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The crumpled picture book our toddler has read a thousand times. The show tunes we sing in the shower. The boxset we binge with our friends in one night. The movie we watch every Christmas Eve with a mince pie. The white shirt on the actor that makes us swoon. The play that makes us cry. The comedy routine that makes us laugh so much our stomach aches. The song that gets us through the break up. The poem we read at our Mum’s funeral.
Stories are where we come together. They bring us joy in moments of celebration and meaning in moments of pain. They invite us to experience someone else’s life and reflect a mirror on our own. They have the power to galvanise a nation to demand justice and the intimacy to be whispered at bedtime.
We all play. We read the story and do funny voices. We all move, all watch, all breathe, all write, all sing, all dance, all dream.
We are Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, an arts and education charity who’ve been working in the UK for nearly 80 years. We are in the industry of storytelling. Everything we work on begins and ends with a script, a story. We change lives – and our graduates change your lives through the theatre, film, radio and TV you enjoy. Based in Bristol, with a network of alumni, teachers and partners across the world, we exist to enable talented people, no matter their background or age, to come together and train to become the storytellers of tomorrow.
You will have seen our graduates in the movies, on tv, and in the theatre (and many other places too) – Olivia Colman, Daniel Day Lewis, Naomie Harris, Patrick Stewart, Theo James, Pearl Mackie – but did you know that there are also thousands of others – writers, directors, set designers, stage managers, dialect coaches, costume fitters – working behind the scenes helping make all of that happen across theatre, TV, film, radio, gaming?
We believe that everyone deserves the right to fulfil their aspirations and potential.
We teach our students how to shape and tell the stories that need to be told; how to create the spaces for collective imagination that are open to everyone.
We empower them to know themselves as human beings with dreams, skills and ambition. We pass on passion, learning and experience and we provide the tools to sustain and succeed in their chosen career. Our students walk out with inner confidence, aware of who they are and the stories they have to tell – and they bring that straight to you on your TV screens, on your radio, in your local theatre and on the largest stages of the world.
Read on to find out about the ways we help change the world.
Ways That You Can Support
