Greenwich student wins place in RADA’s Youth Acting Company

A superstar performing arts student from London South East Colleges Greenwich has won a place in RADA’s renowned Youth Acting Company.

Alexander Marsh (17) from Romford, Essex will take part in extra acting lessons and rehearsals every Saturday from now until August 2020. He will then perform in the Company’s centrepiece production with sixteen other blossoming actors.

Alex was recommended to the Company by his tutor earlier this term after proving his acting abilities during a year-long back-catalogue of productions in London South East Colleges’ Greenwich Little Theatre. These include playing the role of Danny Zuko in Grease, as well as a range of other leading characters in Beautiful Burnout, Misfits, The Filthy Rakes of Woolwich, New Labour and Earthquakes in London.

He was then invited to audition along with hundreds of other hopefuls at RADA’s famous theatre school in Gower Street, central London.

Alex says:

“I was asked to perform two pieces using several different acting styles. Although the whole experience was quite relaxed, I was having to think on my feet for the whole day but it was great fun.

“Later that week, I got the call to say I’d been successful. I was told that they were greatly impressed with me and that I had talent, personality and lots of potential.

“For me, this is just the beginning and my chances of progressing onto RADA’s BA (Hons) degree course in acting next September have taken a huge leap in the right direction. I’m going to put in the extra hours and work incredibly hard to get there and I know that will require a lot of determination.

“So far, we have all had to do a big theatrical introduction of ourselves to the rest of the team and next week we’ll start our training in stage combat (fight scenes), physical theatre and learning regional and national accents.”

Every day Alex makes a two-hour round trip to London South East Colleges’ Greenwich Campus from his home in Essex. He decided to do this after coming to one of the College’s open events and being very impressed with the tutors, the facilities and the links with London’s major universities and employer partners.

Alex continues: “Studying here is brilliant. The tutors really know the industry inside-out and give us the skills, the knowledge and so many tricks of the trade, as well as providing us with insight and confidence to progress into our careers. I have also taken so much inspiration from the other students too. We are like a family and work together to make every production a massive success. It’s like we automatically gel and bring out the best in each other.

“My big ambition is to become a professional actor and one day I would love to play Dr Who and become the world famous timelord. Yes, I have very ‘high hopes’ indeed and believe in setting myself very ambitious targets. As a sci-fi and Marvel Comics fanatic, I’d love to become a superhero but would also like to try lots of different genres from gritty TV dramas, comedy, and play both heroes as well as villains.”

If you are interested in a career in theatre, TV or film, London South East Colleges has a great range of courses to get you started. Visit www.LSEC.ac.uk to find out more.