Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
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The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) is a drama school in Bloomsbury, London.
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[edit] History
1904 Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, the leading actor manager of the day, famous for his spectacular Shakespeare productions, establishes an Academy of Dramatic Art at Her Majesty's Theatre in the Haymarket.
1905 The Academy moves to 62 Gower Street. Fees of six guineas a term are doubled the following year, except for the children of actors, who only pay half. A managing Council is established on which Tree is joined, among others, by Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson, Sir Arthur Wing Pinero and Sir James Barrie. Within a few years they are augmented by other major figures, including W.S. Gilbert, Irene Vanbrugh and, perhaps most significantly, George Bernard Shaw.
1909 Kenneth Barnes, brother of the Vanbrugh sisters, is appointed Principal.
1912 GBS donates the royalties from Pygmalion to RADA, allowing the Academy eventually to benefit substantially from the success of My Fair Lady. Shaw gives occasional lectures to the students, including one called ‘Elementary Economics for Actors’. Pre-First World War graduates include Athene Seyler, Robert Atkins and Cedric Hardwicke. During this period Beerbohm Tree takes some forty Academy graduates into his company at His Majesty’s.
1920 The Academy is granted its Royal Charter.
1921 A new theatre is built in Malet Street, backing on to the Gower Street premises. This is opened by the Prince of Wales.
1923 John Gielgud, who will eventually become President and first Honorary Fellow of RADA, studies for a year at the Academy, playing 17 parts, including two Hamlets.
1924 The Academy receives its first government subsidy in the form of a Treasury Grant of £500.
1927 The two Georgian houses which make up the Gower Street site are replaced with a single new building. GBS donates £5,000 towards the cost.
1931 The Duchess of York opens new building.
1941 Richard Attenborough joins the Academy as a Leverhulme scholar. At the height of World War Two, the Academy’s theatre is demolished during an air-raid. Public performances shift to the City Literary Institute and students also tour shows to the troops.
1950 George Bernard Shaw dies and leaves one third of all his royalties to RADA.
1954 The new Vanbrugh Theatre is opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.
1955 Sir Kenneth Barnes, knighted in 1938, retires and John Fernald is appointed Principal. The number of students is reduced and entry becomes more difficult. During the late 50s and 60s the growth of the LEA grant systems ushers in the ‘new wave’ of actors including Albert Finney, Tom Courtenay, Glenda Jackson, John Hurt, Michael Williams and Anthony Hopkins.
1962 The Stage Management course is introduced.
1964 The Vanbrugh Theatre Club is established.
1966 John Fernald resigns and Hugh Crutwell becomes Principal.
1967 Following debate concerning RADA receiving funds from the Shaw bequest, the Government withdraws its annual grant.
1970 Specialist Technical Courses are established.
1972 Richard Attenborough becomes Chairman.
1977 The ‘Tree ’ evenings, named in honour of RADA’s founder, are introduced with leading agents and casting directors invited to presentations by final year students in the Vanbrugh.
During this period another ‘new wave’ of actors emerges at the Academy. These include Jonathan Pryce, Juliet Stevenson, Alan Rickman, Anton Lesser, Kenneth Branagh and Fiona Shaw.
1984 Oliver Neville becomes Principal.
1986 The Acting Diploma Course is extended from seven to nine terms.
1989 HRH, The Princess of Wales, visits the Academy as President of Council to install her predecessor, Sir John Gielgud, as RADA’s first Honorary Fellow.
1990 The Academy invests the capital accrued from the Shaw bequest in the freehold of 18 Chenies Street, with the help of donations from the Foundation for Sport and the Arts and British Telecommunications.
King’s College, London University, offers an MA in Text and Performance Study in conjunction with the Academy.
1993 Nicholas Barter becomes Principal.
The ‘Friends of RADA’ is inaugurated and the Academy establishes its first courses for Japanese professional actors in Tokyo.
1996 RADA receives a £22.7m grant from the Arts Council National Lottery Board towards redeveloping the Academy’s headquarters, including a complete re-build of the Vanbrugh Theatre and Malet Street premises. Council establishes a committee to raise the necessary ‘matching’ partnership funding of £8m over four years. Discretionary local authority grants are phased out within the next two years.
1997 The rebuilding of the Gower/Malet Street premises commences.
1995/8 The Academy extends its portfolio of Short Courses for British actors and special courses for American and Japanese students in London.
1998 The Vanbrugh Theatre Club is dissolved.
2000 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II re-opens the Academy's new and refurbished Gower Street/Malet Street building
2001 The second stage of the Centenary Project that of creating new spaces for the Academy's work at no's 20 & 22 Chenies St, gets underway.
2001 RADA becomes (with the London Contemporary Dance School) one of the two Founding Affiliates of Britain's first higher education Conservatoire for Dance and Drama. RADA courses are validated by King's College, London
2002 University of London awards the 1st BA in Acting. RADA appoints a Dean of Studies. RADA library introduces a computerized circulation and security system. RADA Youth Group is launch in autumn 2002.
2003 Lord Attenborough becomes President of RADA and John Whitney appointed as Chairman. The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and the Northern School of Contemporary Dance join the Conservatoire.
2004 RADA celebrates its Centenary. LAMDA, The Circus Space and Central School of Ballet join the Conservatoire for Dance & Drama.
2005 Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance (joined 2005) joins the Conservatoire.
2006 The Academy aims to complete the refurbishment of the 20/22 Chenies Street premises by the end of the academic year.
2006 The Academy replaces the Friends of RADA with a new scheme for supporters, the RADA Stars.
2007 The Academy introduces its one-year drama foundation course, accepting 32 pupils per year.
2007 Nicholas Barter retires as Principal. The role of principal is removed and the new roles of 'Managing Director' filled by Jeremy Newton and 'Artistic Director' filled by Edward Kemp are created instead.
[edit] Current leadership
As of 2007, Lord Attenborough is President of the school, Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen is Chairman, and Alan Rickman and Michael Attenborough are the vice-chairmen of the school. The Managing Director is Jeremy Newton and the Artistic Director is Edward Kemp.
[edit] Admissions
RADA accepts 32 new students each year onto its BA in Acting course. However, no educational requirements need to be met and admission is based purely on suitability and successful audition. RADA also teaches technical theatre arts through a 2 year graduate diploma course and specialist technical subjects through 4 term graduate certificate courses. Approximately 35 students are chosen each year for these courses.
RADA is administered through King's College London.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- RADA web sitede:Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
fr:Royal Academy of Dramatic Art he:האקדמיה המלכותית לאמנות הדרמה ja:王立演劇学校 no:Royal Academy of Dramatic Art sv:Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Categories: Cleanup from June 2007 | All pages needing cleanup | Educational institutions established in 1904 | Theatre in London | Performing arts education in London | Drama schools in the United Kingdom | King's College London | Education in Camden | Organisations based in the United Kingdom | Fordham University
