Youth Company: Acting

Applications for RADA’s first digital Youth Company are closed for January.
In 2021 RADA will be running two Youth Company courses.
The first will take place over 3 months from January 2021 to March 2021.
The second course will take place over 3 months from May 2021 to July 2021. Applications for this course will open in late March.
Part of our Access and Participation work, this is a three month long drama course taking place on Thursdays and Saturdays that gives young people aged 16-20 the opportunity to experience actor training.
Working collaboratively with the Youth Company: Theatre Production and as part of a supportive group of like-minded acting members RADA's Youth Company: Acting creates a digital space for members to get creative and analytical.
Regardless of your experience or background we want people who are passionate, curious and keen to learn. You will learn a range of acting techniques and skills that reflect our classical training.
This course will culminate with the screening of a short film documenting the creative and technical work of the company.
We will ensure that access provision is in place for all applicants. We welcome applications from disabled applicants and encourage them to share information about access requirements when completing the application form. This will enable us to provide additional support both during the selection workshops and across the course. If you have any further questions about accessibility please email outreach@rada.ac.uk.
Sessions are led by RADA faculty and Youth Company Director Phil Sheppard with specialist workshops from other RADA tutors, graduates and guest tutors.
The types of things you will explore:
- Acting techniques, theories and exercises
- Text work - approaches to working with modern and classical texts
- Voice - breath support, articulation, clarity
- Movement
- Devising and improvisation
- Alexander Technique
- Acting for camera
- Monologues and soliloquies
- Q&As and discussions with RADA teachers, students and practitioners
How to apply
Applications for the course in January are now closed. Applications for the course starting in May will open in late March.
This course is free to attend.
This course is for:
- Young people aged 16-20 at the start of the course on 7 January, 2021
- Young people who live in Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland, City of Durham or a London borough
- Young people who currently attend or have attended a state school
- Have no previous experience of University
Applicants should also meet at least one of the following:
- Have a home postcode which is Quintile 1 or 2 on the POLAR4 dataset (check POLAR4 postcode here) or Deciles 1-4 on the IMD dataset (check IMD postcode here)
- Be in receipt of Free School Meals, in receipt of a 16-19 Bursary or be living in a household which receives means tested benefits
- Identify as Black, Asian, or Ethnically Diverse
- Have recent experience of the UK Care System or be a Care Leaver
- Have a declared disability
- Be aged 16-20 at the start of the course on 7 January, 2021
- Live in Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland, City of Durham or a London borough
- Currently attend or have attended a state school
- Have no previous experience of University
- Have a home postcode which is Quintile 1 or 2 on the POLAR4 dataset or Deciles 1-4 on the IMD dataset (details of how to check above).
- Be in receipt of Free School Meals, in receipt of a 16-19 Bursary or be living in a household which receives means tested benefits
- Identify as Black, Asian, or Ethnically Diverse
- Have recent experience of the UK Care System or be a Care Leaver
- Have a declared disability
All applicants must meet the following criteria:
Applicants should also meet at least one of the following:
You might still be at school or college or already have left. It’s really about giving an opportunity to someone who might be interested in pursuing drama or thinking about actor training. This will give you a good grounding but also let you explore whether it’s the right thing for you.
Whatever your circumstances, we expect full commitment to the course: attending every week, on time and participating.
The RADA Youth Company: Acting is free for all participants.
As this is a digital course, the company will meet on Zoom on Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings from January to March.
Company members will be selected from a series of short selection workshops over Zoom. These will take place between Thursday 10th December and Sunday 13th December 2020. These workshops will be a chance for you to hear a little bit more about the course, meet new people and take part in some ice breakers and activities.