LAMDA comes together as an Academy at several points throughout the year to share different elements of the students’ training, celebrate their ongoing development and emphasise the inherent value of what we teach.
Starting in November with Poetry Night, students from across the acting and stage management disciplines read either their own work or personally selected poetry in competition. Poetry Night brings together the skills of both the drama school and LAMDA Examinations, the country’s leading statutory awarding body for speech and drama. Judges in recent years have included the poets Roger McGough and Brian Patten.
Close to our old MacOwan Theatre and acting as one of many regular rehearsal spaces whilst we raise the funds required to redevelop our Talgarth Road home, each Christmas St Philip’s Church in Earls Court hosts our candlelit Christmas Carol Service. Although it follows a traditional pattern of readings and music, the afternoon is anything but, offering a glorious opportunity for the year groups to sing for each other and mark the beginning of the Christmas break.
Following an evening of RP (Received Pronunciation) in March, Dance Night in May sees the students showcasing their historic, tap, flamenco, stepping and street dance skills alongside some of the clown and physical theatre work that contributes to the movement training of the acting students work.
Most well-known amongst our Academy events is Fight Night – a LAMDA tradition stretching back 35 years – where students compete for the highly valued Jubilee Trophy for Best Fight and Phillipson Sword for Outstanding Technique. Scheduled to take place the evening before many of the students take their British Academy of Dramatic Combat exams, the evening is an adrenaline-filled dress rehearsal that raises the game of the competing students and prepares them to perform at their best the following day.
Hot on Fight Night’s heels is the most recent addition to the series – Film Night. Taking place over two evenings in our LAMDA Linbury Studio in June, the evening showcases four short films specially commissioned for the graduating class of acting students. In recent years, original screenplays for this element of our film training have been written by Mark Ravenhill and Stella Duffy.
Finally, the year concludes with a celebration of the skills of our stage management and technical theatre students who, in addition to staging and producing all of our 20 or so public productions throughout the year, also rig, light and stage the Academy events. The Stage Design Exhibition showcases the talents of those students with an interest in stage design. The evening is a fascinating insight into the preparation of stage model boxes and the thinking that goes into set design.
Due to capacity and the nature of Academy events they are sadly not open to the public. However, whenever possible we like to invite supporters and other members of the LAMDA community to join us. Click here to find out how you can be part of these special nights by becoming a LAMDA Angel.
(Last updated 29.05.2012)