Drama Studio News

OutreachEdinburghLeicesterCardiff October 2018 

 

JUNE 6th 2018

Our Senior Film Awards Ceremony takes place at the Hilton Hotel.

 

Click here to see  Drama Studio student achievements originating from opportunities offered through The Drama Studio Casting Agency.  

The Drama Studio has recently become the latest quality assured partner on the Creativity Portal.

http://creativityportal.org.uk/partners

Creativity Portal page

 

Katie McWilliams Comes Third In National Burns Competition

Katie McWilliams Burns

Congratulations to Drama Studio student Katie McWilliams who came 3rd out of 25 competitors in her poetry recital category at the National Burns Competition! Well done Katie.

 
 

  

David Carnie In Copycats TV 

David Carnie and his family team have made it on to the CBBC programme Copycats. We look forward to seeing the show!

 

 Drama Studio Film Awards 2016

This year's Drama Film Awards for our Senior Students is to be held at The Grosvenor Hilton Hotel on 8th June. Our Senior Students topic this year is Crime Fiction and we all all very excited to be judging all the films and then presenting the winners at this red-carpet Oscars style event complete with film footage, mocktails, buffet and disco ! Our special guest and Awards Presenter will be Crime Writer Ian Rankin.

 

 Eilidh Achieves Outstanding School Drama Success

Eilidh Grubb

Eilidh Grubb from Juniper Green has been awarded The John Black Memorial Prize for Drama at her school - Currie High School.

This is a major school achievement and we wish her huge congratulations!

 

 Lewis MacDougall In Feature Films

Fantastic achievement for  Drama Studio student Lewis MacDougall who stars as Lost Boy Nibs in a Warner Brothers film called Pan. 

 

Lewis takes a lead role in A Monster Calls alongside Sigourney Weaver and Liam Neeson to be released in October 2016

CLICK HERE TO SEE HIM IN THE TRAILER

 

Lewis MacDougall small

 

 

Drama Studio's 12 year old Lois Ambrose is Finalist in Class Clowns, Gilded Balloon at The Fringe 2015!

Read here about Lois's experience.

https://gildedballoon.co.uk/class-clowns-contestant-blogs/        

 

New York Theatre Success For Former Drama Studio Students

Former Drama Studio students Cristian Ortega and Rebecca Benson (Smith) have just completed a very successful run of Let The Right

One In in New York.

Cris from Currie attended our classes in Juniper Green and then Viewforth from age 6-17 years before going on to the Royal

Conservatoire of Scotland where he graduated.

Rebecca came to our Colinton group and then to Viewforth and it was here that they first met.

Read about their New York Show here :

Edinburgh stage stars win glittering reviews in New York with performance as vampire lovers

Cris and Rebecca

Alex and Lawrie Tice- Young In Homecoming Scotland

Lawrie and Alex Crop

Congratulations to Drama Studio students Lawrie and Alexandra Tice- Young in the Visit Scotland and Homecoming Scotland 2014 Hogmanay Campaign.

Here they are in the Thursday 7th Nov Evening News.

  

 

CONGRATULATIONS TO DRAMA STUDIO STUDENTS TOM AND JON WHITE PERFORMING

FROM 29th OCT - 2nd NOV 2013 AT THE KING'S THEATRE IN TO SIR WITH LOVE.

 4 stars rating "Standing, whooping ovation. Barely a dry headlamp in the house" Daily Mail

 

 

Davidson's Mains Drama Students Performing At Alzheimer Scotland

Event On Saturday 28th September


"Just a wee message to say thank you for your help with yesterday's event. The drama show was very good, I've had a lot of

positive feed back from people.  The event was well supported and a good success.  The money has been counted we covered all event

expenses and also made £1,000 profit for Alzheimer Scotland, thank you again" Jennifer Grant, Organiser

Alt 2   Alt 3    Alt 4

Alt 5    Alt Sc 1

 

 

Some Of Our Davidson's Mains Drama Students Involved In Australian TV

                                                                            Film Wacky World Beaters

 

"It's the coolest thing I have EVER done!" Rosie (student)

D. Mains    D. Mains 2

 

Luke Gordon In Our Glass House, Edinburgh Fringe

Luke - Glass House

Congratulations !!! To Drama Studio student Luke Gordon who appeared in Our Glass House in the Fringe this year, given 4 stars from The Metro.

Read about it here

OUR GLASS HOUSE 1

                                                     OUR GLASS HOUSE 2                                                     

 

 Keith Ramsay In Billy Liar

CONGRATULATIONS TO EX-DRAMA STUDIO STUDENT KEITH RAMSAY IN HIS DEBUT  ROLE AS BILLY LIAR AT

 

Keith

THE UNION THEATRE

Keith attended drama classes with us from the age of 6 coming to our Colinton classes and then to our Theatre

Group at Viewforth. We remember his fantastic performances back then !

https://theatrethoughts.wordpress.com/tag/billy-liar/

BILLY LIAR -  INDEPENDENT Review - 5 stars

DAILY EXPRESS - Review

 


SHOW REVIEWS

Title of Show:

Love is in the Heir

Society:

The Drama Studio

Venue/City/Town:

Edinburgh

Date of visit:

16th March 2012

Type of Production:

Play

Reviewed by:

Dorothy Johnstone

Director:

Louise Arbuckle & Scott Cruickshank

Musical Director:

 

Choreographer:

 
   

It's always such fun visiting productions by the youngsters in the Drama Studio. In this instance, this talented group of teenagers had obviously spent a great deal of time and effort creating the storyline for this "romantic" piece set in medieval times. The end result was a very cleverly put together script which was fresh and humorous. The dialogue was delivered in true medieval style with costumes, music and well selected back projected images all adding to the style of the production. Improvisation requires a great deal of skill and these youngsters had no difficulty conveying the mood and action of the plot using very few props but rather effectively using mime.
The different characters were all very well portrayed. Good King Caractacus (Kerr Syme) amused us with his dry humour while Tom White was a nimble, acrobatic Cecil the Jester. Prince Leofrick , who was in search of a wife, was very ably played by Ihsan Kerr who not only acted well but sang and accompanied himself on his guitar to a love song which he wrote himself. The Commoners were a very good contrast to the aristocracy with their "country bumpkin" style accents while the princesses all looked good and convinced us of their individual characters.
All in all this was a most refreshing production full of fun and I suspect a few "ad libs" which all worked adding to the enjoyment of the evening. Good work!



 

Title of Show:

ALADDIN

Society:

Drama Studio

Venue/City/Town:

Edinburgh

Date of visit:

3rd December 2011

Type of Production:

Pantomime

Reviewed by:

Dorothy Johnstone

Director:

Louise Arbuckle & Lindsay Spear

Musical Director:

Choreographer:

 

 

It is so refreshing to watch a production which is non-scripted and allows its players to be creative and interpret a story in their own way. The youngsters from the Drama Studio did this most successfully. Sticking to the traditional story of Aladdin with all it's well known characters, they had developed their own script using dialogue which was meaningful to them enabling the performers to give a relaxed and natural interpretation of the plot and it's characters. Ellie Simpson as narrator projected well and kept the storyline moving along. Charlie West, a natural comedian was a most amusing Sultana while Olivia Marshall ( Abanazar) and Elle Smart ( Iago) were a good double act. Alexander Cowan was a charming Aladdin and Ciatlyn Mc Farlane's characterisation of Wishy Washy was very funny indeed. All of the cast members put heart and soul into their portrayal of the various characters and it was such a joy to see every youngster on stage obviously having such fun. The singers and dancers too were in fine form performing a variety of dance styles including jazz, belly dancing, cha cha and modern dance. They were especially dynamic in the routine " Don't Stop Believing " with it's amusing topical lyrics written by the youngsters and "Lean on Me" which made a rousing finale. I was impressed with the careful choice of music and the colourful back projected Arabian pictures which effectively changed the scenes throughout . It's amazing too how different setting can be created but simply moving a few chairs. With very few props, the clever use of mime and improvisation conveyed exactly what was happening. This hour  long production was such great fun to watch and was enjoyed by both cast and audience. Well done.


Case Histories BBC - 2011

Congratulations to Rory Barraclough who had just landed the part of the young character part played by Actor Jason Isaacs in this forthcoming BBC1 series.

Rory narrowly missed selection for Single Father which is currently screening and Emma Murray was also recalled for the main young female part. Never mind, you both did really well to get so far.

Edinburgh Fringe 2010

Drama Studio students Kirsten Hunter, Heather Philp and Anna Harris have starred in The Lady Garden this year. Well done girls!


Great News For Cris !

Ex - Drama Studio student Cris Ortega has been accepted to do a BA Hons in Acting at The Royal Scottish Academy. Cris was a Drama Studio student for 10 years.

Copy Cats - Congratulations !

 

Connor Quinn at his team are to take part in this games show for CBBC to be filmed during July 2010. They had great fun at the auditions so the real thing should be a fantastic experience for the adults and children. We will post programme details when they come in!

News has just reached us that Connor Quinn and his Team have won the Copycats gameshow. His mum Janis  has kindly sent us a review of the experience.

"Connor has been attending The Drama Studio for over 5 years now and has been to
many auditions/castings and was lucky enough to be accepted along with myself, 2 other adults and 2 friends to take part in the 'Copycats' TV show. The experience was absolutely fantastic for all concerned.
Without The Drama Studios input throughout the years from all the Staff this would never have been achievable.
So many thanks to Julie and all at The Drama Studio for what has been a wonderful and memorable experience." (Janis McCusker)
 

CBeebies

As part of the pre-school series Mighty Mites, Wish Films were at our Fairmilehead venue last week filming a Creative workshop led by teacher Louise Arbuckle for CBeebies. The programme encourages children to Get up !Get out ! and do it ! Children taking part were Jessica Miles, Calum Rennie, Lois Ambrose, Tait Sutherland, Lucas Grubb, Nathan O'Donnell,Libby Simpson,Isabella Della Sala,Tamzyn Craig, Luke Gordon and Miles Barraclough. Watch this space for programme details.

BBC Children's Game Show - Relic

Following a Casting workshop at The Drama Studio, students Anthony Buchanan, Rory Barraclough and Sophie Williams have attended the first shoot in London for the launch of this exciting new game show. Rory Barraclough said "It was really good . The sets were amazing and when the three of us did the first game and all of us got it right, they had to shoot it again ! The hotel wasn't exactly five star however."

 

Primary Park Film

Drama Studio student Luke Watson successfully gained a part in this film after the auditons on Friday. Well done Luke and thanks to all who went along !

 

Honk - Well done everyone !

We would like to say a big thank you and well done to everyone who took part in the Honk Casting. Congratulations to Susannah Law, Millie Polson, Charlie West, Megan Cash, Gregor Weir, Aidan Vernel, Susannah Smith, Anna Harris and Beth Anderson who were chosen for the show.

 

 

Fringe Show Experience For Two Drama Studio Students

Sophie Williams and Emma Murray were recently selected to take part in Tempo Musical Productions The Rink which was part of the Edinburgh Fringe.

Both girls had a terrific time on stage and off stage and we thank the company for their kindness to them making the experience truly unforgettable.

""Emma and Sophie were a much admired and talented addition to the cast of The Rink.  From their auditions to their final performances, they showed a dedication towards the rehearsals that would have put many a professional actor to shame.  It was a privelege to work with them and watch them develop.  Their confidence, characterisation, charm and witty delivery stole the show on a nightly basis and I believe that much of this ability is thanks to their training and the support from staff at The Drama Studio." Susie Dumbreck, Director
 

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See All Our Recent Casting Successes Here 

 

Drama Studio Teacher Louise In Children's Book Promotion

Louise Arbuckle, Associate teacher with The Drama Studio, featured as Fairy Godmother Whimbrel at an interactive storytelling promotion at The Book Festival.

 

'The Drama Studio really helped me out when I needed a fairy for the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Louise was brilliant she had the character of Fairy Godmother Whimbrel down to a tee and was fantastic at interacting with all the kids.' Sally Oliphant, Usborne Books.

 

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