its alumni, actors such as George Costigan, Richard Griffiths, Bernard Hill and David Threlfall, as well as Dame Julie Walters - and from the postgraduate course run jointly with Manchester University, Sir Antony Sher. More recent students have included Amanda Burton, Steve Coogan, Jenny Eclair, John Hannah and John Thomson. [2]
In 1992 Manchester Polytechnic changed its name to Manchester Metropolitan University and in 1998, the School relocated to the MMU All Saints campus in Chorlton on Medlock, Manchester, bringing it into closer contact with the city and Manchester School of Art, of which it is a part. [2] The move increased access to central Manchester which served to further strengthen the school's links with many of the region's key employers – including the BBC, The Royal Exchange Theatre and Contact Theatre. [2]
The School is part of the Department of Art and Performance at the Manchester School of Art at Manchester Metropolitan University. It runs two undergraduate programmes: a conservatoire-style BA Acting degree, and BA Drama and Contemporary Performance degree which combines critical and historical study with the creation of innovative performance in a studio setting. Both courses last three years. It also offers a multi-strand MA in Performance, including one strand with strong links to the laboratory theatre tradition of Odin Teatret. The conservatoire BA Acting trains students for work in stage, television and radio industries, and its graduates are eligible for Equity status.
In 2019, the School moved into a new purpose-built building on Manchester Metropolitan University's main campus in central Manchester known as Grosvenor East. This building maintains the facade of its predecessor, the Chorton-upon-Medlock Town Hall, which hosted the 5th Pan-African Congress in 1945. An installation pays tribute to this heritage.
The School has partnerships with the Hallé Orchestra, RNCM, HOME and Chetham's School of Music. [2]
Notable graduates from the school of theatre include: [4]
Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties and is one of the largest universities in the UK, measured by the size of its student population in 2020/21.
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA, is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London, close to the Senate House complex of the University of London, and is a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools.
The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, commonly shortened to Central, is a drama school 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 Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and film in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools.
Chorlton-on-Medlock is an inner city area of Manchester, in the county of Greater Manchester, England.
Contact is an arts organisation based in Manchester, England. Established in 1972, as a center for young artists to create and learn, the theatre remains in its original building and is a part of the Arts Council England, the University of Manchester, the Manchester City Council, and the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities..
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David John Threlfall is an English stage, film and television actor and director. He is best known for playing Frank Gallagher in Channel 4's series Shameless. He has also directed several episodes of the show. In April 2014, he portrayed comedian Tommy Cooper in a television film entitled Tommy Cooper: Not Like That, Like This. In 2014, he starred alongside Jude Law in the thriller Black Sea. In 2022, he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his performance in the Martin McDonagh play Hangmen. In 2024 he played Paul Peveril in the six-part BBC drama Nightsleeper.
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.
The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire is a music school, drama school and concert venue in Birmingham, England. It provides education in music, acting, and related disciplines up to postgraduate level. It is a centre for scholarly research and doctorate-level study in areas such as performance practice, composition, musicology and music history. It is the only one of the nine conservatoires in the United Kingdom that is also part of a faculty of a university, in this case Arts, Design and Media at Birmingham City University. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools, and a founder member of Conservatoires UK.
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 that 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 Acting, Master of Science, Master of Fine Arts, Doctor of Arts, Doctor of Fine Arts, or Doctor of Philosophy degree.
Dame Mabel Tylecote was a British Labour Party politician, activist, humanitarian, and educationist from Manchester, England.
The School of English is part of the Faculty of the Arts, Design & Media at Birmingham City University. The School offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, and is home to the Research and Development Unit for English Studies.
Manchester School of Art in Manchester, England, was established in 1838 as the Manchester School of Design. It is the second oldest art school in the United Kingdom after the Royal College of Art which was founded the year before. It is now part of Manchester Metropolitan University.
A movement director creates physical vocabularies through actor movement in various production settings, including theatre, television, film, opera, fashion, and animation.
The Capitol Theatre was a cinema in Didsbury, Manchester later used as television studios by ITV contractor ABC Weekend TV from 1956 to 1968.
The Didsbury Campus on Wilmslow Road, Didsbury, Manchester, England, originally a private estate, was part of the Manchester Metropolitan University; the oldest building on the site dated to around 1785. It became a theological college for the Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1842, about the same time as a chapel which later became part of the college was built. These buildings are now all listed.
The Federation of Drama Schools functions to facilitate vocational drama training in the UK. It was formed in June 2017.
Chorlton-on-Medlock Town Hall is a former municipal building in Cavendish Street in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester, England. The structure, of which only the façade is original, is a Grade II listed building.