Page 240 - Guildhall Coverage Book 2020-21

Some, like RADA director Edward Kemp, see themselves as trying to steer a middle
course between past and present. He says: “Even if a drama school found a perfect
training arc, two things are always changing – the students coming in and the
profession into which they progress. Any training must be in dialogue not only with
its own history and tradition, but also with the world around it and what the future
might look like.” Indeed, it must and should, but the question is how much appetite
there actually is for real change in some institutions.

Mumba Dodwell of the Diversity School Initiative, set up in 2018 to address under-
representation in UK drama schools, says that for too long drama schools have said
“they wanted the conversation, but they don’t actually want to do the work to make
the change”. She argues that while some drama schools are being “shamed into
change”, they still don’t always fully understand the need for change in who teaches
and what is on the curriculum. “When you raise the issue of the classical canon, they
respond that it is exemplary work. Maybe there are other plays and texts that are just
as exemplary, but they have not considered them, or they simply don’t know about
them in a way a more diverse staff would.”

‘ I f b e i n g a v a n d a l i s a b o u t e n s u r i n g e q u i t y a n d
e q u a l i t y o f e x p e r i e n c e , t h e n I a m h a p p y t o b e
c a l l e d t h a t ’ – L A M D A d i r e c t o r S a r a h F r a n k c o m

Just as changed leadership within the theatre industry is influencing the stories told
upon its stages, and who tells those stories, so new appointments at the top of
drama schools – combined with the impact of Covid-19 and Black Lives Matter – are
speeding up the shift in their culture.

Julie Spencer, head of acting at ArtsEd, says: “Drama school training had not
changed much since I was at drama school in the 1980s.” Arriving at ArtsEd in early
2019, Spencer has ushered in significant change to the curriculum – and who
delivers it – as well as widening access and opening the doors to a more diverse
group of students.

“Actor training can’t remain static. If you have different students in the room, you
have to respond to that. It’s about widening the canon and the curriculum, not losing
rigour,” says Spencer, who argues that “when you shift privilege, there are always
people who complain something is being lost”.

Shaking up drama schools

The arrival of working directors Sarah Frankcom at LAMDA and Orla O’Loughlin at
Guildhall School of Music and Drama – both fresh from leading major theatres – is
shaking up student cohorts, faculties and the curriculum in a way that many think is
exciting, but others find bewildering. Change is always painful, particularly when it
involves changes to working practices as well as job losses.

“My offer to Guildhall was on a mandate for change,” says O’Loughlin. “Primarily, it
was to develop a culture that was inclusive, representative and more industry
aligned. My experience at previous drama schools has given me a sense of drama