Drama Centre London (often abbreviated as Drama Centre) was a British drama school in
King's Cross, London, where it moved in 2011 after a major reshaping of the
University of the Arts London
The University of the Arts London is a public collegiate university in London, England, United Kingdom. It specialises in arts, design, fashion, and the performing arts. The university is a federation of six arts colleges: Camberwell College of ...
. It was part of
Central Saint Martins
Central Saint Martins is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art university in London, England. The college offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of short ...
, a constituent college of the university. Following a review in 2020, the school closed with the graduation of its final students in 2022.
Whilst in operation, Drama Centre London was a member of the
Federation of Drama Schools, it offered
BA (Hons) and
MA acting courses.
History
Drama Centre London was founded in 1963 by a breakaway group of teachers and students from the
Central School of Speech and Drama, led by John Blatchley,
Yat Malmgren and Christopher Fettes. It was originally on Prince of Wales Road,
Chalk Farm
Chalk Farm is a small urban district of north west London, lying immediately north of Camden Town, in the London Borough of Camden.
History
Manor of Rugmere
Chalk Farm was originally known as the Manor of Rugmere, an estate that was mentio ...
, but moved first to Back Hill,
Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell ( ) is an area of central London, England.
Clerkenwell was an Civil Parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish from the medieval period onwards, and now forms the south-western part of the London Borough of Islington. The St James's C ...
in 2004, then to
King's Cross in 2011. From 1999 to 2020, it operated as an integral school of
Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design, offering degree programmes in acting, directing and screenwriting.
A principal aim in the school's founding was to bring some of the major developments in American and European theatre to the training of British and international actors. Its approach articulated
Stanislavski's system
Stanislavski's system is a systematic approach to training actors that the Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski developed in the first half of the twentieth century. His system cultivates what he calls the "art of experiencing ...
, with the movement work of
Rudolf Laban and the character typology of
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of Carl Jung publications, over 20 books, illustrator, and corr ...
to produce a 'movement psychology' for the analysis and development of characters. Its work also drew on the English tradition, particularly that of
Joan Littlewood
Joan Maud Littlewood (6 October 1914 – 20 September 2002) was an English theatre director who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and is best known for her work in developing the Theatre Workshop. She has been called "The Mother of M ...
and
Theatre Workshop
Theatre Workshop is a theatre group whose long-serving director was Joan Littlewood. Many actors of the 1950s and 1960s received their training and first exposure with the company, many of its productions were transferred to theatres in the West ...
. These approaches were taught as part of the Western theatrical tradition that began with the Greeks, on which the school placed great emphasis. When the school was founded, it was England's only drama school with an acting class, and was considered the first
Method
Method (, methodos, from μετά/meta "in pursuit or quest of" + ὁδός/hodos "a method, system; a way or manner" of doing, saying, etc.), literally means a pursuit of knowledge, investigation, mode of prosecuting such inquiry, or system. In re ...
drama school in Britain.
Because of its rigour, the school's nickname was "Trauma Center".
Like most drama schools, Drama Centre placed a particular emphasis on the work of
Konstantin Stanislavski
Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski ( rus, Константин Сергеевич Станиславский, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin sʲɪrˈɡʲejɪvʲɪtɕ stənʲɪˈslafskʲɪj, links=yes; ; 7 August 1938) was a seminal Russian and Sovie ...
, also training students in improvisation through the
Yevgeny Vakhtangov and
Jacques Lecoq traditions. It offered a theatre-based training incorporating both modern and classical texts; and prepared actors for the demands of screen acting, for which it had a two-year postgraduate course. In September 2005, it launched its MA Acting course (formerly 'European Classical Acting') including residencies at both the Vakhtangov Theatre Institute in Moscow and Imalis Center for Ancient Hellenic Theatre in Epidaurus, Greece.
The Drama Centre was the first British drama school to introduce some of the great classics of the Spanish, German and French repertoires, a precedent reflected in connections between many schools in the UK, US, Russia and China.
In March 2020 UAL announced that they were to close the Drama Centre, following an unfavourable review of the centre's provision for academic development, quality assurance and equal opportunities. Students currently enrolled would complete their training.
Platform Theatre
The Platform Theatre is a receiving and producing theatre in the Central Saint Martin's complex at King's Cross. It holds 360 in a variety of configurations, has an orchestra pit and a full
flying tower and is equipped to high professional standards. It aims to present all aspects of the performing arts. Productions by students of Drama Centre London were presented there, and work by students of other colleges of the University of the Arts, London.
Alumni
References
External links
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Drama schools in London
Schools of the performing arts in the United Kingdom
Educational institutions established in 1963
1963 establishments in England