East 15 Acting School
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
East 15 is a professional acting school in Loughton, Essex. It is accredited by the [1] National Council for Drama Training] and its degrees are awarded by the University of Essex with which it merged on September 1, 2000.
East 15 grew from the work of Joan Littlewood's famed Theatre Workshop, and the school's name acknowledges its debt - Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop was based at the Theatre Royal, Stratford, London, whose postal district is E15.
The school was founded by a member of Theatre Workshop, Margaret Bury, wife of the leading British theatre designer, John Bury.
Much of the Littlewood approach was based upon the theories of Konstantin Stanislavski, and the company inherited the socially committed spirit of the Unity Theatre movement, which brought many new voices into British theatre for the first time. Theatre Workshop broke new ground, re-interpreting the classics for a modern age, commissioning new plays from socially committed writers, and creating an ensemble capable of inventing new work, such as the now legendary "Oh! What a Lovely War". Littlewood created an ensemble, who combined inspired, improvisational brilliance with method, technique, research, text analysis, and the expression of real emotions. Over the years, new training methods were evolved to strip actors of affectations, attitudes, ego trips. The quest was always to search for truth: of oneself, the character, the text.
The school continues to commission new work. In addition to full-time courses in acting, the school also offers courses in directing, writing, media and technical aspects of theatre.
East 15 has produced many fine actors, directors, teachers and designers, taking on leading roles in British and international theatre, heading and creating theatre companies throughout the world. In Britain, theatre companies such as The Royal Court Theatre, Bush Theatre, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Live Theatre and Manchester Library Theatre have been headed by East 15 graduates. Groundbreaking companies like Orchard Theatre, Bruvvers, Lumiere and Son, Hull Truck Theatre, Spare Tyre, Footsbarn, Women’s Theatre Company and The Half Moon Theatre, in Stepney have been created by East 15 graduates.
The school remains dedicated to pushing the boundaries of theatre practice as well as helping its graduates to enter the world of theatre, film, television, and radio.
Notable graduates from East 15 include - Alison Steadman; Stephen Daldry; Steven Waddington; Ann Mitchell; April De Angelis; Kevin Lloyd; Billy Murray; Gwen Taylor; Oliver Tobias; Jenny Platt; Colin Michael Carmichael, Sebastian J. Brook, Viktoria Kay and Jamie Maclachlan.
Professor Leon Rubin commenced his post as Director of the East 15 Acting School on the 4th January 2007. Leon was at Middlesex University where he was the Professor of Drama and Theatre Arts and head of an international theatre directing MA and MFA. Prior to this he has been Artistic Director of three major UK theatre companies, including the Bristol Old Vic. Also a member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, in 1997 he was awarded an Honorary Professorship of GITIS Russian Theatre Academy, Moscow, for his distinguished work in the Russian Theatre. He is a former Associate at the Abbey theatre, Dublin and began his career as Assistant Director at the Royal Shakespeare Company. He is author of The Nicholas Nickleby Story (the making of the RSC production) and a new book on Balinese theatre that will be published by Routledge in June 2007.
These are exciting times for East 15 as the new Director will be responsible for a three-phased opening of E15 at Southend-on-Sea which will be launched in September 2007 with four new degree courses. Four more new courses are being offered from September 2008 and the final group of three courses will be introduced in September 2009. The innovative courses currently being considered include a BA in Theatre and Disability, BA in Design, BA in Physical Theatre and BA in Writing for Film, Theatre, Radio and TV.
For nine years, the school was led by John Baraldi, former Chief Executive of Riverside Studios, London. From 1998 he led a senior team of directors including Caroline Eves (former assistant to Joan Littlewood), Brian Astbury (former head of Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts), David Robson (former head of the acting school of The Arts Educational Schools), Jill Colby (former Deputy Director of Webber Douglas Academy), Harry Bowerman (former Technical Director of the Royal National Theatre), and Edward Hicks (former actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company).
