Marième Diouf (ArtsEd BA Acting, 2015) stars in Offside, a new play by poets Sabrina Mahfouz and Hollie McNish which is currently on tour. A unique blend of lyrical dialogue, poetry and punchy prose, Offside put women's football centre stage, focusing on two contemporary women who are trialling for England, Mickey and Keeley, and two women players from the past, Lily Parr and Emma Clarke. Marième plays Mickey and Emma. 

Marième's first professional role after graduating from ArtsEd was in Liberian Girl at The Royal Court, which earned rave reviews.

She says: “ArtsEd has made me the performer I am, and hugely added to the woman I’ve become.”

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Offside – three centuries, one goal and a tale of sweat and struggle – is set in 1892, 1921 and 2018, as four women from across the centuries live, breathe and play football.  The play is the result of extensive research into the history and current state of women’s football, including a little-known 50-year ban. Futures Theatre Company partnered with the National Football Museum in Manchester and the Imperial War Musuem in London in the early stages of development, and Edinburgh's Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh came on board as a dramaturgical partner for the first tour in March and April 2017 before the show secured a transfer to the Pleasance for the Edinburgh Fringe. This new tour coincides with Manchester United's announcement that it will be launching its first ever women's team.

As part of the tour, Futures has performed at York Theatre Royal for the first time in their 26-year history and director Caroline Bryant was thrilled to have been invited to York. 

And why the title Offside? “It's partly in recognition of the joke that women can't understand the offside rule, also a slight on women, and it's also about being off-balance until we can be the women we are meant to be and then we'll be onside.”

Offside is on tour until 30 June 2018 – more details and booking at http://www.futurestheatre.co.uk/offside

ArtsEd is proud to announce that ten graduating students and alumni have joined the cast of Les Misérables in London's Queen's Theatre and will be on stage from Monday 11 June. Rehearsals began last week and the show is booking until Saturday 2 March 2019.

ArtsEd alumnus Dean Chisnall will star in the lead role, becoming the new Jean Valjean. Dean has appeared in other high profile West End musicals, including playing Shrek in Shrek The Musical at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, La Cage Aux Folles at the Playhouse Theatre, Love Never Dies at the Adelphi Theatre and Never Forget at the Savoy Theatre. Beyond the West End, he has appeared in Mamma Mia in Cyprus, Shrek The Musical on a UK tour and Blood Brothers on UK tours. {image1}

Other new ArtsEd cast members, graduating this year, are Toby Miles, Amara Okereke, Adam Filipe, Hannah Grace Lawson, Jessica Lee and Ben Tyler, joined by alumni Rebecca Lafferty, Sam Edwards, Viv Parry and Oliver Brenin, as well as Elena Sky from the Sixth Form. Congratulations to all our students and wishing you every success!

Les Misérables is an epic production which takes audiences on an odyssey spanning the decades around the turn of the 19th century in France. Jean Valjean is a former convict who struggles to return to society and is then caught stealing, leading to a cat-and-mouse fight to survive as he is tracked by the ruthless Inspector Javert. This is a show not to be missed, especially with its amazing new cast! 

Book tickets here.

In the run-up to the first of our exciting new plays in May – This Is by award-winning playwright Roy Williams – we asked some of the cast members to give us their thoughts. There's a real buzz around ArtsEd as the world premiere opens on Tuesday 15 May – so grab your tickets now!

Here's the story…

London, 1997-2017. Kelle is smart but she’s fighting the odds. Growing up in a family she doesn’t like and a world that doesn’t expect much of her, everything shifts when her brother is sent to prison. Kelle’s drive to clear his name takes her down a road that she didn’t expect to be on.

This Is charts the ever-changing connections in Kelle’s life as she navigates her way through the upheavals of Britain at the turn of the 21st century.

And here's the cast reactions…

Cash Holland (Kelle) {image1}

What excites you most about This Is?
The plays deals with how people change and how a sibling relationship can develop. Relationships can change drastically in just one moment. It also shows such a wide variety of people from different backgrounds in all different jobs and roles across society, I think that’s really good.
 
Describe your character Kelle in three words:
Driven / Defiant / Courageous
 
What does Britishness mean to you?
A cup of tea! It always brings people together. And community.
 
What do you hope the audience will leave with?
I hope they will have felt Kelle’s passion and connected with the story of her life. I hope people go away thinking about some of the issues that are tackled.

Katie Labey (Zoe/Armed Officer)  {image2}

What excites you most about this play?
I think we're already in the making of a great story but the most exciting element for me is that no one will have seen it before, that's the joy of working with new writing.

Describe your character in three words:
Invasive, inquisitive and involved

This Is tackles the subject of Britishness – what does being British mean to you?
To me, being British applies to anyone in the United Kingdom. It's slightly different for me as, being from the Channel Islands, it's a word that simply ties me to the mainland.

What do you want the audience to leave with?
An awareness of our country's history and how much has changed, as well as things that haven't changed enough.

Harry Hancock (Dennis/Patrick) {image3}

What excites you most about this play?
A look back at the past 20 years; the formative years of all of the cast. The play spans from 1997-2017 and pinpoints key moments in the lives of Londoners across these decades. It has made me reminisce and reminded me of the faux pas of humanity, how quick we are to forget the atrocities of our recent history.

Describe your character in three words:
Big Wet Blanket

This Is tackles the subject of Britishness – what does being British mean to you?
Being British for me is about being a Londoner, I was born and raised in this city and love every aspect of it. The hub and versatility of life is infectious and I cant imagine myself anywhere else.

What do you want the audience to leave with?
The play takes you through Kelle’s life and formative years, our biggest goal is for the audience to feel like they know Kelle intimately. Every character aids you to better understand and appreciate her story. And hopefully through her struggles, you can relate to her story in some way.

Alice Cottyn (Beth/Pippa) {image4}

What excites you most about this play?

What I find most exciting about the play is that each character is fighting their own battle on a very human level. Each of us wants something, whether that's to simply fit in, have a loving family and home or just be loved.

Describe your character in three words.

Independent, Broken and Capable

This Is tackles the subject of Britishness – what does being British mean to you?

Britishness to me resembles the United Kingdom. I'm proud to be British but I identify as English and even more than that I have such pride in my Northern roots.

What do you want the audience to leave with?

I want the audience to leave with a sense of togetherness, an awareness of different cultures and an openness to and understanding of the relationships and choices that people choose and make.

Break a leg to all This Is cast members!

15-19 May, 7.30pm, The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation Theatre. More info and booking here

Roy Williams has written a range of ground-breaking and strikingly British plays during his career. This time, he writes about Britain between 1997 and 2017 in brand new play, This Is. We ask: What has changed in twenty years and how has the personal informed the political and vice-versa? 

So Roy, how did you find writing for and with our students? What were the challenges and were there any pivotal moments in the process?

The students are a writer's dream. I cannot express enough how great it was to have students at my disposal. Writing is all about trying and throwing things out; playing out ideas with them saved me a lot of time by making me realise what worked and what didn't. I couldn't have asked for a more talented and inspiring group.

The play tackles the themes of class, expectations and aspirations, what inspired it?

The students were my inspiration. Once I got over how ridiculously young they are, it occurred to me, most were born in 1997, and so much has happened in this world, both socially and politically over the last 20 years: The rise and fall of Blair, 9/11, 7/7, London riots, Brexit, Trump. I found it exciting to write a piece that follows a group of young people as they navigate their way through those times. Our protagonist, Kelle and her friends have to fight through a great deal of change.

You have used key socio-political moments of the last twenty years to punctuate Kelle’s journey. Tell us the ways in which these changes impacted on your life and why you have included them. 

It reminded me of how I navigated my life through the 80s, a life changing decade for me; there were riots, Thatcher and overt racism. This helped me to relate to what Kelle is going through. Every generation has to fight. 

The play presents a range of masculine archetypes, for example, Luke and Jack referring back to Marc being beaten up by a girl, Park’s reactions in the first scene, Marc’s relationship with Kelle. Can you tell us more about this aspect of the play?

The men's struggles are useful for me to explore how hard and demanding these times are for the young. It's a time where the sense of community is being eroded, there's a rise in crime and a lack of faith in politicians. The boys in the play are doing what they can to live by the choices they have made or are going to make. 

The play also explores power, the lack of it and the struggle to gain it. For example, the different ways in which characters try to solve problems: Marc by turning to violence, Kelle turning to study. Can you tell us more about these themes?

Again, the characters are merely trying to get by in a world left for them by the powers that be. The play addresses cause and effect, and for the purpose of the play, I am showing the effect. 

What do you want the audience to be thinking about when they leave?

I want the audience to leave with the feeling that they have been told a good story and have been moved by it, but have also learned something important about the young people in our society.

Purchase tickets for THIS IS here

ArtsEd students were thrilled to perform at a star-studded Olivier Awards ceremony on Sunday 8 April at the Royal Albert Hall, broadcast live on ITV and hosted by Catherine Tate.

Principal Chris Hocking said:  “It was a real privilege to attend the Oliviers and to watch so many of our talented alumni perform in excerpts from current West End shows along with our current BA (Hons) Musical Theatre students, Year 7 pupils and pupils from our Weekend Classes.”

The London cast of Hamilton opened the 42nd annual Olivier Awards ceremony with a special performance of the show's opening number. ArtsEd alumnus Tarinn Callender, who graduated just last year, plays Hercules, a friend of Hamilton, and James Madison, another founding father.

“Keep your eyes on this one” says Whats On Stage – congratulations Tarinn!

Already making Olivier Awards history with 13 nominations, Hamilton stormed off with seven prizes – the most of any show – including best new musical and two best performances. Other nominees included ArtsEd alumna and Patron, Janie Dee, for 'Follies' at National Theatre, Olivier.

ArtsEd first and second year Musical Theatre students were proud to sing with American star Chita Rivera, performing West Side Story's 'Somewhere' to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the musical's debut in London. Rivera played the role of Anita in both the original Broadway and the London stagings of this classic by Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents.

The 50th anniversary of Andrew Lloyd Webber, ArtsEd President, and Tim Rice’s 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' was also celebrated. Past stars of the musical, including Jason Donovan, Lee Mead, Danielle Hope and Joe McElderry performed in the finale, alongside ArtsEd students and pupils.

The Oliviers 2018 were definitely a night to remember – share the story, share the success!

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ArtsEd are offering the incredible opportunity to win scholarships in a selection of part-time courses, in association with The Stage. We have six places at the Extra Skills Academy, six on the 2018 summer course, one place on the EXCELerate Musical Theatre course and another on the EXCELerate Acting course. The total value of each of these fantastic opportunities comes to around £13,000.

Extra Skills Academy

The Arts Ed Extra Skills Academy offers weekend opportunities for 4-16 year olds to learn and develop skills in the performing arts in a fun, vibrant and friendly environment. These young people get the opportunity to learn new skills, make friends and showcase their talents to their parents. This is a truly rewarding experience for any young person who is passionate about performing, and YOU could be one of the lucky six to win a scholarship.

Summer Courses

Arts Ed’s summer courses are aimed at ages 4-16 and 16+, and are renowned for providing the very best performing arts training in the UK. We offer a range of programmes from Junior Drama Company and Putting on a Musical, to audition techniques for students aiming to further a career in the performing arts.

EXCELerate Courses

The Arts Ed Excelerate part-time courses focus on intensive skills in musical theatre and acting audition preparation for those aged 18 and above. These courses are delivered over two terms from September to March, three evenings a week. These courses aim to provide students with the skills and confidence to take them to the next step in their vocational training, or can act as a refresher for anyone who wishes to get into the industry, while allowing full time or part time work on the side.

Director of ArtsEd Extra, Jonathan Goodwin explains:

“The ArtsEd brand is very strong in itself, so to align ourselves with an organisation that has the same ethos is really important. The Stage supports young people in their development and promotes it. From our perspective, it’s about building reputations and concentrating on the individual. It’s about getting to know the young people and nurturing and encouraging talent. The small class sizes mean that we can develop their skills individually and move them forward better.”

Jonathan Goodwin stresses that we are not looking for star performances, but potential:

“For the auditions, if they are planning on joining the acting option, then we’ll want them to perform a monologue. We want to see some personality and that you have passion and enthusiasm. It’s not about delivering a finished product, however – we need to see the potential. We look at their story because we want to get to know them and how they think this course will help them to move forwards. From a musical theatre point of view, they may come and do a song and a short dance class. Again, it is only about potential. We call it an audition, but it’s really just a case of meeting us and showing us what you enjoy doing.”

TO APPLY FOR ANY OF THE SCHOLARSHIPS LISTED, PLEASE FILL IN THE APPLICATION FORM AND SEND IT BACK TO:

J. Goodwin
Arts Educational Schools
Cone Ripman House
14 Bath Rd
Chiswick
London
W4 1LY

ArtsEd alumni are delighted to be taking part in a musical extravaganza at The Other Palace to celebrate the Orpheus Centre's 20th birthday. Recent ArtsEd graduates Alex Wheeler, Ben Stacey, Simon Bolland, Lauren Oakley, Georgie Westall, Sarah Day, Hampus Engstrand, Poppy Andrews, Siobhan Diffin and Benjamin Mundy will present present Sir Richard Stilgoe's 'Orpheus – The Mythical' alongside alumni and current students from this pioneering disabilities charity in a bid to highlight their work with young disabled adults who have a passion for the performing arts.

Sir Richard Stilgoe said, 'We are performing with Arts Educational because we do inclusive stuff and not disabled stuff; the whole purpose of Orpheus is to mix young disabled people up with the real world and not separate them. These are terrific and confident performers who concentrate on what they can do rather than what they can't. Orpheus changes young disabled people's lives. It changes the lives of the staff and the 98 volunteers who work with them. It changes the lives of everyone who attends one of their shows. It has changed my life immeasurably.'

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Sir Richard Stilgoe founded the Orpheus Trust in 1998 in his former family home in Surrey to inspire young disabled people to greater independence though performing arts experiences.

The Orpheus Centre offers a personalised study programme for students aged between 18 and 25 with learning or phyisical disbilities, with the focus on maximising lasting independece. Students can stay up to three years at the centre and learn

This witty musical comedy of a Greek tragedy follows Orpheus on an expedition hindered at every stage by bored, capricious gods and a dodgy satnav. Orpheus joins the heroic Argonauts in order to steal the legendary golden fleece. But on his return, his quest is not over. He has to descend to the Underworld to rescue his wife Eurydice from the depths of Hades. Guiding the narrative, the Greek Chorus will be played by Jane Asher, Rob Brydon, Bertie Carvel and more.

Fri 23 – Sat 31 Mar, 7:30pm (3pm Matinee on Sat 31 only)
Wed 28, Thu 29 and Fri 30 will be signed performances.

For more details and to book tickets go to https://www.theotherpalace.co.uk/

On Friday 2 March, ArtsEd became one of the five leading UK drama schools to partner with the Diversity School Initiative, delivering a three year commitment to address under representation and a lack of diversity in performing arts training.  

Diversity Schools, born in 2017 and led by co-founder, Steven Kavuma, aims to encourage and support drama schools in the improvement of diversity in every area of their work, including student and staff bodies and works studied.

Yusuf Khamisa, Equality, Inclusivity and Diversity Officer at ArtsEd, attended the Diversity School Initiative launch last Friday, along with current BA students, Georgina Onuorah and Michael Workeye. Here’s what he had to say about the event:

“The Diversity School Initiative represents everything we believe in when it comes to young people – a Grass roots movement that speaks the voice of those who demand change. Diversity is no longer a buzz word, it’s a reality. Real change is on the horizon and we at ArtsEd are proud to stand up with those demanding change!”

ArtsEd is committed to its role as a leading light in this arena. The proportion of ArtsEd students from BAME backgrounds has been steadily increasing over the last five years and currently stands at 23%, significantly higher than most other drama schools. Principal, Chris Hocking supports the initiative whole-heartedly:

“Equality and diversity is the very essence of ArtsEd, and joining the Diversity School Initiative underpins our commitment to inclusiveness and to welcoming talented young people from all walks of life.”

Alumni and current students are equally supportive of the commitment:

But ArtsEd’s mission does not stop there. Another major barrier for young people who wish to pursue a career in the arts is the cost of training.  We strive to recruit young people on the basis of talent and not ability to pay and nearly 50% of our student body require significant financial support, through means-tested government grants or our own scholarships and bursaries, in order to take up their places or complete their studies.

“I have two friends from back home that I still see. One of them got an apprenticeship and the other one sells windows. I’m not knocking what they do, but I know I’d be doing the same if I hadn’t got the scholarship to ArtsEd. I just feel so lucky.” – Kristian Wall, BA Acting Alumnus

ArtsEd has been passionate about driving this change in the performing arts for a long time, and we are delighted that our partnership with the Diversity School Initiative will help to accelerate the process. Changes needs to start at the base of the pyramid and we are proud to be at the forefront of this very necessary transformation.

Please spread the word about what ArtsEd is achieving and share this article on Twitter or Facebook!

If you would like to help us in our mission please become an ArtsEd Friend and enjoy a lead role in creating the next generation of exceptional talent.