Academy of Live and Recorded Arts

The Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA) was a British drama school. It had two sites: ALRA South on Wandsworth Common in south London and ALRA North in Wigan, Greater Manchester. It was founded in 1979 by director and actors Sorrel Carson and Caryll Ziegler who then directed the school as its principal until 2001.^[1]

The Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, London Acting & Drama School

Type	Drama school
Active	1979–2022
Founder	Sorrel Carson and Caryll Ziegler
Location	Wandsworth , SW18 3SX , England
Affiliations	Trinity College London, CDET, Federation of Drama Schools, St Mary's University, Twickenham
Website	alra.co.uk

ALRA was a member of Federation of Drama Schools an iteration of the formerly known as Drama UK, and before that the Conference of Drama Schools, and National Council for Drama Training, both organizations since dissolved, and received funding from the Young People's Learning Agency. ^[2]

The school closed in April 2022.

Origins and locations

ALRA South occupied part of this former orphanage in Wandsworth

ALRA North, 2012–2022 (left)

ALRA South was in the Royal Victoria Patriotic Building, a Victorian Gothic Grade 2 listed building on the edge of Wandsworth Common. The first school was opened in a Church Hall in East Finchley in 1979.^[3][4]

ALRA North opened in September 2010 at a former church in Wigan, 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.^[4]

Courses

ALRA offered the following courses:

• Three-year Acting course – leading to BA (Hons) Acting/National Diploma in Professional Acting^[5]
• Fifteen-month Acting course – leading to MA Professional Acting/National Certificate in Professional Acting^[6]
• MA in Directing^[7]
• Foundation Acting^[8]
• Various short courses.^[9]

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.^[10]

Closure

ALRA closed with effect from 4 April 2022.^[11][12][13] Students were offered the chance to complete their studies at Rose Bruford College.^[14] The Federation of Drama Schools, in conjunction with the UK's Office for Students, offered support to staff and students affected by the announcement, including maintaining the arrangement with St Mary's University, Twickenham for validating degrees.^[15]

The last principal was Dr. Ellie Johnson Searle (interim).^[16]

Notable alumni

See also: Category:Alumni of the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts

• Jimmy Akingbola
• Samuel Anderson
• Clive Ashborn
• Bennett Arron
• Anna Brecon
• Lorraine Bruce
• Dominic Burgess
• Rhiannon Clements^[17]
• Stephanie Chambers
• Ian Champion
• Bridget Christie
• Thomas Craig
• Amanda Eliasch
• Tanya Franks
• Francesca Gonshaw
• Denise Gough
• Miranda Hart
• Daniel Healy
• Joanna Jeffrees
• Elizabeth Keates
• Lucy Liemann
• Robert Lonsdale
• Kim Lukas
• Paul McEwan
• Steve McNeil
• Sarah Parish
• Mark Pegg
• Pooky Quesnel
• Lisa Ray
• Vincent Regan
• Suzi Ruffell
• Georgia Steel
• Amita Suman
• Hannah Waddingham

References

1. Smurthwaite, Nick (13 September 2022). "Obituary: Caryll Ziegler". The Stage.
2. Granger, Rachel. "Rapid Scoping Study on Leicester Drama School" (PDF). De Montfort University Leicester. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 October 2019. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
3. "ALRA South, Wandsworth, Royal Victoria Patriotic Building". alra.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
4. "Acting Schools in London & Greater Manchester". Academy of Live & Recorded Arts. Archived from the original on 16 February 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
5. "BA Hons Acting, acting BA, 3 Year, Vocational, Professional course". alra.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
6. "Master in acting, MA professional acting course | PG Acting | Full-Time". alra.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
7. "MA Directing, MA Theatre Directing | Postgrad course | ALRA". alra.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
8. "Foundation Acting Course (Full Time) | ALRA". alra.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
9. "Short Courses & Workshops". ALRA. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
10. "Audition guidelines". ARLA. Archived from the original on 21 January 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
11. "Statement on ALRA". Office of the Independent Adjudicator. Archived from the original on 5 April 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
12. "ALRA drama school shuts with immediate effect". BBC News. 4 April 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
13. "Students distraught as famous Wigan Pier-based drama school suddenly goes bust". 5 April 2022.
14. "Students offered places at Rose Bruford following ALRA drama school closure". Office for Students. Archived from the original on 4 April 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
15. "Closure of ALRA". Federation of Drama Schools.
16. Masso, Giverny (10 August 2022). "Theatre's Titanic: the story of how drama school ALRA went under". The Stage.
17. Masso, Giverny (18 July 2019). "ALRA North student Rhiannon Clements wins 2019 Spotlight Prize for best stage actor". The Stage. Archived from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2021.

External links

Media related to Academy of Live and Recorded Arts at Wikimedia Commons

• ALRA website Archived 27 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine
• Royal Victoria Patriotic Building website
• Dance and Drama Award Scheme website