Award-winning playwright Gareth Farr teaches all three year groups on the Acting BA course at ArtsEd, directs creative projects and co-ordinates visiting staff and industry professionals. He has also found time to write The Quiet House, following on from his Bruntwood Prize-winning debut, Britannia Waves the Rules which premiered at the Royal Exchange Manchester in 2014.  

The Quiet House receives its world premiere at Birmingham Repertory Theatre on Thursday 26 May, directed by Tessa Walker, followed by a five-week run at the Park Theatre, London.

“It’s passing on your thoughts, your personality, a part of yourself, your DNA.  If we don’t do that what are we? We’re just dust.”

Jess and Dylan are in love. They want a family. That’s all they have ever wanted.

This ordinary couple find themselves on an extraordinary journey when they put their faith in science and their relationship through the ultimate test.

The Quiet House was initially inspired by Gareth and his wife, Gabby’s own experience:

“I wrote it on the back of four years of fertility treatment during which I became interested in writing about something which people – particularly men – just weren’t talking about. This play is about hope. It’s about anyone who has focused so fiercely on the notion of hope, and clung to it so tightly, that it either breaks or it hardens and becomes a tangible thing.” Gareth Farr

ArtsEd would like to wish Gareth, the cast and creative teams the best of luck for the production.

The Quiet House

Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Centenary Square, Broad Street, Birmingham B1 2EP
26 May – 4 June
www.birmingham-rep.co.uk

Park Theatre, Clifton Terrace, London N4 3JP
7 June – 11 July
www.parktheatre.co.uk

Day School and Sixth Form alumnus Sam won the Schubert scholarship two years ago to attend the world famous American Academy of Dramatic Art. He was the first pupil to ever achieve 100% in his audition, as a result he was awarded the first ever Schubert Scholarship which covered all of his tuition fees at AADA in New York.

Sam, who is now nearly 20, graduated last week and along with his degree he scooped the top award, The Charles Jehlinger from AADA.

Previous winners of the Charles Jehlinger award include Robert Redford, Spencer Tracey, Kim Cattrall, Paul Rudd, Anne Hathaway.

The award is given to the student who developed most: “as a person as well as an artist’ and “who displays a profession attitude towards the art”.

Sam has enjoyed his experience in America, gained enormously as a person and an actor from leaving home and travelling to New York. Sam was overwhelmed to have received the Charles Jehlinger award, which came as a bolt out of the blue, saying “I’m so proud and delighted to have been awarded this, especially as some of the greatest names in the industry have received this ahead of me, and I am going to use this to spur me on in their footsteps.”

The award has already open doors for potential plays on Broadway this Summer, meanwhile, Sam is due back in London in May, as he is currently auditioning for various top Drama schools in London, and will be looking for an Agent in the UK.

AADA Director of Instruction, Constantine Scopas, said “Sam is a consummate professional already, I am anxious to see what heights he climbs to once out of the Academy.”

The American Academy of Dramatic Arts was founded in 1884 as the first conservatoire for actors in the English speaking world.  Charles Jehlinger was one of the first graduates, and went on to teach stars such as Edward G Robinson, Rosalind Russel, Grace Kelly, Jason Robards and Kirk Douglas.

The memory of Charles Jehlinger, as Director of Instruction for over 50 years, is honoured by AADA and accredited with the following quote, being the basis upon which the award is relevant to the Academy and its teachings.

“The art of acting is without limits. You need to understand all of human nature, the sense of beauty of the artist and the poet, the sense of rhythm of the dancer and musician, the mentality of a philosopher and scientist. It is the universal art.” – Charles Jehlinger