James Bowden is the founder of The Dorset School of Acting – nationally recognised and Dorset’s first and only full time independent drama school.
After graduating from Rose Bruford in 1994 James has been fortunate enough to have worked regularly as an actor in theatre and TV.
Photo Credit: adapted from Steven Pisano via cc
Drama School is just the start of your career so are you focused on the right goal?
Everybody and their cat want to get into RADA, LAMDA, RCSSD, Guildhall and all the other well known Drama Schools and they are certainly good places to train but have you lost sight of the reason why you are training?
Nowadays there is an obsession with the big names in drama training and many other very good schools are being ignored or seen as second best.
It is important to remember that there are eighteen drama schools accredited by DramaUK and also three others that were members of the former CDS but have decided not to join up to DramaUK’s accreditation. There are also a number of non accredited schools that offer an excellent training.
The key thing to keep in the forefront of your mind when you are looking at Drama Schools is that this is only the first step.
The most important thing you should consider is which school has the most consistent employment rate. Training is essential but if you must remember it is a means to an end.
To be honest if a casting agent/ director see that you have trained at any of the Drama Schools that are recognised in the industry it doesn’t really matter if you studied on the main Acting BA course or their other courses.
I trained at Rose Bruford on the main BA Acting course, but never once in all my 20yrs of auditioning did a casting director ask which course I studied on.
What mattered was that my agent had put me forward and that I had trained.
So as you are auditioning, if you don’t get into your dream school remember that there are lots of good courses out there that may suit you better and at the end of the day this is just a route into the profession and the most important thing is your first acting job!!
The Dorset School of Acting’s 1 year Foundation Course in Acting & Musical Theatre is based on the first year of a BA Acting and prepares it’s students for all the aspects of auditioning for accredited Drama Schools. Check out the course at:www.dorsetschoolofacting
About DSA
The Dorset School of Acting is nationally recognised and Dorset’s first and only full time independent drama school.
The DSA offers a vocational course preparing students for further training at drama school or a professional career in acting depending on ability.
With advisors from the most prestigious drama schools in the country, the school provides a systematical approach to the art and craft of the actor whether in classic and contemporary acting or musical theatre.
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