Over the last few weeks I have reviewed the course subjects and content to see how relevant Hagley Theatre Company (HTC) is in today’s actor training market.

Whilst we continue to achieve excellent industry pathways, I feel we can achieve more by offering a more relevant course reflecting where students find work opportunities in today's world – film and television.

The course I have created over the last 29 years has evolved and changed to meet the needs of the stage actor. While this is still crucial training for an actor, the acting for film and TV should now be a strong focus to meets today’s ‘real-work’ requirements.

I have had in-depth discussions with Richard Bell regarding the future of Film and Television Studies and practical ways we can facilitate ‘acting for camera’ within HTC for the future. Reviewing where students are working once leaving us and their professional training, it is clear the area where they are thriving is in the film/advert/TV market.

It is clear while the course meets the need of the stage actor, it is not fully meeting the needs of ‘acting for camera’. I want to propose a change of focus somewhat for the future HTC course content in 2021 and beyond.

I want to see the balance of the course moving towards equal study time for both stage and screen acting. In playwriting for example, we will revamp the course to call it ‘script writing’. This will allow for both stage and screen writing. Stage direction will move from sole directing for the stage to include directing for screen. Acting classes will include acting for stage and for camera.

Current subjects we study this year will continue through until the end of 2020. However, in 2021 we will be re-focusing the course to have subjects meet the needs of students in a new course that we will be offering.