9th July 2024
BOVTS is delighted to announce that second-year BA Acting student Peter Devlin has been awarded a Laurence Olivier Bursary from the Society of London Theatre (SOLT).
Peter is one of 18 drama school students from across the country to have been awarded. Now in it’s 37th year, the bursaries were established in 1987 to celebrate Laurence Olivier’s 80th birthday and are intended to support exceptional students entering their final year of training, who find themselves facing financial difficulty. Peter joins a long line of BOVTS winners, including Arabella Smith-James and Joseph Stanley in 2023, Conor Doran in 2022 and Tommy Sim’aan in 2020.
Students are nominated by their drama school and are auditioned on a West End stage and interviewed by a panel of industry professionals. The bursaries are funded by SOLT and a group of key donors includingbeh the Behrens Foundation, who have donated the prize to Peter.
West End producer and Chair of the Laurence Olivier Bursaries Committee, Lee Menzies said: “It is fantastic to be able to award the Laurence Olivier Bursaries each year, and I want to thank all the generous donors who, alongside the Society of London Theatre, are committed to helping talented individuals overcome financial hardship and realise their potential.”
Peter commented, “I feel very grateful to be one of this year’s recipients. The audition process was so much fun, performing on a west end stage and meeting all the other lovely people auditioning was really amazing. This bursary is going to make a huge impact as I come to the end of my training. A big thank you to Lee Menzies for putting me forward for it.”
Congratulations Peter!
Header: Craig Fuller
