LOU MADDOCKS-SOADY
DIRECTOR OF THEATRE ARTS
The Advanced Theatre arts course is for sixth form aged students who have made the decision to spend their next two years in education really focusing on developing and refining their skills in the performing arts.
Our Advanced courses offer students pre-drama or music school training that equates to a 2 A-Level equivalent qualification in creative and performing arts. This is studied alongside the study of up to two further A-Level qualifications.
When we were creating the Theatre Arts courses, we consulted with industry professionals and their advice was clear. In the 21st century, the more skills a performer has, the more employable they are. Actors that can sing, play musical instruments, pick up a puppet, use physical theatre…
Musicians that can tell stories through music, who can give confident and dynamic performances, who can act and move and who can use their performance skills to engage their audiences.
To achieve this for our students the courses run with shared and separate units – music performance students will focus on their specialist area for the majority of their classes and also benefit from performance training in a range of other disciplines including acting, musical theatre and performance practice.
Actors benefit from intense actor training combined with training in singing skills, musical theatre, physical theatre and a range of other performance disciplines.
Students can expect to receive (depending on A-Level choices) approximately 32 hours of performance training per week.
Auditions
At this level we are looking for enthusiastic, talented and focused students with a passion for performance and a willingness to push themselves to achieve their goals.
Students who are able to make it to one of our onsite auditions are encouraged to do so. The audition say includes practical workshops in your chosen area of study followed by the performance of two contrasting monologues for actors and two contrasting musical performances for music performance students.
For anyone who cannot attend one of our in person auditions we do accept pre-recorded self tape auditions. Applicants who demonstrate the skills to meet the requirements of the course will then be invited to participate in a Zoom workshop and personal interview.
We are extremely proud of the success our Sixth Form students have achieved in previous years with a very high percentage of students winning places at some of the most prestigious drama and music schools in the UK and abroad. Students have gained places as schools such as RADA, Guilford, Rose Bruford, ALRA, Central, Trinity, Arts Ed, LCM, Royal Welsh College of Music and many more.
From here many students have gone on to work as professional actors, musicians and entertainers in multiple areas of the performing arts industries.
If you have any further questions, please email:
openday@thehammondschool.co.uk
