East 15 Acting School

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East 15 is a British drama school[1] in Debden, Loughton, Essex. It occupies an 18th century mansion, Hatfields, and has its own theatre, the Corbett, which is adjacent. The Corbett Theatre is an adaptation of a 15th-century barn. The school is accredited by the National Council for Drama Training and its degrees are awarded by the University of Essex, with which it merged on September 1, 2000.[2]

Contents

[edit] History

East 15 Acting School was founded in 1961 by Margaret Walker. It 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.

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 and ego trips. The quest was always to search for truth: of oneself, the character, the text.

[edit] Present day

[edit] Campuses

East 15 Acting School occupies two campuses; Loughton and Southend on Sea, both offering rail access to London's West End theatres. The Loughton campus comprises the Hatfields Georgian mansion and the adjacent lawns and gardens, a converted medieval tithe barn now known as the Corbett Theatre, a rehearsal studio block and computerised learning resources. Courses taught at Loughton include Acting, Contemporary Theatre, Community Theatre, Specialist Performance Skills and Technical Theatre.[3]

At Southend, the campus comprises rehearsal studios, theatrical / technical spaces in the form of a converted church, the Students' Union and learning resources, with access to computers and nearby libraries. Courses taught at Southend include Physical Theatre, Performance & Popular Culture, World Performance, Community Theatre, Directing and Acting.[4]

[edit] Courses

East 15 continues to commission new work. The school offers both BA and MA degrees. The three year BA (Hons) Acting degree is accredited by the National Council for Drama Training. This means that the actors who graduate from this course are allowed automatic entry into Actors' Equity, the professional actors' union.[5] With the first year providing more of an intoduction to everything that gets built on later, work looks at acting, use of voice for drama and singing, and also various aspects of movement. The Living History at the end of this year allows students to live the lives of others from a specific moment in history. The second year looks deeper into the foundations constructed in Year 1, and also deals with challenging texts (including Shakespeare and Brecht). The third year not only increases students' repertoire in acting for TV, film and radio, but also holds a series of performances of a wide range of plays. A showcase for invited agents and casting directors in a major West End theatre is held at the end of the year.

Other undergraduate courses include; Contemporary Theatre, Physical Theatre, Performance Studies & Popular Culture, World Theatre Community Theatre, Specialist Performance Skills (Stage Combat) and Technical Theatre. Postgraduate courses include Directing and Acting.

[edit] Graduate work

East 15 has produced many actors, directors, teachers and designers. In Britain, theatre companies such as The Royal Court Theatre, Bush Theatre, Theatre Royal Stratford East 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.

From 1998-2006, the school was led by John Baraldi, former Chief Executive of Riverside Studios, London, who is now Dean of Arts Educational Schools. It is now run by Professor Leon Rubin.

[edit] Alumni

Notable graduates from East 15 include:

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Conference of Drama Schools - East 15 Acting School" Retrieved 26 May 2008
  2. ^ "East 15 Acting School: University of Essex" Retrieved 26 May 2008
  3. ^ "East 15 Acting School: Campus Resources" Retrieved 26 May 2008
  4. ^ "East 15 Acting School: Campus Resources" Retrieved 26 May 2008
  5. ^ "East 15 Acting School: BA (Hons) Acting Course (3 year)" Retrieved 26 May 2008

[edit] External Links