Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts

Last updated

Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts
Mountview Entrance.jpg
Type Drama school
Established1945
Chairman Dame Rosemary Squire
President Dame Judi Dench
Principal Sally Ann Gritton
Address
120 Peckham Hill Street
, ,
SE15 5JT
,
UK

51°28′29″N0°04′11″W / 51.474827°N 0.0696°W / 51.474827; -0.0696
Affiliations
Website mountview.org.uk

Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, formerly Mountview Theatre School, is a drama school in Peckham, south London, England, founded in 1945. [1] The Academy provides specialist vocational training in acting, musical theatre and actor musicianship as well as production arts and theatre creative practices. The President of the school is Dame Judi Dench, and the Principal is Sally Ann Gritton.

Contents

History

Mountview was founded in Crouch End, north London, in 1945 by Peter Coxhead and Ralph Nossek as "The Mountview Theatre Club", an amateur repertory company staging a new production for a six-day run every second week. [2] Among the club's productions were Coxhead's staging of Eugene O'Neill's Mourning Becomes Electra , a production of the complete Arnold Wesker Trilogy – Chicken Soup with Barley , Roots and I'm Talking about Jerusalem directed by Peter Scott-Smith – and Buttered Both Sides, a revue written and composed by Mountview member Ted Dicks and directed by Gale Webb, which later transferred to the Fortune Theatre in London's West End.[ citation needed ]

Early in 1946, when 21 years old, Coxhead borrowed £2,300 to buy the lease of Cecile House, a large derelict property at Crouch End. [1] Development at Cecile House included the conversion of a gymnasium into what became the Mountview Theatre. [3]

The Mountview Theatre officially opened in November 1947 with a production of The Importance of Being Earnest . [1] The theatre presented one play each month until 1949, after-which Coxhead bought the building outright from the leaseholders. For the next 25 years the theatre staged a new production every two to three weeks. Ralph Nossek went on to pursue a professional acting career in 1955 that lasted 56 years.

Acting courses and technical theatre skills training were introduced part-time from 1958 when Mountview Theatre School was formally recognised in name. Its first president was George Norman, with Coxhead as its principal. This remained the case for the next ten years.

In 1969 the school began full-time drama courses. In 1971 a second performance space was built and opened as the Judi Dench Theatre. There were also 10 working studios for acting students, three for technical students and a wardrobe with more than 15,000 costumes. By 1985 the school had leased additional premises at Wood Green, that were named the Sir Ralph Richardson Memorial Studios.

Coxhead retired as principal in 1996; he was replaced by Paul Clements, former director of drama at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Peter Coxhead became chairman and chief executive of the school board until 2000 when Mountview Theatre School changed its name to the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, In 2001 Coxhead was awarded an MBE for Services to the Arts. He died in 2004 after 59 years involvement with the school.

Paul Clements remained as principal until 2008 when he was replaced by Sue Robertson, previously dean of the School of Arts at City University London, subsequently replaced by Stephen Jameson in 2014. He was previously associate director at LAMDA. [4] [5]

In 2007 the British reality television show E4 School of Performing Arts offered several would-be actors the chance to win scholarships to Mountview, Italia Conti and the Academy of Contemporary Music. Mountview's Director of Acting Programme, Amir M. Korangy, appeared on the show as part of the panel.[ citation needed ]

In 2011 Mountview Principal Robertson announced plans to relocate to part of Hornsey Town Hall in Crouch End, a stone's throw from Crouch Hill where it was founded, opening there for the 2014–15 academic year. A Multi-use regeneration was planned for the Grade II-listed Town Hall and the site to its rear, a £19 million project. [6] Haringey Council's cabinet approved the plan on 26 April 2011 on the basis of a business case that included Mountview. [7] The plan fell through when Mountview withdrew and in 2016 Mountview received planning permission for a new site in Peckham, south-east London. [8] The new building opened in September 2018.

Full-time courses

Foundation

Undergraduate

Postgraduate

Short courses

Presidents

Principals

Notable alumni


Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judi Dench</span> English actress (born 1934)

Dame Judith Olivia Dench is an English actress. Widely considered one of Britain's greatest actors, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her numerous roles on the stage. Dench has garnered various accolades throughout a career that spanned seven decades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards, four British Academy Television Awards, six British Academy Film Awards, and seven Olivier Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Academy of Dramatic Art</span> Drama school in London, England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crouch End</span> Human settlement in England

Crouch End is an area of North London, approximately five miles (8 km) from the City of London in the western half of the borough of Haringey. It is within the Hornsey postal district (N8). It has been described by the BBC as one of "a new breed of urban villages" in London. In 2023, it was voted the best place to live in London by the Sunday Times, saying "A creative edge and friendly neighbours give this lofty northern enclave social capital in the capital".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Central School of Speech and Drama</span> Public drama school and conservatoire at the University of London

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LASALLE College of the Arts</span> Art school in Singapore

LASALLE College of the Arts, simply known as LASALLE, is a publicly-funded post-secondary arts institution in Singapore, and a constituent college of the University of the Arts Singapore (UAS) from 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hornsey Town Hall</span> Municipal building in London, England

Hornsey Town Hall is a public building in Hatherley Gardens in the Crouch End area of Hornsey, London. The building was used by the Municipal Borough of Hornsey as its headquarters until 1965. It is a Grade II* listed building.

The Northern School of Art is a further and higher education art and design college, based in Middlesbrough and Hartlepool in the north-east of England. The college was called Cleveland College of Art and Design after the former non-metropolitan county of Cleveland, operational from 1974 to 1996. In April 2018 it was announced that the college would change its name to The Northern School of Art effective from September 2018.

<i>Mrs Henderson Presents</i> 2005 film by Stephen Frears

Mrs Henderson Presents is a 2005 biographical musical comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears and written by Martin Sherman. It stars Judi Dench, Bob Hoskins, Kelly Reilly, and Will Young. It tells the true story of Laura Henderson, an eccentric British socialite who opened the Windmill Theatre in London in 1931.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts</span> School in Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom

The Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, also known simply as Italia Conti, is a drama school based in Woking, England. It was founded by the actress Italia Conti in 1911. Italia Conti delivers courses in acting, musical theatre, and dance, catering mostly for 16+ and 18+ students through its higher education programmes, and for younger learners (3-18yrs) through its Associate Schools and pre-vocational courses.

The Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA) was a British drama school. It had 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Questors Theatre</span> Venue in London

The Questors Theatre is a theatre venue located in the London Borough of Ealing, West London. It is home of The Questors, a large theatre company which hosts a season of around twenty productions a year, not including visiting companies, and is a member of the Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain and the International Amateur Theatre Association.

Chickenshed is a British theatre company based in Southgate, London.

Bird College – Conservatoire for Dance and Musical Theatre is an independent performing arts school and college, located in Sidcup, South East London, in the London Borough of Bexley.

The Conference of Drama Schools (CDS) was the organisation which represented the top 21 accredited UK drama schools in the United Kingdom from 1969 until 2012.

Rikki David James Chamberlain is a British actor best known for playing Samson in CITV's Captain Mack.

Morag McLaren is a Scottish singer, director and coach who now focuses on helping young singers at the early stages in their professional careers.

Drama UK was an advocate for vocational drama training in the UK, as well as providing accreditation for vocational drama courses, from 2012 to 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giles Terera</span> British actor, musician, and filmmaker (born 1976)

Giles Terera is a British actor, musician, and filmmaker. He is best known for his work in the theatre, particularly in the original cast of the London production of the musical Hamilton, as Aaron Burr, for which he won the 2018 Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical. His first documentary, Muse of Fire, premiered in autumn 2013.

Associated Studios is a drama school in London, offering degree and diploma courses in musical theatre.

Ralph Nossek was a British actor of stage, television and screen. He was born in August 1923 in the parish of St George in the East, London, England. He died in London on 5 December 2011. From 1953 until his last years he was a well known figure in British live theatre, adapted well to the new medium of television and over the years played in a considerable number of films. He was versatile, competent and confident in his different roles and in particular made a noticeable contribution to the emergence of British television drama.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Peter Coxhead Obituaries The Stage". The Stage. The Stage, Jul 15, 2004. 15 July 2004. Archived from the original on 30 November 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  2. Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts 2009, p. 5.
  3. "Peter Coxhead". The Daily Telegraph Newspaper. London, England. 14 July 2004. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  4. "New Mountview Principal Announced". 2013. Mountview Academy. Archived from the original on 26 March 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  5. "Former LAMDA Associate Director, Stephen Jameson, will lead the north London drama school from January". Fourth Wall Magazine. 4 November 2013. Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  6. The Stage 2011.
  7. Haringey Independent 2011.
  8. "Mountview gain planning permission for Peckham move - WhatsOnStage.com". 5 October 2016. Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  9. 1 2 "Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts | London | President & Artistic Associates | Mountview | About Us". www.mountview.org.uk. Mountview Academy, 2016. Archived from the original on 1 December 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  10. "Michael Fentiman", United Agents. Retrieved 9 December 2018
  11. Brennan, Ailis; A Younger Theatre. Retrieved 11 December 2018
  12. http://www.iamtraxx.com [ bare URL ]
  13. "Michael S. Wilson | Creative Media Professional for Film, TV & Online".
  14. "Creative Artists Management - Ibinabo Jack". Creative Artists Management. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  15. "Rowena King". cam.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 March 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  16. Nathan Southern (2015). "Eddie Marsan Full Biography". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015.

Sources