47-696: The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School ( BOVTS ) is a drama school in Bristol , England. The institution provides training in acting and production for careers in film , television and theatre . BOVTS is an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama . Its higher education awards are validated by the University of the West of England , and its students graduate alongside members of UWE Bristol's Faculty of Arts, Creative Industries and Education. It
94-432: A University of Bristol hall of residence, to the north. Due to the geography of the area, there are only two roads in and out: Ambra Vale in the south-west corner, and Clifton Wood Road in the north-east, though there are many footpaths. On some sources the area is spelled Cliftonwood (one word), and in some Clifton Wood (two words). It is said that The end of Clifton ends at the end of Ambra Vale road, therefore Cliftonwood
141-481: A Master of Arts, Master of Acting, Master of Science, Master of Fine Arts , Doctor of Arts , Doctor of Fine Arts , or Doctor of Philosophy degree. Entry to drama school is usually through a competitive audition process. Some schools make this a two-stage process. Places on an acting course are limited (usually well below 100) so those who fare best at the audition are selected. Most academies state that applicants must be over 18 years of age. Auditions usually involve
188-637: A Trust created by her late father, Captain Cathal Ryan. This plan went ahead and the academy, known as The Lir Academy , opened in September 2011. The Lir is part of Trinity College and is situated in the Grand Canal Dock area. It is officially associated with RADA . Clifton, Bristol Clifton is an inner suburb of Bristol , England , and the name of one of the city's thirty-five electoral wards . The Clifton ward also includes
235-520: A ghost connected in some way with the Bristol Riots of 1831 is haunting the house. The plot is based on the story of the real-life Thomas Brereton , a Dragoon commander who committed suicide after being court-martialled for his lenient approach to suppressing the rioters; although the ghost is named "George Bretherton" in the TV series. Clifton has been featured in many television sitcoms, including
282-568: A long history of natural history television programming and global conservation, due to the presence of the former Bristol Zoo in the north of the neighbourhood, and the BBC Natural History Unit on Whiteladies Road , which means that more than 25% of the world's wildlife programmes are made in Bristol. Animal Magic with Johnny Morris was filmed at Bristol Zoo for the duration of the programme (1963–1983). The UK arm of
329-639: A new custom-built dance and movement studio in the School's back garden was named the Slade/Reynolds Studio . Many members of the theatrical profession have taught at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. This included was Rudi Shelly, who joined the teaching staff only two weeks after the School opened in 1946 and was still working into his nineties. Alumni from around the world gathered in Bristol for his funeral at which
376-560: A single national authority Drama UK responsible for both the provision of Drama Training and accreditation of official courses. In 2017, Drama UK was replaced by the Federation of Drama Schools . Top drama schools in the UK are members of the mission group Conservatoires UK , which also includes the country's world-leading music schools. In the UK, funding varies from drama school to drama school. Historically drama schools were not part of
423-407: A time, in elections taking place every second year. In Frances Burney 's novel Evelina (1778), young gentlemen are racing their phaetons on the public highways of Clifton (then still outside Bristol), and not without incident. Part of the background to Philippa Gregory 's historical novel A Respectable Trade – dealing mainly with the slave trade in late 18th-century Bristol –
470-558: Is Hotwells Road, encompassing the hillside areas that might typically be considered to be the Cliftonwood and Hotwells neighbourhoods rather than Clifton. The eastern boundary of Clifton Down ward encompasses Redland Park and Cotham Hill, which might typically be considered to be in the Redland and Cotham neighbourhoods. Clifton has several neighbourhood focal points, including Whiteladies Road , an important shopping district to
517-697: Is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools . The School opened in October 1946, eight months after the founding of its parent Bristol Old Vic Theatre Company , in a room above a fruit merchant's warehouse in the Rackhay near the stage door of the Theatre Royal, with support from Sir Laurence Olivier . (The yard of the derelict St Nicholas School, next to the warehouse, was still used by the Company for rehearsals of crowd scenes and stage fights as late as
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#1732790286217564-695: Is also noted for the Downs , a large, open park. Although the suburb has no formal boundaries, the name Clifton is generally applied to the high ground stretching from Whiteladies Road in the east to the rim of the Avon Gorge in the west, and from Clifton Down and Durdham Down in the north to Cornwallis Crescent in the south. This area corresponds roughly with the Bristol City Council electoral wards of Clifton and Clifton Down , albeit with some discrepancies. The southern boundary of Clifton ward
611-710: Is an undergraduate and/or graduate school or department at a college or university, or a free-standing institution (such as the Drama section at the Juilliard School ) that specializes in the pre-professional training in drama and theatre arts, such as acting, design and technical theatre , arts administration , and related subjects. If the drama school is part of a degree-granting institution, undergraduates typically take an Associate degree , Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts , or, occasionally, Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Design . Graduate students may take
658-471: Is part of Clifton. The suburb is primarily a residential area, with the only commercial premises being the Lion pub. Housing is largely large Victorian terraces, which are often painted bright colours – the coloured houses one can see when standing on Bristol's harbourside and looking up at Cliftonwood are the backs of houses on Ambrose Road and Clifton Wood Terrace. A medieval Jewish ritual bath known as
705-562: Is the start of construction at Clifton, then a far area outside the city limits as they were at the time. In some passages characters debate whether Clifton could ever become viable and whether investment in real estate there would not be too risky – questions which were evidently quite relevant at the time though to the modern reader the answers are obvious. The song "Clifton in the Rain" by Al Stewart appears on his first album Bed-Sitter Images . The song "32 West Mall", which appeared on
752-718: The BBC at their Bristol Studios in Whiteladies Road. In 2002, the Theatre School bought the former BBC Christchurch radio studios in Clifton and has further developed the facilities there which include sound studios and sound and video editing suites which are used by students and also by music and media industry clients. The school has scenic workshops in Bedminster used by the technical courses. As well as actors,
799-549: The Georgian era and was formally incorporated into the city in the 1830s. Until 1898, Clifton St Andrew was a separate civil parish within the Municipal Borough of Bristol. In 1891 the parish had a population of 29,345. On 30 September 1896, the parish was abolished to form North Bristol . Clifton is one of the oldest and most affluent areas of the city, much of it having been built with profits from tobacco and
846-691: The Green Party of England and Wales . Clifton was first created as an electoral ward at the time that the County of Avon was created in 1974, electing 1 member to Avon County Council and 3 members to Bristol City Council. The boundaries were revised in 1980 and 2016. Before 2016, Bristol City Council used a system of elections by thirds, in which councillors sat for four year terms, but elections took place in three out of every four years, with roughly one third of seats up for election at any one time. Clifton ward therefore elected one of its two councillors at
893-670: The West Country , a tradition dating back to the 1950s when for several years students moved to Dartington Hall in South Devon for two weeks each spring where they rehearsed and presented a public production in the Barn Theatre. The School was able to use broadcasting studio facilities at the University Drama Studio for radio drama training in the 1950s and also ran occasional courses in conjunction with
940-474: The slave trade . Grand houses that required many servants were built in the area. Although some were detached or semi-detached properties, the bulk were built as terraces, many with three or more floors. One famous terrace is the majestic Royal York Crescent , visible from the Avon Gorge below and looking across the Bristol docks. Berkeley Square and Berkeley Crescent , which were built around 1790, are examples of Georgian architecture . Secluded squares include
987-455: The 1971 album Stackridge was named after the communal flat that the band shared as their headquarters at 32 West Mall in 1970. The 1978 children's paranormal drama " The Clifton House Mystery " – produced by HTV ; was set in the Clifton area. The plot revolved around a family moving into an old house; and subsequently finding a skeleton of a long-dead person in a hidden room. After some unexplained incidents, they become convinced that
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#17327902862171034-500: The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School also provides comprehensive training courses for all theatre, radio, film, and television professionals. Its graduates are to be found in key positions as actors, directors, set designers, costumer designers, lighting designers and stage and company managers throughout the world. 51°28′01″N 2°37′12″W / 51.467°N 2.620°W / 51.467; -2.620 Drama school A drama school , stage school or theatre school
1081-668: The Department's experimental Drama Studio converted from an indoor tennis court off a corridor in the Wills Memorial Building behind the University's Bell Tower at the top of Bristol's fashionable Park Street. Students from the School and the Drama Department shared many of each other's formal lectures and a number of the Department's graduates went on to continue their studies as full-time students at
1128-543: The School through seven difficult years that are nonetheless still regarded by his former students as a golden age, Ross left in late 1961 to take up a teaching post in the USA. Soon after the departure of this much-loved principal, other key staff members resigned, including Daphne Heard and Maggie Collins, and Paula Gwyn-Davies, the School Secretary. After a short interregnum under the actor Richard Ainley , in 1963
1175-676: The School. Having struggled with limited resources until the 1960s, the School now has access to several local performance venues, including the Redgrave Theatre at Clifton College (named after the actor Sir Michael Redgrave , an old boy of the College) the Bristol Old Vic theatre complex, including the Theatre Royal, Weston Studio and Circomedia in Portland Square. It also takes productions on tour to locations in
1222-745: The UK are the Dance and Drama Awards . This is a government scheme which subsidises the training offered at a selection of the leading performing arts schools in the fields of dance, drama, musical theatre and stage management. A number of third-level institutions provide courses in Drama and Theatre Studies, including Trinity College, Dublin , NUI Maynooth, and Dublin City University. A decision by Trinity in January 2007 to drop its BA in Acting Studies to cut costs met with disappointment from
1269-410: The UK's and the world's oldest drama school still in existence and was established in 1861. The Conference of Drama Schools was an organisation that comprised Britain's 22 leading Drama Schools. CDS existed to strengthen the voice of the member schools, to set and maintain the highest standards of training within the vocational drama sector, and to make it easier for prospective students to understand
1316-589: The areas of Cliftonwood and Hotwells . The eastern part of the suburb lies within the ward of Clifton Down . Clifton is home to Isambard Kingdom Brunel 's Clifton Suspension Bridge ; many buildings of the University of Bristol , including Goldney Hall ; the Roman Catholic Clifton Cathedral ; Christ Church, Clifton Down ; Clifton College ; Clifton High School ; the former Amberley House preparatory school; Queen Elizabeth's Hospital School, The Clifton Club ; and Bristol Zoo . It
1363-502: The conservation charity Ape Action Africa , which rescues and rehabilitates chimpanzees and gorillas in Cameroon , West Africa, operates out of Clifton. Clifton electoral ward covers the central and southwestern parts of Clifton, plus Cliftonwood and the hillside areas of Hotwells as far south as Hotwells Road. The ward is represented by two members on Bristol City Council , which as of 2024 are Paula O'Rourke and Jerome Thomas, both of
1410-531: The early 1960s, such as for John Hale's productions of Romeo and Juliet starring the Canadian actor Paul Massie and Annette Crosbie , a former student of the School, and Rostand 's Cyrano de Bergerac with Peter Wyngarde . Students from the Theatre School frequently played in these crowd scenes and fights.) The School continued in these premises for eight years because of the Old Vic's lack of funds in
1457-519: The east, and Clifton Village, a smaller shopping area near the Avon Gorge to the west. Clifton was recorded in the Domesday book as Clistone , the name of the village denoting a 'hillside settlement' and referring to its position on a steep hill. Situated to the west of Bristol city centre , it was at one time a separate settlement but became attached to Bristol by continuous development during
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1504-610: The eulogy was delivered by alumna Stephanie Cole . Apart from students of the School, over the years many established actors from around the world sought out Rudi Shelly's master classes when visiting or working in England. At the time of the School's move to its current premises in Downside Road, Clifton, in 1956, the Principal was Duncan (Bill) Ross, who had succeeded the first Principal, Edward Stanley in 1954. After guiding
1551-638: The future of the graduates and serves as a showcase of what the students can do. In 1833, actress Frances Maria Kelly managed the Royal Strand Theatre where she funded and operated a dramatic school, the earliest record of a drama school in England. In 1840 she financed the building of the Royalty Theatre in Soho which opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School. The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) remains both
1598-596: The late 1970s and early 1980s TV series Shoestring , which was set in Bristol and starred Trevor Eve as a radio reporter and part-time sleuth. Much of the BBC series Mistresses was set there, including the 2008 , 2009 and 2010 seasons. The TV series Teachers was partly filmed in Clifton, as was teen drama Skins and Being Human . Costume drama The House of Eliott was also largely filmed in Clifton, including at Goldney Hall and Berkeley Square . The long-running hospital drama Casualty also drew on Clifton for many scenes between 1986 and 2009, when it
1645-630: The mainstream academic system, and therefore were not funded on the same basis as universities. Some drama schools are now part of a university, such as Guildhall School of Music and Drama , which is part of the City University of London , and Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance, which is part of the University of Manchester, and these tend to charge similar tuition fees to universities. Student loans, drama awards and scholarships may help to provide students with their funding. The most prominent funding scheme for performing arts education in
1692-558: The most selective drama schools in the world. Applicants are judged purely on talent in two rounds of intensive auditions. It has its own premises in Clifton , bought with proceeds from the London success of Salad Days . It previously had working links with the Drama Department of the University of Bristol , which still holds many papers of the Theatre School in its Theatre Collection. For many years it presented regular student productions in
1739-507: The new post of Artistic Director. Paul Rummer retired in 2020 and was succeeded by Fiona Francombe, previously the director of Bristol's Bottle Yard Studios. Until 1989 the Theatre School was part of the Bristol Old Vic Company, but it is now a financially independent organisation. The theatre school accepts just 28 people out of approximately 2,500 applications per year for the three-year BA acting course, making it one of
1786-459: The performance of monologues , singing, and group workshops. The courses offered by drama schools focus on practical courses, rather than theoretical classes. Their aim is to train students as professional actors for stage, film, and television. At the beginning of the final year (usually the third), most drama schools stage a series of performances throughout the academic year to which agents and casting directors are invited. This helps to build
1833-492: The post of Principal was taken by Nat Brenner, a distinguished actor and theatre technician and, at that time, general manager of the Bristol Old Vic Theatre. Brenner's stewardship was regarded by students of the time as another golden age. He remained in the post until 1980, when he was succeeded by Christopher Denys, who retired in the summer of 2007 to be replaced by Paul Rummer as Principal and Sue Wilson in
1880-417: The post-war decade until 1954 when the Company produced a small-scale end-of season topical musical for the entertainment of regular patrons and to allow the actors to 'let their hair down' after a season of mainly serious productions. This musical, Salad Days by Julian Slade and Dorothy Reynolds , proved very popular with Bristol audiences and was subsequently transferred to London's West End where it
1927-535: The range of courses on offer and the application process. Founded in 1969, the 22 member schools continue to offer courses in Acting, Musical Theatre, Directing and Technical Theatre training. Graduates of CDS courses are currently working on stage, in front of the camera and behind the scenes in theatres and studios across Britain. In 2012, CDS was merged with the National Council for Drama Training to create
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1974-588: The theatre sector. A Forum for Acting Training was convened with leading professionals who recommended in a 2008 report, that an Academy for Dramatic Arts, independent of a University, but with third level accreditation should be created. The report was submitted to the Irish Government. On 1 August 2008, The Irish Times reported that a RADA graduate, Danielle Ryan , granddaughter of the late Tony Ryan who founded Ryanair , had announced plans to develop an Irish Academy of Dramatic Arts part-funded from
2021-513: The triangular Canynge Square . The Whiteladies Picture House on Whiteladies Road was converted into offices and a gymnasium in 2001 but it was re-opened as a cinema by Everyman Cinemas in 2016. Clifton Lido was built in 1850 but closed to the public in 1990, it was redeveloped and opened again to the public in November 2008. On 17 December 1978 a bomb on Queen's Road in Clifton detonated, injuring at least seven people. The Provisional IRA
2068-534: Was an instant hit and played for more than four years, making it the longest running production in West End history at the time. £7,000 from the Salad Days profits – a large sum in those days— was given to the School towards the purchase and conversion of two large adjoining Victorian villas at 1 and 2 Downside Road in Clifton. In 1995, the enduring benefit to students of that donation was formally recognised when
2115-579: Was filmed in Bristol. In a 2017 episode of the American historical adventure television series Black Sails , Blackbeard played by Ray Stevenson mentions Clifton as being the home of his mother. A number of films have also been set in Clifton, including The Truth About Love (2005) starring Dougray Scott and Jennifer Love Hewitt , The Foolish Things (2005), starring Lauren Bacall and Anjelica Huston , and Starter for 10 (2006), starring James McAvoy and produced by Tom Hanks , which
2162-521: Was filmed largely on Royal York Crescent. The 1962 film about delinquent teenagers, Some People , starring Kenneth More and Ray Brooks was filmed in and around Clifton. Cliftonwood is a small suburb Bristol, bounded approximately by the Hotwells Road to the south, Jacob's Wells Road and Constitution Hill to the East and North East, Clifton Vale to the West, and by the gardens of Goldney Hall ,
2209-619: Was responsible. Clifton is served by Clifton Down railway station on the local Severn Beach railway line , and by frequent bus services from central Bristol. It has road links to the city centre and outer western suburbs, and across the Clifton Suspension Bridge to Leigh Woods in North Somerset . Between 1893 and 1934, it was connected to Hotwells by the Clifton Rocks Railway . Clifton has
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