LONDON ACADEMY OF MUSIC & DRAMATIC ART Welcome 3 Why Choose LAMDA? 5 Acting at LAMDA 7 BA (Hons) Professional Acting 9 Foundation Degree Professional Acting 12 MA Classical Acting for the Professional Theatre 13 Production & Technical Arts at LAMDA 15 Production & Technical Arts: Stage & Screen 17 Recent Technical Graduate Destinations 19 Other Full-Time Courses 21 MA Directing 23 LAMDA Foundation Diploma 26 LAMDA Semester Diploma Classical Acting 27 LAMDA Shakespeare Summer School 28 LAMDA Short Courses 29 Shakespeare Short Course 31 Audition Technique 32 Introduction to Drama School 32 Introduction to Screen Acting 32 English Communication Skills Through Drama (EFL) 32 How to Apply 35 Equality & Diversity 36 Fees & Funding 37 Living in London 39 Our New Home 41 Our Graduates 43 Faculty & Visiting Artists 45 The Conservatoire for Dance and Drama 47 Our Supporters 49 Our Examinations 51 Contact Us 53 This publication is also available to view at www.lamda.org.uk. If you require this prospectus in large print, please contact LAMDA on +44 (0)20 8834 0500 or [email protected]. Every effort has been made to locate the source of photographs, illustrations and text appearing in this publication. All information correct at time of going to press. Brian Cox CBE © LAMDA Limited 2016. All Rights Reserved. Class of 1965 BAFTA, Emmy and Olivier Award winner Designed by Hudson Fuggle www.hudsonfuggle.com Credits include: War and Peace (BBC), Penny Dreadful (Sky), Rise of the Planet of the Apes Front Cover: Macbeth by William Shakespeare. LAMDA at Large at the Pleasance, Islington. Photograph by John Haynes. WWW.LAMDA.ORG.UK PROSPECTUS 4 At LAMDA we offer exceptional vocational training to actors, technicians, stage managers and directors from around the world. As a world-leading conservatoire, we are committed to seeking out the most talented dramatic artists and technicians and to nurturing that talent, regardless of a student’s background. We do this so that our graduates can have the most extraordinary impact across the performing arts through the quality of their work. We are proud to have a faculty of experienced tutors; experts in their respective fields and all dedicated to the progress and well-being of our students. Our long-established relationships with industry colleagues mean we work closely with agencies, technical partners and professional writers, designers, directors and actors. This combined expertise ensures our teaching reflects the latest developments and opportunities in the industry and gives our students exposure to the most comprehensive and rigorous training possible. The ensemble is at the heart of our work and we place collaboration at the core of what we do. We are proud of the supportive and open learning environment we have cultivated at LAMDA, giving students a solid foundation on which to build a lasting and rewarding career. LAMDA graduates are highly sought after for their ability, passion, commitment and openness – qualities that are underpinned by superb skills and technique. We deal in excellence and imagination and students are encouraged to take risks knowing that there is a community of peers and mentors to support them on their journey. This is a particularly exciting time to be at LAMDA as the completion of our £28.2 million redevelopment provides our incoming students with state-of-the-art facilities in which to explore and learn their craft. I hope this prospectus gives you a taste of what we offer. Visit www.lamda.org.uk for more or join the LAMDA community on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. I look forward to meeting you at LAMDA. Joanna Read LAMDA Principal Photograph by Richard Hubert Smith 5 PROSPECTUS LONDON ACADEMY OF MUSIC & DRAMATIC ART WWW.LAMDA.ORG.UK PROSPECTUS 6 A WORLD-LEADING CONSERVATOIRE, WE HAVE BEEN FUELLING THE DRAMATIC ARTS WITH NEW TALENT SINCE 1861. OUR COURSES ARE ENTIRELY PRACTICAL AND LED BY A FIRST-CLASS FACULTY OF EXPERIENCED TUTORS AND VISITING ARTISTS. Pioneering Excellence LAMDA productions we strengthen our by the advertised deadline, providing Founded in 1861 as the London ties with the profession and enable our they meet the age requirements for Academy of Music, LAMDA was the first students to establish valuable industry the training. We do not ask applicants such institution to offer acting tuition contacts prior to graduation. for academic qualifications or grades; – defining the Academy’s role as a we ask only for talent, passion and a pioneer in its field. When we introduced Showcases in London’s West End for commitment to learn. our technical theatre training in 1965, our BA and FdA Professional Acting it quickly became a prototype for other students, and in New York and LA for Financial Support institutions branching into this area. students eligible to work in the US, Our FdA, BA (Hons) and MA courses This pioneering spirit remains at the provide an opportunity to perform in are validated by the University of Kent heart of our work – we offer an inventive front of an audience of agents, casting (www.kent.ac.uk) and quality assured environment for artistic development; directors and other key industry figures. by the UK Quality Assurance Agency our students are exposed to the latest for Higher Education (www.qaa.ac.uk). developments in their art form and are Students gain additional industry Our FdA and BA (Hons) students are encouraged to explore their craft to exposure by participating in a number funded in the same way as all other produce innovative and exciting work. of national events and competitions, undergraduates at university or college including the Sam Wanamaker Festival at in England, which means that fees are Experienced Tutors Shakespeare’s Globe and the Stephen regulated, and eligible UK/EU students LAMDA’s courses are led by a first- Sondheim Society Student Performer of have access to the same system of class faculty of experienced tutors and the Year Award, amongst others. loans to help with tuition fees and visiting specialists and professionals. maintenance costs. Our tutors are leaders in their respective Work Placements fields and many continue to work in LAMDA Production & Technical Arts As a part of the Conservatoire for Dance the industry alongside their teaching students undertake two six-week and Drama, we receive funding from the commitments at LAMDA. Throughout placements in their second year, and an Higher Education Funding Council for the year, masterclasses, workshops and additional 10 to 12 weeks of work-based England (www.hefce.ac.uk). LAMDA lectures with actors, directors, casting learning in the optional BA (Hons) top-up and the Conservatoire offer a range of directors, agents and technical partners year. LAMDA is currently the only UK scholarships and bursaries to ensure that complement our core training. drama school to offer two second year the most talented students can benefit placements as standard. Many students from our training, regardless of their UK & US Industry Connections secure employment as a direct result of financial circumstances. Through the Throughout their training LAMDA their placements and our technical theatre Conservatoire, we are also able to offer students are prepared for a sustainable graduates enjoy a 100% employment rate a number of free audition and interview career in their chosen profession. We within weeks of leaving LAMDA. places each year for applicants in financial collaborate with the industry on our need. Read more about the financial annual new writing commissions for stage Access For All support available on pages 36 & 37. and screen. Through these initiatives, we Our international reputation as a world- nurture professional artists and offer our leading drama school means that we Our New Home students the invaluable experience of attract the most talented students from Over the course of 2015-16 we have creating new work. around the globe to train with us. At transformed the LAMDA campus with LAMDA, we believe that everyone, the development of a new £28.2m Our final year students transfer regardless of background, should centre for drama training. Students by Sam Shepard at The LAMDA Linbury Studio. productions to professional venues have access to exceptional vocational joining LAMDA in 2017-18 will across the UK and overseas – reaching training. Committed to recruiting on experience the full benefits of these audiences from Brecon to Moscow, talent alone, we audition and/or interview exceptional new training facilities and Cumbria to New York. By touring everyone who submits their application performance spaces. A Lie of the Mind Photograph by Richard Hubert Smith 7 PROSPECTUS LONDON ACADEMY OF MUSIC & DRAMATIC ART WWW.LAMDA.ORG.UK PROSPECTUS 8 LAMDA defines the actor’s role as storyteller, artist, communicator and commentator. Our training demands our students’ emotional and intellectual engagement with the world around them. As drama is a collaborative art form, we place great emphasis on the individual’s responsibility to the group and the group’s responsibility to the individual. Nothing is more important than the cultivation of an environment in which creativity can flourish. Risk-taking, barrier-breaking and exploration can only occur because attitudes of mutual respect, support and celebration are firmly embedded within the Academy. LAMDA actors are characterised by their commitment, imagination and openness, supported by strong vocal and physical technique. There is, however, no such thing as a LAMDA product. We develop each student’s individual strengths, talent and potential. We are a liberal institution. In pursuit of excellence, we work with plays and texts that express the widest possible range of views and beliefs. Our students must therefore be willing to play any character these texts may involve, including roles of either gender and any race or faith. Acceptance of a place at LAMDA will be deemed acceptance of our training requirements.