Short Courses: A Year's Highlights
In the 2023/24 academic year, we launched our most expansive range of short courses ever, with a total of 26 courses taking place – from audiobook intensives to screen acting workshops, as well as introductory acting programmes and refresh classes for professionals.
The last twelve months have been a whirlwind of activity. Take a look back on an exhilarating and enlightening year with LAMDA Short Courses.
Trips galore
One of the perks of training in London is that we’re on the doorstep to the glittering productions lining the West End. This year, our Musical Theatre short course participants took in the drama at Hadestown at the Lyric Theatre.
And did you know that some of our short courses include trips to iconic British locations? Our Shakespeare Summer School students visited Shakespeare’s hometown, Stratford-upon-Avon, where they visited the Royal Shakespeare Company and Anne Hathaway’s cottage, as well as taking trips to historical highlights like the Globe Theatre and the Tower of London.
“I loved the course. It was incredible what I was able to learn in the short span of two weeks.”
Meaningful masterclasses
It’s always a thrill to bring industry professionals to LAMDA, with exclusive masterclasses exploring new technology, auditioning and characters. Industry legend Kate Saxon led our first ever Motion Capture short course, introducing students to our world-class Motion Capture facilities.
Our Introduction to Screen Acting students were treated to a workshop with casting director Ben Cogan, who shared his wealth of knowledge from working in casting and as an actors’ coach for over 24 years.
Ben said, “Being able to bring my knowledge and experience in the casting process to LAMDA's students who are so enthusiastic, passionate and focused is always a joy and so very inspiring.”
Beyond LAMDA’s building
This year has seen us take our short courses beyond our Hammersmith home. We travelled into Europe to partner with the Madrid Audiovisual Drama School (MADS), offering our Auditioning in English short course across six days in Spain. Rodney Cottier, former Head of the Drama School, held online masterclasses with students in the United States, exploring the classical training at the heart of our 8-Week and 4-Week Shakespeare programmes.
A little closer to home, the 16 participants in our Aspiring Company rehearsed a play at LAMDA across an invigorating two weeks, before heading down the District Line to perform to an invited audience on the Orange Tree Theatre’s professional stage. During the Aspiring Company’s two weeks of training, the Orange Tree’s Artistic Director, Tom Littler, hosted a masterclass covering classical text.
Summer in the city
Our biggest and most popular programmes are our Summer Schools, where students train for 2, 4 or 8-weeks in classical acting at LAMDA.
With access to our state-of-the-art facilities, the chance to train amongst peers from across the world, and opportunities to visit iconic locations, these summer courses bring you face-to-face with our renowned classical and ensemble-ethos training. It’s your chance to experience life at a drama school on a smaller-scale.
Lots of our courses conclude with internal sharings, where you can put the skills, knowledge and confidence you’ve developed to the test in front of an internal audience. Before they ended their time with us, students showcased scenes from iconic plays like As You Like It, Twelfth Night, Macbeth and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Train with us
LAMDA Short Courses continue this year, with our autumn courses now open for applications and our spring and summer programmes to follow shortly.
This autumn, brush up on your professional skills with our Actor Refresh and Introduction to Motion Capture classes, or take your first steps into the world of conservatoire actor training with Youth Company, Acting Through Song and Introduction to Actor Training.
We advise early applications. Courses may close early for applications if they reach capacity.
