The Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA) was a British

drama school A drama school, stage school or theatre school is an undergraduate and/or graduate school or department at a college or university; or a free-standing institution (such as the Drama section at the Juilliard School); which specializes in the pr ...

. It had two sites: ALRA South on Wandsworth Common in south London and ALRA North in

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

, Greater Manchester. It was founded in 1979 by director and actor Sorrel Carson who then directed the school as its principal until 2001. The last principal was Kieran Sheehan (acting). ALRA was a member of

Drama UK Drama UK was an advocate for vocational drama training in the UK, as well as providing accreditation for vocational drama courses, from 2012 to 2016. History Drama UK was formed on 31 July 2012, by the merger of the two main organizations in the ...

, formerly the

Conference of Drama Schools The Conference of Drama Schools (CDS) was the organisation which represented the top 21 accredited UK drama schools in the United Kingdom from 1969 until 2012. History Originally founded in 1969 as an educational charitable organization it chang ...

, and National Council for Drama Training, both organizations since dissolved, and received funding from the

Young People's Learning Agency The Young People's Learning Agency for England, commonly referred to as the Young People's Learning Agency (YPLA), was a UK government body, based in Coventry, which funded further education for 16- to 19-year-olds in England. It closed on 31 M ...

. It was a member of the Federation of Drama Schools. It was announced that ALRA was to close with effect from 4 April 2022. Students were offered the chance to complete their studies at

Rose Bruford College Rose Bruford College (formerly Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance) is a drama school in the south London suburb of Sidcup. The college has degree programmes in acting, actor musicianship, directing, theatre arts and various discipl ...

a number of FDS institutions offered staff and students affected by this sudden announcement support.

Locations and origins

Trencherfield Mill (geograph 6212864 by Philip Halling, cropped)

ALRA South was in the

Royal Victoria Patriotic Building The Royal Victoria Patriotic Building is a large Victorian building in a Gothic Revival style combining Scottish Baronial and French Châteauesque. It is located off Trinity Road in Wandsworth, London. It was built in 1859 as the Royal Victori ...

, a

Victorian Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

Grade 2

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

on the edge of Wandsworth Common. The first school was opened in a Church Hall in East Finchley in 1979. ALRA North opened in September 2010 at a former church in

, Greater Manchester, moving in 2012 to Trencherfield Mill, a restored industrial building in the Wigan Pier development area, Greater Manchester. The curriculum and teaching methods were the same as at ALRA South.

Courses

ALRA offered the following courses: *Three-year Acting course – leading to BA (Hons) Acting/National Diploma in Professional Acting *Fifteen-month Acting course – leading to MA Professional Acting/National Certificate in Professional Acting *MA in Directing *Foundation Acting *Various short courses.

Acceptance

Admission to the school was based on three rounds of auditions and finally an interview with the school's directors, its registrar and an audition panel. The audition was held over the course of a single day.

Notable alumni

Jimmy Akingbola James Olatokunbo Akingbola (born 7 April 1978) is an English television, theatre and film actor. Early life Jimmy Akingbola was born in London to parents of the Yoruba tribe who had emigrated from Nigeria. In 1996, Akingbola started at the ...

Samuel Anderson (actor) Samuel Anderson (born 27 April 1982) is an English actor. He played Crowther in ''The History Boys'', Danny Pink in the BBC sci-fi series ''Doctor Who'' and Daniel in the Sky1 sitcom '' Trollied''. Early life Anderson was born in Handsworth, ...

Clive Ashborn Clive Ashborn is an English actor. He is probably best known for appearing in ''V for Vendetta'' as Guy Fawkes. He graduated from Academy of Live and Recorded Arts in 2001. He played the character Koleniko in '' Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead ...

* Bennett Arron *

Anna Brecon Anna Brecon (born 1971), or Anna Juliet Davis, is an English actress, best known for portraying Tara Reynolds ('Lady Tara') in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale''. Early life Born in Salisbury,“DAVIS Anna Juliet / PRITCHARD / Salisbury 7c 24 ...

Lorraine Bruce Lorraine Bruce is a British television, film and stage actress, best known for her portrayal of Denise Simpson in the Kay Mellor five part BBC One series '' The Syndicate'' In 2013, she was cast in '' Lucky 7'', the U.S. version of '' The Syndi ...

Dominic Burgess Dominic Burgess (born 29 July 1982) is an English actor. He is known for his appearances in several television adverts and series such as '' Raising Hope'', ''Doctor Who'', ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'', and '' Feud: Bette and Joan''. E ...

* Rhiannon Clements * Stephanie Chambers * Ian Champion * Bridget Christie * Thomas Craig *

Amanda Eliasch Amanda Eliasch (born 1960) is an English photographer, artist, poet and filmmaker. Early life Amanda Eliasch was born in Beirut, Lebanon, 13 May 1960, where her father Anthony Cave Brown worked as a foreign correspondent for the ''Daily Mail' ...

Tanya Franks Tanya Christine Franks (born 16 August 1967) is an English actress, producer and writer. She has had starring roles on the television shows ''Family Affairs'', ''The Bill'', '' Pulling'', ''EastEnders'' and ''Broadchurch''. Franks is also the f ...

Francesca Gonshaw Francesca Gonshaw (born 25 November 1959) is an English former actress who appeared in television, theatre and cinema productions in the 1980s. From 1982 to 1987, she appeared as Maria Recamier in the BBC's Allo 'Allo!'' television situati ...

* Denise Gough *

Miranda Hart Miranda Katherine Hart Dyke (born 14 December 1972) is an English actress and writer. Following drama training at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, Hart began writing material for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and making appearances in va ...

* Daniel Healy (actor) * Joanna Jeffrees * Elizabeth Keates * Lucy Liemann * Robert Lonsdale * Kim Lukas * Paul McEwan * Steve McNeil *

Sarah Parish Sarah Parish (born 7 June 1968) is an English actress. She is known for her work on television series including: ''The Pillars of the Earth'', ''Peak Practice'', '' Hearts and Bones'', ''Cutting It'', ''Doctor Who'', '' Mistresses'', ''Merlin'', ...

* Mark Pegg *

Pooky Quesnel Joanna Gabrielle "Pooky" Quesnel (born 30 April 1966) is an English actress, screenwriter and singer. Early life Quesnel was born and raised in Eccles, Lancashire, along with her five siblings. Her father was born in Trinidad. She read English ...

Lisa Ray Lisa Rani Ray (born 4 April 1972) is a Canadian actress and model who has also worked internationally. Ray began her modelling career in India in the early 1990s, appearing for leading Indian brands like Bombay Dyeing and Lakmé. She made her ...

* Vincent Regan * Suzi Ruffell *

Georgia Steel Georgia Steel (born 28 March 1998) is an English television personality. In 2018, she appeared on the fourth series of the ITV2 reality series ''Love Island''. She has since made appearances in various reality television series including '' Cel ...

Amita Suman Amita Suman (born 19 July 1997) is a Nepal–born British actress. She stars as Inej Ghafa in the Netflix series '' Shadow and Bone''. She had a recurring role as Naya in The CW series '' The Outpost''. Early life Suman was born in Kalikamai ...

Hannah Waddingham Hannah Waddingham (born 28 July 1974) is a British actress and singer. She is best known for playing Rebecca Welton in the comedy series '' Ted Lasso'' (2020–present), for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actre ...

References

External links

ALRA websiteRoyal Victoria Patriotic Building websiteDance and Drama Award Scheme website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Academy of Live And Recorded Arts Performing arts education in London Drama schools in London Education in the London Borough of Wandsworth Arts organisations based in the United Kingdom Further education colleges in Greater Manchester Educational institutions established in 1979 1979 establishments in England 2022 disestablishments in England Defunct drama schools Defunct educational institutions in the United Kingdom