Image: Craig Fuller
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A diamond in the arts
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School has clocked up 75 years producing the leading lights of the arts and entertainment industry. What does its diamond anniversary, and the post-Covid world, hold for the alma mater of Olivia Colman, Sir Daniel Day-Lewis and Sir Patrick Stewart?
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omparatively few Bristolians – adopted, or born-andbred – realise the sheer number of stage and screen luminaries who have also called the city home while receiving world-class training. It’s often described as one of the city’s best-kept secrets. Nestling on the edge of the Clifton Downs, and set back from the main road, stands a series of unassuming, late Victorian villas. Step a little closer and you may hear some melodic singing practice, or, in the summer months, glimpse sword fighting in the car park; venture closer still and you may just bump into a future household name. For Downside Road is the home of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, a vocational training centre offering degree programmes in all things theatre, film and television.
Image: Dan Rowley
Ready for combat: students rehearse stage skills on the Downs
34 THE BRISTOL MAGAZINE
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MARCH 2021
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NO¯ 196
The school’s alumni are in a league of their own: look beyond Queen Olivia Colman at the credits of Netflix’s The Crown and you’ll see that the up-and-coming generation of Josh O’Connor (Prince Charles), Erin Doherty (Princess Anne) and Tom Byrne (Prince Andrew) are all Bristol trained.
Step a little closer and you may hear some melodic singing practice, or, in summer, glimpse sword fighting in the car park
Drama school isn’t just for those hoping to be the next leading man or lady. Also squeezing in at the Clifton site, you’ll find those training to be future stage managers, set designers, directors, production electricians, prop-makers, costume makers, lighting designers… and the list of disciplines is ever growing with new courses in voice studies and playwriting launching last year. Those specialising in film production and radio drama can be found at the school’s Christchurch Studios in Clifton Village – the former flagship BBC Radio drama facility – while those carving out a career (sometimes quite literally) in scenic construction and scenic art are based at the school’s workshops in Bedminster. Numbers are deliberately small to ensure students have the individual attention required to flourish; just 180 students are on the Theatre School’s roll at any one time. Together, staff and students function as a producing theatre company, taking shows across the city and the wider region, and inviting practising industry professionals in to support the realisation of these productions. Some 200 performances are
