ArtsEd is pleased to announce the appointment of theatre and film director, Nicholai La Barrie to their Board of Trustees. The appointment was made in March, just prior to the government’s Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. Nicholai is an Artistic Associate at Lyric Hammersmith and has been a MOBO Fellow.

Nicholai has worked internationally and across the UK as a director, actor and arts administrator. His work as a director includes productions at: Lyric Hammersmith, Arcola Theatre, Edinburgh Festival, LIFT, Gate, and Ovalhouse. Most recently, he was resident director on TINA – The Tina Turner Musical in the West End.

His film credits include: Hamlet Sort Of (2017) North East South West (short film, 2016), Aingeal (2012) and Dark Stranger (2009), which was an official selection at the Caribbean Film Festival.

Nicholai’s extensive experience of developing young people’s engagement with the performing arts is a particularly valuable addition to the ArtsEd Board’s wide range of expertise. As Director of Young People and Emerging Artists at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, he was responsible for nurturing a new diverse generation of theatre artists, technicians and managers. He is the former Head of Youth Arts, and resident youth theatre director at Ovalhouse in Brixton, and directed an award-winning production of Chatroom for the National Theatre Shell Connections Youth Festival as well as site-specific productions of Peter Pan, and Ti-Jean and His Brothers in the flower garden at Kennington Park.

Nicholai is the recipient of the Mayor of London Award (for raising the voice of young people), and the RSC Complete Works Award for his adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. He has been the Young Company Director at the Unicorn Children’s Theatre in London, and the Youth and Communities Manager at Hoxton Hall where he developed strategy, and managed arts, sports and positive activities for young people at both Hoxton Hall and Rose Bowl.

Of his appointment to ArtsEd Board of Trustees, Nicholai said:

“I am excited to join the Board of Trustees of ArtsEd. The calibre of teaching and the care they have for students I have always admired. ArtsEd is at the forefront of creating real opportunities for its students and also ensuring that the future of the industry has a broad range of talented voices. I am pleased to be a member of the board.”

ArtsEd Principal, Chris Hocking said:

“We are delighted that Nicholai is joining our Board of Trustees. His commitment to young people in performing arts training and his experience in the industry adds great value to ArtsEd’s passionate board. I very much look forward to working with him”

The last few months have been full of unprecedented challenges that pupils and staff at ArtsEd have been rising to with creativity, commitment and a bucket load of ingenuity. The most recent triumph was the Day School & Sixth Form Prize Giving. 

Produced and curated by our brilliant staff and hosted on online, the Prize Giving featured performances from pupils, speeches from teachers and prizes awarded to celebrate the pupils’ impressive achievements throughout the year.   

And as the icing on the cake, a series of fabulous ArtsEd alumni popped up to host, including prima ballerina Darcey Bussell, Charlie’s Angel’s star Ella Balinska, West End performer and Strictly star, Danny Mac and Day School, Sixth Form and School of Musical Theatre alumnus Isaac Gryn.

The stars of the future shone as well, with wonderful performances from Day School and Sixth Form pupils. You can watch our Year 13 performance of ‘You Learn’ right now from the comfort of your own home:

Adrian Blake, Headteacher said about the event:

“I am so proud of ArtsEd pupils for continuing to excel in everything that they do in the face of this year’s extraordinary challenges. Congratulations to all the Prize Giving winners, to every Day School & Sixth Form pupil and to all the teachers and parents who have supported them throughout the year. Well done everyone!”

Why not find out more about our Day School & Sixth Form at our Open Evenings? Register Now:

Day School Open Evening Registration

Sixth Form Open Evening Registration

In February 2019, Julie Spencer, Director of the School of Acting, commissioned two world premieres from leading playwrights Lucy Chau Lai-Tuen and Vivienne Franzmann. Part of our long-standing New Writing project, the development of the plays put our BA Acting students at the heart of the creative process. Lucy and Vivienne worked closely with the students over the course of several terms, drawing on their experiences, interests and concerns to shape the narratives.   

In a normal year, the plays, Babel and Kate Spencer Did A Good Thing, would be the final showcases for our BA Acting graduates, working with well-established directors, proceeded by a five-week rehearsal schedule and culminating with performances in the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation Theatre. As Lockdown loomed, it became clear that a different approach would be required.  

In the 101 days since ArtsEd closed its doors, an extraordinary creative collaboration has ensured that this essential strand of the students’ professional development has been maintained.  Our BA Acting curriculum is 40% screen-based with self-taping a core part of the 2nd year curriculum. This experience, alongside the expertise within our TV & Film department, means that ArtsEd students were uniquely equipped to take on the challenges presented by lockdown. 

When building closure was confirmed Julie Spencer, Director of the School of Acting and Kim Vithana, Head of Film & TV created the idea of digital frameworks for each story. Directors, Ameera Conrad and Mingyu Lin, joined forces with Vivienne and Lucy to adapt the works to these new contexts. 

Remote rehearsal schedules saw Ameera and Mingyu work with the students both individually and in small groups, delving into the heart of each tale. At the same time our IT team established the platforms for the finished products.   

The resulting screenings have been received with enthusiasm by the industry. They are testament to the commitment, confidence and creativity of the BA Acting Class of 2020 and to the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the creative teams and the School of Acting staff.  

You can now watch the plays for free online!:

Watch Kate Spencer Did A Good Thing

Watch Babel

If you would like to hear more about the creative process, then why not listen to our podcasts with the creative teams; 

Lucy Chau Lai-Tuen writer of BABEL 

Mingyu Lin director of BABEL 

Ameera Conrad director of KATE SPENCER DID A GOOD THING  

If you would like to find out more about the screenings, then please contact jparris@artsed.co.uk 

BABEL 

by Lucy Chau Lai-Tuen 
directed by Mingyu Lin 

A voyeuristic exploration of the human impact of major London incidents,  Babel exposes the tragedy that follows discord and disenfranchisement  through a series of intimate personal stories. 

Kate Spencer Did a Good Thing 

by Vivienne Franzmann 
directed by Ameera Conrad 

A young man can’t bear to live anymore. A young woman saves his life.  Kate Spencer Did A Good Thing explores how technology is used both  by us and against us, in the modern landscape of surveillance. 

Find out more about what ArtsEd are doing during lockdown in our previous news story about embracing virtual learning. You can also contribute to our Lockdown playlist on Spotify!  

The Graham Martin Bursary Fund has been set up by his family, friends and agents at Savages Personal Management to mark Graham’s passing and celebrate his achievements as an outstanding actor.  

The bursary will provide a helping hand to young performers of exceptional talent during their years of study at ArtsEd.  In addition to financial support, the bursary recipients will also be mentored by well-established theatre professionals, reflecting the generosity with which Graham shared his own expertise and experience for so many years. 

Wonderful messages of love and support describe Graham as a true gent, a talented actor and someone who was always keen to help others, making the Bursary a particularly fitting way to remember him. 

Generous donations from friends and family already total over £2,000, an amazing contribution to the goal of £5,000.  If you would like to remember Graham and make a donation you can click here.  

Thank you. 

Training and learning at ArtsEd is as engaging as ever, even though we’re not in the same building, let alone the same room. Well-laid plans are paying off and the live remote learning show opened very smoothly first thing on Monday morning!

Day School & Sixth Form

Dance classes, singing lessons and drama sessions have continued right alongside Maths, History, English and the rest of the academic curriculum. Virtual school has got off to an excellent start with both students and staff navigating this brand new territory with the great assurance and the spirit of adventure that is typically ArtsEd.

“Thank you for finding such imaginative ways to continue classes! I cannot begin to understand the complexities involved in doing this, but the fact you were able to inform everyone the week before, and were all set to go with timetabled lessons by Monday, is surely such a monumental achievement.” – Sixth Form Parent

“The focus that the lessons provide is invaluable, during a period where almost everything else is so fluid and unpredictable. The lessons have engaged our daughter and she is continuing to work very hard.” – Day School Parent

Higher Education: BA, Foundation and MA

On Monday our 3rd Year BA Acting students started virtual rehearsals on their final productions, Katie Spencer Did A Good Thing by Vivienne Franzmann and Babel by Lucy Chau Lai-Tuen. Our annual New Writing commissions, these two new plays are being directed by Ameera Conrad and Mingyu Lin respectively and the productions will be launched online in June. More details to follow…

Director, Mingyu Lin Tweeted:

Virtual rehearsals for @ArtsEdLondon have been a blast thanks to an enthusiastic cast and a brilliant script by @LucySheen 

Meanwhile, the 3rd Year BA Musical Theatre students have had Zoom workshops with industry professionals including Janie Dee, Matthew White, David Grindrod and Harriet Thorpe, gaining fascinating insights into the profession from experts right at the heart. One 3rd year student Tweeted:

Actually had the best day of virtual @ArtsEdLondon classes! Feeling very blessed at the opportunities they are still putting in place for us even in a pandemic!

Our Foundation Acting students have also enjoyed working with specialists, enjoying a Zoom masterclass with Paul-Ryan Carberry from Iris Theatre! Paul was delighted to have met the next generation of actors and Tweeted:

Thanks to @yusuf_khamisa & @ArtsEdLondon for asking me along! A huge pleasure to share some time with such a passionate bunch of young artists and I’m really looking forward to seeing what they create in the future.

Our MA Acting students are hard at work on their self-tapes this week, guided by our Senior Screen Acting Tutor Mark Street. We look forward to seeing results in the next few weeks!

And to keep up the good vibes, we’ve invited everyone to suggest songs to add to the ArtsEd Lockdown Playlist on Spotify. Check it out and Tweet your suggestions! ArtsEd are ‘virtually’ unstoppable! Why not keep up with us on Twitter?

The ongoing public health crisis has brought our exciting new build project to a temporary halt. Progress over the last nine months has been hugely impressive. The building is fully watertight as of last week and most of the work that still needs to be done is internal. Whilst everything is lying quiet for a while, we thought you might like a sneak peek at what’s been going on since January! 

Starting on the ground floor, this lovely expanse will consist of two new rehearsal rooms and a dance studio, as well as breakout rehearsal spaces and changing rooms.   

Up on the first floor the Day School & Sixth Form will have a suite of new classrooms, a dance studio and a study space.  On the second floor we’ll have three fabulous new dance studios with fantastic feature windows. 

And one of the best bits…  The Green Roof, a wonderful roof terrace and drama studio for the exclusive use of the Day School & Sixth Form pupils. Lucky them!    

To top it all off, we’ve got our own little field of solar panels.   

We have been delighted with the progress so far and are really looking forward to sharing these wonderful new spaces with the whole of the ArtsEd community. Our moving in date is going to be a bit later than planned, but that won’t take away from the excitement or the sense of achievement when we do we get there. For now, we’ll just have to be satisfied with choosing paint colours…

Continuing the celebration of ArtsEd’s Centenary, we launch Islam Bouakkaz’s 100 Years in 100 Seconds Video!  

This launch is just in time for release of new Netflix series, The Letter For The King, featuring our BA Acting 2018 classmates, Islam Bouakkaz and Thaddea Graham. 

Based on Tonke Dragt’s bestselling medieval adventure novel, this story follows fifteen-year-old squire, Tiuri (Amir Wilson), who is tasked with delivering a top-secret letter to the King; the contents of which the whole future of the kingdom depends on. On this deadly mission, Tiuri is joined by a group of Novices, including Thaddea as Iona and Islam as Arman.  

Perhaps a series to add to your isolation TV list? 

Find out what Islam had to say about his time at ArtsEd, and how it helped kick-start his exciting career: 

As ArtsEd celebrate 100 years, we remember the incredible women who have helped build our legacy from 1919 to present day! For International Women’s Day on Sunday 8 March, we’ve created a gallery to highlight the women who make up ArtsEd’s illustrious history, past and present.

Grace Cone & Olive Ripman

The women who started it all! These two extraordinary women shared a deep understanding of the value of combining academic education with specialised training in dance, drama, music and art. Having run their own dance schools, they joined forces in 1939 to create the Cone Ripman School which was renamed the Arts Educational Schools in 1947.

Dame Beryl Gray & Alicia Markova

ArtsEd Principal in the 1950’s, Dame Beryl Gray helped set up the revolutionary company, London Festival Ballet with iconic ballet dancer and ArtsEd President at the time, Alicia Markova. This company was made up of ArtsEd students and later became the English National Ballet. Below is Beryl Gray with the Markova Award in the 1970’s.

Mrs Marie Jack

As ArtsEd Principal in the 1960’s-70’s, Mrs Jack left an unforgettable legacy. To this day, alumni share stories about their time at ArtsEd with Mrs Jack – a stickler for good manners; she insisted students curtsy every time they walked past her! (perhaps we should bring that back, right ladies?)

Eve Pettinger

Much loved ballet teacher from 1960’s-1990’s, Eve is still involved with Tring Park school.

Jackie Bristow

Jackie was a jazz and ballet teacher at ArtsEd for 40 years! Here she is, pictured on the bottom left at a late 80’s reunion!

Jane Harrison

The wonderful Jane Harrison was Principal of ArtsEd from 2008-2017. She oversaw many exciting changes and improvements at the school, including the launch of the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation Theatre in 2013!

Today…

ArtsEd are proud to have so many brilliant women in leadership roles, paving the way for another generation of performers. Let’s shout-out to these ladies:

Jane Morton

Deputy Principal Jane helps run the ArtsEd ship!

Di Stedman

Head of Production, Di has been with us since the 1980’s and is responsible for all of our professionally staged shows here at ArtsEd.

Natalie Bareham

Director of the Performing Arts for Day School and Sixth Form, Natalie has been at ArtsEd for over 20 years!

Claire Parker Wood

Deputy Headteacher for ArtsEd Day School and Sixth Form, Claire also teaches Science (repping women in STEM!)

Julie Spencer

Director of the School of Acting, Julie was cited as one to watch in The Stage 100 2020!

Kim Vithana

Head of Film & TV for the School of Acting, Kim is also active within the industry, and has recently appeared in Netflix drama, The Stranger.

Jill-Louise Hydes

Head of Dance for the School of Musical Theatre, Jill makes sure those feet are always pointed!

ArtsEd are delighted to announce that second year BA (Hons) Acting student, Christopher Coniston has been awarded the most prestigious national award for drama students in the UK: The Laurence Olivier Bursary Award.

The Laurence Olivier Bursary Scheme was set up by the Society of London Theatres with Lord Olivier, with the sole aim to develop future acting talent for the British stage. The Society of London Theatres (SOLT) represents the major UK theatre producers, from commercial West End Theatres, to The Royal National Theatre.

Each year, two second year students per drama school are put forward for the award. A two-day selection process takes place in the form of a ten-minute audition on a West End stage, followed by an interview. The panel is made up TV and Theatre casing directors, as well as West End producers.

Thrilled with his achievement, Chris tells us:

“This award means a huge amount to me! It not only enables me to solely focus on my 3rd year (my most exciting and important year of drama school training) without the financial burdens looming over me, but it has opened up a fruitful and exciting avenue in my future to look forward to. The fact I can simply hold this phenomenal achievement to my name fills me with such pride and gratitude. To come from humble upbringings and achieve such things is utterly mind-blowing. I’d like to thank everyone who has been with me along this journey thus far for believing in me, and giving me the self-belief to go out there and make this happen. Words cannot really express how I feel, but I am over the moon.”

Director of the School of Acting, Julie Spencer shares her congratulations:

“We are absolutely delighted and very proud that Chris has been awarded one of Laurence Olivier Award top bursaries. He is a student who is committed and exceptionally focused. This is a great achievement and we are extremely grateful for the support of the Society of London Theatre”

The Laurence Olivier Bursary recipients will attend the Olivier Awards 2020 with Mastercard on Sunday 5 April at the Royal Albert Hall, where they will be presented with certificates on the red carpet.

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Edurank, a social media benchmarking organisation, combines a range of measures including post engagement and number of followers to produce the annual rankings.

This year Tess Henderson, our Senior Digital and Marketing Officer, has made excellent use of our social media to share a whole host of exciting stories with the whole ArtsEd community.

Our Centenary celebrations have been led  by 100 Years in 100 Seconds, a series of short films featuring ArtsEd alumni, including Miriam-Teak Lee, Danny Mac and Lashana Lynch (keep your eyes peeled in April!) reflecting on their time at ArtsEd.

100 Favourite Things is giving pupils, students and staff the chance to share what they love about ArtsEd and #ArtsEdAdvent took a trip down memory lane with sneak peeks of our archives and alumni stories in the run up to Christmas.

Chris Hocking, Principal: “Tess does an amazing job using Twitter to celebrate successes big and small from across the whole organisation and beyond to our alumni community. This award is a testament to her hard work! ArtsEd’s social media platforms are kind, supportive and fun, a digital reflection of the wonderful atmosphere that we enjoy inside the building every day.”

Make sure you are following us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook! Find us on @ArtsEdLondon