The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama has been ranked as the UK’s top drama college for the third time in the Guardian University Guide, published today. The National Conservatoire of Wales achieved the highest score possible in the Guardian table. The College was also named top drama college in 2014 and 2016.
The College’s drama training at Wales’ National Conservatoire embraces courses in acting, stage management and performance design.
The College has also topped the tables for employment within six months of graduating.
Head of Actor Training, David Bond said: ”Our relationship with our students is hugely important in this: We have always sought to be connected and relevant to the industry our students are entering. It feels like a partnership between us towards a common goal and when this is recognised at national and UK level it provides us with an incentive to continue finding the very best way of supporting them in the profession.”
College Principal, Hilary Boulding, said: “This is a fitting testimony to the dedication and professionalism of the Royal Welsh College’s staff and to the outstanding talent and skills of our students. We are immensely proud to have been recognised for the work that happens on a daily basis to support and nurture the emerging generation of artists and arts practitioners.”
“The employment success of our students reflects the quality of their training and the Royal Welsh College’s respected position within the performance industries” said Sean Crowley, Director of Drama. “Our Acting, Design for Performance and Stage Management students benefit from a fully immersive conservatoire training which results in over 25 productions a year ranging from new writing and contemporary drama to Opera, Musical Theatre, Puppetry, exhibition and installation.
Our students are given an incredibly rich experience and many opportunities to showcase their work in Cardiff and London.”
This year the College was also shortlisted for The Stage School of the Year 2017.
2016 graduate actor, Anthony Boyle, won an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Scorpius Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Recent Royal Welsh College graduate Sophie Melville’s award-winning one-woman show Iphigenia in Splott has just opened on Broadway.
The College has just completed its fourth season of new writing, NEW17, with four newly-commissioned plays premiering in Cardiff and London in April 2017.
Having made its Actor’s Showcase debut in New York last year the College will return for another performance off-Broadway this autumn.
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The College provides a regular flow of talent into the arts and creative industries and has a strong track-record for the career success of its graduates, many of whom achieve success at the forefront of the industry only a few years after graduating.
The featured image is from the Richard Burton Company production of Mojo featuring Tim Preston, Anthony Boyle and Rhys Whomsley
For more information: www.rwcmd.ac.uk
Contact: Helen Dunning, helen.dunning@rwcmd.ac.uk /02920 391422
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