Rugby’s Whole Person, Whole Point philosophy runs through all of our work in the Performing Arts, and our aim is for every student to be more creative, more confident and more cultured when they leave the school than when they arrived.
Like many other schools, we offer a wide range of performance opportunities throughout the year – from popular, large-scale Musical Theatre productions to new writing and experimental theatre and dance. We also perform outside Rugby, at Pleasance Theatre as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, at RADA as part of the Bloomsbury Festival and recently at Derby and Doncaster Theatres as part of the National Theatre Connections festival. Our own summer Festival on The Close is run on a professional scale and welcomes thousands of visitors to the school each year to make and see live theatre, dance and more.
The department is based in the school’s historic Macready Theatre which is a fully-equipped 250-seat professional venue serving both Rugby School and for the wider community.
We also work closely with local state schools and share work and opportunities to make and see live theatre with groups from around the region. Here in the Macready Theatre, students can develop skills not only on stage, but also as part of our technical theatre crews, front of house or in other creative roles.
We also run a busy LAMDA and Dance programme and students are taught by industry professionals. Our ensemble in residence, internationally-renowned dance company Motionhouse, work with our students to create new work each term and the company perform regularly on the Macready stage and at our festival.
Our scholarship programme offers a bespoke package which combines an outstanding academic education with a wide range of performance and training opportunities, workshops, masterclasses and more. We have built excellent relationships with some of the country’s leading agents, directors and Drama Schools and a number of our scholars are working professionally in stage, TV and film roles. We also train students as workshop leaders, delivering drama workshops to local primary and secondary school groups as part of the school’s 360 programme. To find out more about our scholarship opportunities, please contact our Artistic Director, Dr Tim Coker tdc@rugbyschool.net.
Recent Workshops and Masterclasses Include:
Christopher Haydon
Joanna Riding
Toby Jones
Josh Dylan
Waring & McKenna Talent Agents
Gecko Theatre Company
Wildcard Theatre Company
Birmingham Royal Ballet
The Wardrobe Ensemble
STOMP
Cambridge Footlights