drama schools

[dizzydoris58]

Hi,
Does anyone have any experience of drama schools,
My ds has always been into drama, youth drama and amdram etc and has applied to audition at numerous drama schools. He tried last year when 18 and was too told he was too young.
He has also applied to do drama at uni thru ucas.
We are supportive of him but have no experience of this area
thanks

It is a very hard subject to get into. DD2 is just 20. She is now at university doing an acting for stage and media degree. Like your son she applied for all sorts of places and didn't get on any courses whan she was 18 as she was told she looked to young. She also had a lot of auditions this year( well for 2009 intake). She got disheartened as she was getting auditions and not getting any further, She finally got an audition for where she is now and is really enjoying it, In her unplanned gap year she did some dancing classes as a lot of the courses seemed to want some dancing ability. She also sings and has been in several productions,with school,college and drama clubs. Tell your son to get as much experiance as he can.

Thanks for the advice, ds is going for auditions this month and in march and april. He is also applying to uni to do a ba in drama which is thru ucas.
He is doing a foundation course in performing arts at the moment and is being taught singing dancing as well as acting, They are also giving audition advice and technique.
so fingers crossed. ds has said that at most of the drama schools he is the youngest at 19. They seem to want experience. Many of the others auditioning were graduates.
So maybe thats the route to go
.

This is really difficult. I was a Head of Drama and so am used to advising students on these matters. My single most important piece of advice would be that students really should appply for courses that are very, very well respected. The industry is of course highly competetive and so if your DS wants to do a course to help him on his way then it should be a well regarded one otherwise he may as well throw his hat in the ring without any course at all.

Doing a BA course from a well respected university in Drama and Theatre Studies would mean that your DS is in a good position to set up his own pieces of work because he is likely to have the opportunity to develop skills in technical elements of theatre as well, as well as develop academically. He could invite agents to them and tour around so that when it comes to searching for acting jobs he is not merely waiting impotently by the phone. (These courses require high A Level grades. Usually AAA or ABB.)

They say you have to be single minded about this and not plan for other eventualities. Some people advise against having 'something to fall back on' but if your 'something to fall back on' can help you whilst you're waiting for that 'phone call' then it will make living life and having success in performance easier to come by.

In terms of help for drama school auditions it could be worth contacting a local LAMDA or Guildhall Speech and Drama teacher who could really help with audition pieces.

Be careful which audition pieces you choose. My usual advice would be to choose ones that you don't think other people will do so that you stand out. On the other hand, doing something too strange could make it difficult for the people holding the auditions to see how you could be cast both on the course and in the industry.

Drama schools seem to look for 'types', much as that may seem unsavoury, it seems to be how these things work. Most people are 'type cast' these days so it is worth thinking about what 'type' you might be and working with, rather than against this.

It's late so I'm sorry if this has come out in a rather chaotic sort of a way but I was keen to get some ideas down quickly for you!

Break a leg!

Thanks for the advice, DS has been offered a place at uni to do a BA in drama, he has also been offered a place at ALRA and we have applied for a DADA and is on the waiting list for ARTS ED. so its decision time.

ALRA is very well respected dizzy, as is Arts Ed. If he's looking for an actual career as an actor (I am one), I'd say NCDT-accredited drama schools are generally taken much more seriously in the industry than university degrees.

If he thinks he may want to keep his options open, though, a degree would be sensible.