The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama is delighted to announce that Valero will be renewing its generous support of the West Wales Young Actors Studio.
The West Wales Young Actors Studio, which was established at Pembrokeshire College three years ago, has given young people from the area the opportunity to learn the skills they need to enter the UK’s top Drama schools.
“The Young Actors Studio has become a rich source of talent for the College, providing an important bridge between school and professional training,” explains Head of Drama Dave Bond.
“It’s also extremely valuable for those who want to gain confidence and communication skills without necessarily wanting to pursue acting as a career. Young Actors shares the values of the College, and the use of our own teaching staff ensures that these values and quality are upheld.”
Actor Richard Mylan working with Young Actors in Pembrokeshire
The funding, provided by Valero, the region’s most significant employer, will enable College tutors to continue delivering drama workshops in local schools, colleges and youth centres and will provide financial assistance to ensure talented young people from the area can benefit from expert training.
There will be free taster workshops on 12th April in Pembrokeshire, and 13th April in Cardiff.
Since its launch, in 2014, over 900 young people across west Wales have been engaged in the project through Drama outreach workshops, and 88 local young people have attended the specialist, industry focused training provided through the West Wales Young Actors Studio.
Over 65% of these were able to train because of funding awards by Valero. Currently 90% of the students in Pembrokeshire receive scholarships and financial support to attend classes, compared with around 55% in Cardiff.
“It’s very important for a company like Valero to invest in local communities,” says Stephen Thornton, Valero Public Affairs Manager.
“In remote parts of the UK it’s often difficult to bridge the gap between talent and opportunity, and in bringing Young Actors Studio here to Pembrokeshire we have gone a long way in doing that.”
The West Wales Young Actors Studio launched in April 2014 with sessions for both Acting Courses and Theatre Workshops taking place at Pembrokeshire College, every Saturday. The tutors who deliver this training are industry professionals currently working in theatre and television and many teach on the senior courses at the College.
Staff include Julian Lewis-Jones (Stella, Justice League) and Richard Mylan (Waterloo Road) and recent guests giving masterclasses have included award-winning RWCMD graduate Sophie Melville and Tenby-born Charlie Dale (Casualty).
A Young Actors workshop in Pembrokeshire
A Pathway to Further Education
Young Actors Studio is proven pathway to further education: ten students graduating from YAS have gone on to study at Royal Welsh College in both acting and Stage Management, with six joining from the 2016 cohort alone. Other students have also progressed to other drama schools including RADA, LAMDA, or gone on to university or further education.
National Conservatoire
Young Actors Studio Pembrokeshire is a part of the College’s wider remit to extend this provision into other parts of Wales. Workshops are held regularly around South Wales, focusing on particularly deprived areas, with some of these children now attending the Young Actors Studio in Cardiff every Sunday.
Outreach projects in Cardiff have focused on raising standards and aspirations in local schools, particularly in more disadvantaged areas. The College and Willows High School, which was featured in Channel 4’s Educating Cardiff, have recently developed a project to teach Year 10 pupils to become inspirational drama mentors for Year 7 pupils, as part of their Welsh Baccalaureate.
Students from Ely’s Michaelston Comprehensive school currently visit the College to work with Young Actors Studio staff on their GCSE studies, supplementing their practical examinations with extra rehearsals, before returning to RWCMD to sit their GCSE exams. Through the partnership with Michaelston, the College has been able to identify five very talented young actors who have now won scholarship supported places to attend Young Actors Studio training, each weekend.
For more information www.rwcmd.ac.uk/taster
Recent Young Actors Success Stories
- Joe Hurst: In the last twelve months has filmed TV series Snatch with Rupert Grint, and been directed by Steven Spielberg alongside Simon Pegg and Mark Rylance in Ready Player One
- Ruby Llewelyn is currently in South Africa preparing for her leading role in the new musical Tiger Bay
- Emily John is now a regular on the long-running Welsh soap opera Pobl y Cwm.
- Yasemin Ozdemir played Juliet in the National Youth Theatre Wales’ summer production of Romeo & Juliet.
Editors notes
The focus of the Royal Welsh College Young Actors Studio is on actor training for 12-20 year olds, coupled with training to support young people into specialist drama courses and other quality higher education destinations. All the training is delivered by professional actors, directors, choreographers and industry professionals from both theatre and television.
Students can opt for different pathways: The one year audition-entry Acting Courses for 16-20 year olds provide a real insight into drama school training, while the Theatre Workshop classes are open to all students aged 12-18, offering the opportunity to concentrate on core drama skills in a friendly, supportive and professional environment in Pembrokeshire.
Valero Pembroke refinery is one of the leading employers in south Wales and is one of Europe’s largest and most complex refineries. Valero Energy Ltd, a subsidiary of Valero Energy Corporation, markets fuel in the UK and Ireland under the Texaco brand. There are around 850 Texaco-branded service stations in the UK and 230 Texaco-branded service stations in Ireland.
Valero Energy Corporation, through its subsidiaries, is an international manufacturer and marketer of transportation fuels, other petrochemical products and power. Valero subsidiaries employ approximately 10,500 people, and assets include 16 petroleum refineries with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3 million barrels per day, 10 ethanol plants with a combined production capacity of 1.2 billion gallons per year, and a 50-megawatt wind farm. More than 7,300 outlets carry the Valero, Diamond Shamrock, Shamrock and Beacon brands in the United States and the Caribbean; Ultramar in Canada; and Texaco in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Valero is a Fortune 500 company based in San Antonio, Texas. Please visit www.valero.com for more information.
For more information please contact Helen.dunning@rwcmd.ac.uk, 02920 391422
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