We are very excited to announce that our Day School pupil, Olivia Beaumont will be playing the role of Young Maeve in series two of Netflix hit: Sex Education, set to release Friday 17 January!
Olivia loved being on set with the talented team of actors, directors and crew who were all very encouraging.
“I was so excited to be offered the part of young Maeve who is such a strong character, to show the audience a glimpse of her early life and to work with the amazing Sex Education team”
Olivia has performed from an early age, continuing her passion for performance at the ArtsEd Day School. She says that “I just love to step into other peoples’ worlds and tell their story”
It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.
Albert Einstein
It is with genuine sadness that we let you know of the passing of Lisle Jones, who died at his home in Melbourne, Australia on Christmas Day. He was 90 years old.
Lisle first worked as a teacher at ArtsEd in 1969 when it was known as the Arts Educational Schools and based at Piccadilly in London’s West End. During the mid 1970s, in collaboration with Brain Cook and Hilary Wood, he was instrumental in establishing the full-time Acting course, for which he subsequently became the programme leader.
An experienced practitioner as both an actor and a director, as well as a dedicated and resourceful teacher, Lisle brought immense passion and commitment to his work – always exacting the highest standards of rigour and professionalism in all of his students.
Determined to ensure that the Acting course achieved national and international recognition for excellence, he secured full accreditation for the programme when the National Council of Drama Training (NCDT) undertook its first tranche of validation visits in 1979/80. This was no mean feat for a relatively new course and in later years other drama schools would look to ArtsEd as an example of best practice in the vocational training sector.
With a sharp eye for talent and always determined to attract the best possible practitioners to come and deliver the training for his students, Lisle recruited the likes of Declan Donnellan to teach acting and direct performances, Patsy Rodenburg to teach voice, Mary Hammond to teach singing, as well as Ben Benison, Roddy Maude- Roxby and Ric Morgan to teach improvisation.
In January 1983, Lisle was invited to return to his homeland, Australia, as Head of Acting at the newly formed Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), where once again he played a major role in helping to shape the careers of some of the world’s most accomplished theatre and film practitioners.
A genuinely warm and kind human being as well as an astute and highly skilled practitioner, Lisle had an immense influence on the careers of many, many actors and theatre practitioners. His wonderful enthusiasm combined with an immense energy and seemingly encyclopaedic knowledge will be greatly missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him.
Julie Spencer, Director of the School of Acting, has been cited as one to watch in The Stage’s list of the 100 most influential people working in the theatre and performing arts industry today. A new entry for 2020, Julie has been noted as a major force for positive change in the drama training sector, particularly since her appointment to ArtsEd as the first black woman to lead a BA conservatoire training course. The 2019/20 intake on our BA Acting course reflects the impact that she has already had, with 60% of the cohort identifying as black or minority ethnic.
The news took the Twitter world by storm, with Julie thanking ArtsEd Principal, Chris Hocking, as well as The Stage and receiving a flood of messages of congratulations and support. We are immensely proud of everything she has achieved in just twelve months and are delighted that her contribution to the industry has been publically recognised.
Julie will be continuing her search for actors from all backgrounds at our Manchester auditions. Focused on our BA Acting course, auditions will take place on Saturday 8 February 2020 from 10am at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. Find out more and apply!
Continuing ArtsEd’s Centenary celebrations, we launch Thomas Dennis’ 100 Years in 100 Seconds video.
Thomas attended both ArtsEd Day School and Sixth Form, graduating from the Sixth Form in 2014. He went straight from ArtsEd, landing the lead role of Christopher Boone in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, then landed another lead role as Albert Narracott in the National Theatre’s War Horse.
Find out what he had to say about his time at ArtsEd, and how it helped kick-start his exciting career:
To celebrate ArtsEd’s 100th Birthday, we have gathered together some of our wonderful alumni to tell us their ArtsEd stories in a series of short films that we will be releasing throughout 2019-20.
First up, we had the fabulous Miriam-Teak Lee, star of exciting new musical &Juliet. You can watch her video here.
And now, we share 100 Years in 100 Seconds with BA Musical Theatre alumnus, Danny Mac who graduated in 2009. Danny has enjoyed tremendous success both on stage and screen; from Hollyoaks and Strictly Come Dancing, to Amelie the Musical and On The Town at Regents Park Open Air Theatre. Today, Danny opens in Christmas West End sensation: White Christmas at the Dominion Theatre. His next endeavor will be Pretty Woman: The Musical which will be opening on the West End, February 2020.
We are thrilled to have a number of alumni nominated for this year’s WhatsOnStage Awards, including the brilliant Isabella Pappas from our Sixth Form. Isabella’s nomination is for Best Supporting Actress in a Play for her role as Cassidy Lafayette in Appropriate, Brandon Jacob Jenkins’ new play staged at the Donmar Warehouse.
Balancing Sixth Form responsibilities while working in the industry is a huge challenge that Isabella has attacked head-on. Here’s what she had to say about her nomination and how ArtsEd helped her along the way:
“It is amazing to be nominated for a WhatsOnStage Award for Best Supporting Actress alongside such accomplished women. And it’s equally wonderful to have Appropriate nominated for Best New Play. I believe in the power of theatre to move audiences in unexpected ways and I’m fortunate to have been involved in plays like Appropriate and The Nether, which raise important questions and stimulate debate amongst audiences. The fact that WhatsOnStage awards are chosen by the public shows that people appreciate the artistry and talent of everyone involved in these productions.
Since my nomination, the outpouring of support from ArtsEd has been overwhelming and I cannot thank everyone enough. As an ArtsEd student, it can be a challenge to represent the school’s tradition of excellence and its commitment to London’s theatre tradition while also being a working actor. I’m often revising backstage and between shows in order to juggle both commitments. I could not do this without the strong support of the ArtsEd community. Their support takes so many forms: from the dozens of ArtsEd instructors and students who came to see Appropriate, to teachers providing a flexible academic schedule so that I could attend recalls, to the students who helped support me after I missed lessons. ArtsEd has a 100-year tradition of promoting success in the performing arts and I’m proud to be a part of that tradition and to have their guidance, instruction and encouragement as I pursue my craft.
It’s time to get voting! Show your support for Isabella and other ArtsEd nominees: Miriam-Teak Lee, Oliver Tompsett and Jac Yarrow and vote on the WhatsOnStage website now!
In ArtsEd’s 100th year, we unearth memories, pictures, programmes and newspaper clippings to collate the rich history of ArtsEd together. While doing so, we discovered a whole family of ArtsEd students made up of three generations of women: grandmother, Lynn Sawyer, her two daughters Samantha and Claire Sawyer, and granddaughter, Scarlet Grace Churchhouse, who currently attends ArtsEd Sixth Form.
Grandmother, Lynn shares memories from her time at ArtsEd in the 60’s:
“I attended 144 Piccadilly at Hyde Park. It was an amazing building full of history. I simply loved it there. I won a scholarship in 1966 and had a wonderful time. After my schooling I then auditioned for the students’ school and continued my training for a further three years.
I am still in the business that I love as a talent agent! I have trained many students who have gone on to further training at ArtsEd; one of these is Jordan Shaw who is doing amazingly well playing the lead role in The Lion King.
I have wonderful memories of my time at ArtsEd and cherished every moment. Even back then, I knew this was a very special place indeed.
…By the way, I still have my boater hat!”
Lynn Sawyer, age 14
Daughter, Claire Sawyer also shared memories of her time at ArtsEd:
“When I think back to my time spent training at ArtsEd, I can only think of what an amazing school it was and how lucky I was to have had the opportunity to study drama there. Not only is the vocational training outstanding, it also offers an excellent academic education.
I attended the day school at the age of 11 when the school was located at Golden Lane. It was an impressive building with lots of character and even an iron bridge! Our Head at the time was the lovely Mrs Jack.
In my second year we moved to Turnham Green, Chiswick to where it is today.
I was fortunate enough to audition for a Walt Disney Film called Friendship in Vienna and was offered a role with my friend Zoe Tahir and we filmed in Budapest for a while, and our drama teacher chaperoned us. I was also fortunate enough to perform in The Sound Of Music at The Apollo Theatre, and my luckiest role was landing the lead in a three-year TV series called Mr Majeika which aired every week and on Christmas Day! I honestly believe it was ArtsEd that put me in good stead to land these roles!
Claire and Samantha Sawyer in their ArtsEd uniforms
I love the fact that 3 generations of my family have attended the school! My mother, sister and now my daughter Scarlet is fulfilling her dreams studying there.
I made friends at ArtsEd that I still have to this very day and the lovely memories of studying there will stay with me forever!”
Daughter, Samantha Sawyer reminisced on her time at ArtsEd:
“I can remember being so excited to have been offered a place at ArtsEd and following in my mother’s footsteps, having heard such wonderful stories of her time there. We were taught such amazing skills that have taken us through our professional lives. I excelled in acting and worked in a number of television series for some time, such as Barchester Chronicles and Lame Ducks. ArtsEd is such a prestigious school and I am so proud to be part of their Centenary”
Granddaughter, Scarlet Grace is currently studying Acting and Film Studies at ArtsEd Sixth Form, and she is also appearing in exciting new series, Truth Seekers, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. You can read more about it in our previous news article.
ArtsEd are on the hunt for exciting new musical theatre and acting talent in Ireland as we take our auditions to Dublin this December.
As well as auditioning, prospective students will get an insight into life on our BA Acting and Musical Theatre courses, direct from our very own world-class tutors and alumni, all without the cost of travelling to London. These costs can be a major barrier for young people who have great talent but limited financial means.
Our Dublin audition day is part of a long-term commitment to improve opportunities for talented young people from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue careers in the performing arts.
Shane O’Riordan, one of our BA Musical Theatre graduates, is currently appearing in the UK & Ireland Tour of LES MISÉRABLES and is thankful for his experience at ArtsEd:
“ArtsEd helped me through tough times as I needed an operation on my ankle. It was our Principal, Chris Hocking who got me an audition for the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation Scholarship. This took massive financial pressure off my parents, as they had their house up for sale to pay for my fees. I had the most amazing and supportive three years at ArtsEd, and my life wouldn’t be the same if it wasn’t for the training.”
Chris Hocking, Principal and Director for the School of Musical Theatre says:
“Taking our audition day to Dublin is an essential step in increasing participation across the sector and is a vital part of ArtsEd’s commitment in offering outstanding training to everyone.
“We want to encourage students with exceptional potential in Ireland to join us at ArtsEd. The distance means not everyone can always make it to a London audition, so we want to bring the audition to you. If you want to be part of the ArtsEd family and train with us then we want to see YOU at our Dublin audition.”
Phoenix College says about the audition day:
“We are thrilled to be hosting ArtsEd’s audition day here in Dublin for their world-class BA Acting and Musical Theatre courses.
“ArtsEd’s reputation as a centre for excellence lies in their industry-focused expertise and calibre of staff, its intensive and practical training schedule, and their strong focus on pastoral care.
“Because of ArtsEd’s outreach efforts, students here in Ireland who have dreamt about a successful career in the performing arts can audition for one of the UK’s leading drama schools without the travel demands and costs of getting to London.”
The Dublin audition will take place on Wednesday 18 December 2019, at Phoenix College in Dublin. The audition session will include a warm-up workshop led by ArtsEd Acting and Musical Theatre tutors. BA Acting candidates will be expected to prepare two monologues, while BA Musical Theatre candidates must be prepared to act, sing and dance.
Candidates can find out more and apply on our auditions page.
To celebrate ArtsEd’s 100th Birthday, we have gathered together some of our wonderful alumni to tell us their ArtsEd stories in a series of short films that we will be releasing throughout the year.
To kick things off, we have our Musical Theatre alumna, Miriam-Teak Lee. Miriam-Teak is the star of exciting new musical: &Juliet, which is opening at the Shaftesbury Theatre this week. In her video, Miriam talks about her journey with ArtsEd, and how she has applied her training in the industry.
You can watch Miriam’s video right now!:
Remember to keep an eye out for more alumni videos throughout the year…
ArtsEd is 100 years old this year. That’s a long time to have been an organisation so brimful of talent, passion and expertise!
ArtsEd was established 100 years ago by Grace Cone and Olive Ripman, pioneering educationalists who shared a passion for the value of combining an academic education with a specialised training in dance, drama, music and art. We are delighted to be continuing their legacy with our wonderfully talented pupils and students.
There is a lot to look forward to during our Centenary year. We have just launched a lovely new website, and we have also gathered together some of our wonderful alumni to tell us their ArtsEd stories in a series of short films that we will be releasing throughout the year.
100 Years in 100 Seconds, was launched this week with a teaser. Take a peek to see who’s been involved!
