East 15 Acting School, one of the country’s leading acting schools celebrates its 50th anniversary this summer.
Over 5,000 actors, directors and technicians working in theatre, film, television and music have trained at the School including Alison Steadman (Abigail’s Party, Gavin and Stacey), Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours), Blake Harrison (The Inbetweeners), and Reece Ritchie (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, The Lovely Bones).
To celebrate its past, and look to the next 50 years which promise an expansion of premises, innovative new courses and international partnerships in Europe, Asia and America, the whole School is collaborating on a unique production of Oh What a Lovely War.
More than 200 acting students from the Loughton-based School will take part in the site-specific performance with well known faces from theatre, film and television joining the celebrations on 15, 16 and 17 July.
Oh What a Lovely War is inspired by one of the most celebrated anti-war productions ever staged. The audience will be guided across the School’s ten-acre site, moving from theatre to studio to tent to derelict field, experiencing and observing many of the events surrounding the First World War, its build-up, its songs, and its controversies.
Founded 50 years ago by Margaret Bury, a company member of Theatre Workshop (based at Stratford, East 15) East 15 Acting School was run by actors from Theatre Workshop. Its first patrons were pioneering director and Theatre Workshop originator Joan Littlewood, acclaimed designer John Bury and actors Brian Murphy (George and Mildred, The Catherine Tate Show) and Harry H Corbett (Steptoe and Son).
The School has consistently reinvented its training over the decades and this year has students from over 30 different countries on 13 different courses. In 2000 the School became part of the University of Essex and in 2007 it opened state-of-the-art teaching and theatre space at the University’s Southend Campus. It now ranks as one of the most innovative and diverse* drama schools nationally and internationally.
Performances of Oh What a Lovely War take place at 7.30pm on 15 July, 3.30pm and 7.30pm on 16 July, and 1.30pm and 4.30pm on 17 July.
Tickets (£5 each) are available from the Box Office, telephone: 020 8508 5983, e-mail: east15@essex.ac.uk. All performances take place at the School’s Loughton Campus, Hatfields, Rectory Lane, Loughton, IG10 3RY.
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For further information and/or complimentary tickets for the performance on 15 July please contact Will Davies in the Marketing and Public Relations Department, East 15 Acting School, telephone: 07748 843 826, e-mail wdavies@essex.ac.uk.
* East 15 Acting School’s NCDT accreditation shows it operates at the highest level and its number of students from international and diverse backgrounds is proportionally higher than most other drama schools.