Announcing a new creative partnership with Audible

We are delighted to announce a new creative partnership with Audible, which will provide £150,000 of funding to the drama school over the next three years.

We will work in collaboration to develop the next generation of acting talent through scholarships and training opportunities in audio entertainment. Original audio plays will also be developed in collaboration between Audible and students from our acting courses.

As part of their commitment to investing in artistic communities, Audible will fund a scholarship to support an undergraduate student on our BA (Hons) Professional Acting course, covering the full three years of tuition fees. The Audible scholarship has been presented to Alistair Nwachukwu who will start at LAMDA in autumn 2018.

We will partner to enhance audio skills training through workshops at Audible’s state-of-the-art studios. Classes will include tutorials on microphone technique, assistance in creating voice reels and career advice from top industry professionals. Audible will also fund new technology to be installed at our award-winning new training facilities, furthering our mission to deliver innovative performing arts training.

As one of the leading producers of audio entertainment, Audible is committed to constantly innovating in the development of content and has seen a growing interest in audio content from younger audiences. In-line with growing demand, together we will embark on a creative collaboration to pilot new writing by developing audio plays especially for young people.

Joanna Read, Principal of LAMDA says: “We are delighted that this new partnership has come to fruition. Here at LAMDA we are committed to providing students with diverse and varied training which will set them up for a career in an industry which is constantly evolving. This new collaboration will offer our talented students an exciting opportunity to develop skills within an increasingly growing field of performing arts.”

Tracey Markham, Country Manager at Audible UK, says: “We are hugely excited to partner with LAMDA to support and train young actors. At Audible we are honoured to work with the world’s finest actors, and we are passionate about nurturing the next generation of talent. Now we look forward to working with LAMDA to inspire and train today’s most promising young actors and to bring new voices to our global audience of listeners.”

David Suchet CBE, LAMDA alumnus & LAMDA Fellow commented, “Today, we are now witnessing an explosion in the public’s demand for Audio. Books and other works that are published are now automatically recorded for the audio market. Podcasts, on all subjects, are becoming increasingly popular for a population with limited time and constantly ‘on the move.’ Actors leaving drama schools have to be fully trained and technically equipped and fully fluent in the (joyful) demands of recording works of all genres for the audio market. Not just plays for the radio. I applaud and embrace LAMDA’s new partnership with Audible and wish it every possible success.”

Brona C Titley, LAMDA alumna said: “Getting to perform a whole book is an incredibly rich acting experience, one that I wish for every LAMDA graduate. It’s a job that you can’t do without a lot of preparation, and the support and resources that Audible are providing in this partnership, mean that LAMDA grads will have the experience and knowledge they need to enter the booming audio workplace with confidence. Audible and LAMDA are both institutions of excellence and it’s very exciting that they are joining forces. So long as newly graduating LAMDA grads, (who have benefitted from this partnership) don’t steal all my audiobook jobs...”