| Established | 1945 |
|---|---|
| President | Dame Judi Dench, C.H, D.B.E |
| Principal | Sue Robertson |
| Specialism | Performing Arts |
| Location | Kingfisher Place Clarendon Road London N22 6XF United Kingdom |
| Website | Official Website |
Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts is an independent drama school situated in the Wood Green area of North London. It was founded in 1945[1] by Peter Coxhead and Ralph Nossek as 'The Mountview Theatre Club', an amateur repertory company staging a new production for a six-day run every second week .
Among the club's achievements were Coxhead's staging of Eugene O'Neill's Mourning Becomes Electra, a production of the complete Arnold Wesker Trilogy - Chicken Soup with Barley, Roots and I'm Talking about Jerusalem directed by Peter Scott-Smith - and Buttered Both Sides, a revue written and composed by Mountview member Ted Dicks and directed by Gale Webb, which later transferred to the Fortune Theatre in London's West End.
In the early 1970s, the amateur group was ousted by premises freeholder Coxhead to allow his new commercial theatre school unimpeded access to the theatre and its ancillary facilities.
The school's courses are accredited by the National Council for Drama Training. The degree courses are also validated by the University of East Anglia
The main full-time courses include a 3-year B.A. Hons. in Musical Theatre or Acting, and a 2-year degree in Production Arts. Mountview also offers 1-year Postgraduate Diploma and M.A. Performance courses in Acting and Musical Theatre and 1-year Postgraduate Diplomas in Directing, Musical Direction and Production Arts. The Academy also has a Community Access and Development Department which runs part-time courses in most performance disciplines.
In 2006, Dame Judi Dench replaced Sir John Mills as president.[2]
In 2007, the British reality television show E4 School of Performing Arts offered several would-be actors the chance to win scholarships to Mountview, Italia Conti and the ACM. Mountview's Director of Acting Programme Amir Korangy appeared on the show as part of the panel.
In 2011, Mountview principal Sue Robertson announced plans for the school to relocate to the Hornsey Town Hall in Crouch End, north London, by the beginning of the 2014-15 academic year. The Grade II-listed building will be refurbished in a £19 million project.[3] Haringey Council's cabinet approved the plan on 26 April 2011, however a planning application must be submitted and English Heritage approval granted before work may start on the revised refurbishment.[4]