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This year Tamara Lawrance is shortlisted for her performance as Viola in the National Theatre's Twelfth Night. She appeared alongside fellow graduates Phoebe Fox, Daniel Rigby and Tim McMullan in the riotous production, and won praise for her "compelling" and "passionate" performance. Since graduating from RADA, Tamara's stage credts have included Unreachable (Royal Court), Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (National Theatre) and playing Cordelia opposite Ian McKellen in the Chichester Festival Theatre's King Lear. Her film and TV appearances include Undercover, King Charles III, No Offence and the upcoming On Chesil Beach.

Also shortlisted is Ned Derrington, who earns a nomination for his performance as Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream directed by Emma Rice at the Globe Theatre, in their 'Summer of Love' season last year. His previous stage work includes playing one quarter of The Kinks in Sunny Afternoon (Hampstead Theatre and West End) and Filthy Business (Hampstead Theatre), while TV and film credits include Mr Turner and Fresh Meat.

RADA has a strong record at the Ian Charleson Award, with previous winners and runners-up including James McArdle, Cynthia Erivo, Jessie Buckley, Tom Burke, Andrea Riseborough, Sinead Matthews, Lisa Dillon, Joe Dixon and Mark Lockyer. Find out more about this year's nominees in the Sunday Times.

Photo: Marc Brenner

The students will give two performances of The Trojan Women at the SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER International Festival of Theatre Schools in Brno, Czech Republic which runs from 17-21 April. It is the first time RADA students will participate in the festival, which comprises 12 other pieces selected from conservatoires from across Europe and beyond. The festival not only gives students performance opportunities, but also exposes them to a range of different approaches to training for performance.

The piece will also be performed at the International Youth Festival of Ancient Drama in Messene, Greece. The students follow in the footsteps of previous MA Theatre Lab cohorts who have performed annually at the festival. Productions are staged in the traditional amphitheatre of Ancient Messene and focus on works of ancient Greek or Latin drama. You can read about the experiences of the 2016-17 MA Theatre Lab students on our blogs.

Visit the SETKÁNÍ/ENCOUNTER website and the Festival of Ancient Messene website for more information, and click here to read more about RADA's unique MA Theatre Lab training.

Tuesday 13 March, 2018

We were delighted to hear that five RADA graduates are among this year's Olivier Award nominations, which were announced this week.

2016 graduate Jamael Westman has been nominated for for Best Actor in a Musical for playing the title role in Hamilton, his West End debut. The hit musical - which won 11 Tony Awards in 2016 - was also nominated for Best New Musical as well as 11 other nominations, becoming the most nominated production in Oliviers history.

Ciarán Hinds is nominated for the same award for his role in Girl From the North Country. The show, which intertwines the songs of Bob Dylan with the story of a fractured community in 1930s Minnesota, opened at the Old Vic last year and is currently playing in the West End.

James McArdle has been nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Angels in America, in which he plays Louis. The two-part production played at the National Theatre in summer 2017, and has now transferred to Broadway where James is reprising his role at the Neil Simon Theatre.

Also nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role is Bertie Carvel, who is shortlisted for his portrayal of Rupert Murdoch in James Graham's Ink. The show tracks the early days of The Sun newspaper and received critical acclaim when it opened at the Almeida Theatre in 2017, before transferring to the West End. In 2012 Bertie won Best Actor in a Musical for originating the role of Miss Trunchbull in Matilda the Musical, and was previously nominated for the same award for Parade in 2008.

Finally, Imelda Staunton is nominated not once but twice, both for Best Actress in a Play for playing Martha in the West End revival of Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?; and for Best Actress in a Musical for Follies at the National Theatre, in which she played Sally Durant Plummer. The Sondheim revival is nominated for 10 awards in total, including Best Musical Revival and Best Director.

Congratulations to them all on their nominations; we wish them all the best for the awards ceremony on Sunday 8 April. Visit the Olivier Awards website for all the nominees.

Having been previously selected for festivals in Berlin, Nevada and Florida, Prodigal will be screened at this year's River Bend Film Festival in Indiana and SENE Film, Music & Arts Festival in Rhode Island. The film was written by Ursula Rani Sarma, whose RADA film Gloria was also shown at last year's River Bend Film Festival. It was directed by RADA's Head of Film, TV and Radio Edward Hicks.

Also showing at this year's River Bend is RADA film Bitter Lemon, written by Jess Moore and directed by Edward Hicks. The film has also been selected for the 10th Fastnet Film Festival, which takes place in the Irish village of Schull.

As always we are thrilled to see our films getting recognition around the world. Congratulations to all the writers, directors and students involved. Click here to see more of RADA's film work, including the trailers for this year's films, and keep an eye on our website for future short film screenings.

Daisy May Cooper has been nominated for Female Performance in a Comedy Programme for her role in mockumentary This Country, which Daisy co-created with her brother Charlie. The show has also been nominated for Scripted Comedy, and recently won three awards at the RTS Awards. Daisy is currently one of BAFTA's Breakthrough Brits, receiving a year-long mentoring and guidance programme.

Also nominated is graduate Sean Bean, who is shortlisted for Leading Actor for playing Father Michael Kerrigan in Jimmy McGovern's Broken. The drama was critically acclaimed when it was broadcast on BBC in summer 2017.

RADA graduates are also amongst the casts of BAFTA-nominated dramas including: Jason Watkins in Line of Duty, nominated for Drama Series and Must-See Moment; Daniel Mays in Against The Law, nominated for Single Drama; Maxine Peake for Three Girls, nominated for Mini-Series; Sophie Rundle in Peaky Blinders, nominated for Drama Series; Wunmi Mosaku in The End of the F***ing World, nominated for Drama Series; and O-T Fagbenle in The Handmaid's Tale, nominated for the International BAFTA.

Visit the BAFTA website for the full list of nominees; the winners will be announced at the Royal Festival Hall on Sunday 13 May.

This Country was written by Daisy May Cooper and her brother Charlie, and was inspired by their hometown in the Cotswolds. The show became a hit in 2017 and returned for a second series this year. Daisy and Charlie were also named BAFTA Breakthrough Brits in 2017, receiving a year-long mentoring and guidance programme.

At the RTS Awards, This Country won Best Scripted Comedy, and Daisy and Charlie were jointly awarded Best Comedy Performance and Best Writer (Comedy), as well as being nominated for the Breakthrough Award.

Other nominees at the RTS Awards included RADA alumna Wunmi Mosaku, who was nominated for Best Actor (Female) for her performance as in Gloria Taylor in Damilola, Our Loved Boy, a role that won her a BATFA TV Award in 2017; and Sean Bean, who was nominated for Best Actor (Male) for his role in Broken.

Winners also included Three Girls, which won Best Mini-Series and starred RADA alumna Maxine Peake as Sara Rowbotham; and The End of the F***ing World which won Best Drama Series and featured a cast including Wunmi Mosaku as DC Teri Darego. For the full list of winners, visit the RTS website.

Lucy Doyle and Saffron Coomber, who are both current third year students on the BA (Hons) Acting, were named as two of the five winners, gaining five-month contracts with the BBC Radio Drama Company starting in July. The team was completed by Hal Geller (who received a special mention) and Kwaku Mills, with all four students receiving individual commendations in different elements of the competition.

Carleton Hobbs was an actor who trained at RADA and is best known for his work on more than 4000 radio productions, including 80 portrayals of Sherlock Holmes in radio adaptations of the books between 1952 and 1969.

The competition has been running since 1953 and was renamed in honour of Carleton Hobbs in 1978. RADA has a very successful record in the competition, with recent winners including Natasha Cowley, Caolan McCarthy, Harry Jardine and Gunnar Cauthery.

Joe Idris-Roberts, who graduated from RADA's BA (Hons) Acting in 2015, will play Albus Potter from 20 May. He will take over from fellow RADA graduate Theo Ancient, who was cast in the show while still in his final year of training in 2017. He is currently performing alongside RADA graduate Emma Lowndes, who plays his mother Ginny.

Since training at RADA, Joe's credits have included Forty Years On at the Chichester Festival Theatre and Eyes Closed Ears Covered at the Bunker Theatre. He is currently playing the title role in the National Theatre's Pinocchio, about which The Stage wrote: "Idris-Roberts is a delight. He’s an engagingly impish presence and there’s real precision in his performance, whether interacting with puppets, both large and small, or clambering over and around Bob Crowley’s set".

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child opened at the Palace Theatre in summer 2016 to five star reviews and subsequently won nine Olivier Awards - including Best Actor for RADA graduate Jamie Parker, who originated the role of Harry.

Visit the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child website for more details about the new cast.

Reny moved into costume-making and began her studies at RADA following a 30-year career in finance, working as a trader in Frankfurt and then London. She has now transformed her passion into a future career and is currently in her second year on the specialist postgraduate course, which gives students all the skills and knowledge needed to pursue a successful career in costume making and wardrobe supervision.

The series of interviews in the Financial Times tracks five different people who are making a mid-life career switch, and also includes people pursuing new careers in coding, law, marketing consultancy and setting up their own business. You can follow all their stories, including Reny's on the Financial Times and on their website.

You can also hear from Reny, alongside RADA's Head of Costume Diane Favell, about her experiences of the career change, what the course is like, and prospects for mature students in a Financial Times podcast here.

Applications are open for the Postgraduate Diploma in Theatre Costume until 23 March. For more information, visit the course pages here.

Photo: Charlie Bibby/FT

Actor and writer Asif Khan is among the list of five winners, recognised for his debut play Combustion. Premiering at Tara Arts in May 2017, the show then toured the UK including two sold-out performances as part of the RADA Festival. The show was directed by RADA's Associate Director Nona Shepphard and co-produced by Tara Arts.

Combustion is a comic drama set in Bradford in the month of Ramadan, and explores the volatile relationships between Shaz, who is attempting to run a successful business and marry well; his sister Samina, who is determined to make her voice heard; and a racist organisation who are planning to march through the streets in protest at a recent grooming scandal. The show won Best Stage Production at the 2017 Asian Media Awards and was nominated for two OffWestEnd Awards (Best New Play and Best Male Performance) and one Theatre & Technology Award (Best Poster Design). Asif was also nominated for Best Writer at The Stage Debut Awards 2017.

Winners of the Channel 4 Playwrights' Scheme were selected by Richard Eyre. They are each awarded £1000 and a one-year attachment with the theatres where they wrote their plays. They are also eligible to submit their plays for next year’s Sonia Friedman’s Production Award.

Click here to read more about the Channel 4 Playwrights' Scheme, and visit Asif Khan's website to find out more about Combustion.

Asif Khan trained on RADA's BA (Hons) in Acting. Find out more about the course here.