Birmingham School of Acting (formerly known as Birmingham School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art (B.S.S.T.D.A), and then as Birmingham School of Speech and Drama (B.S.S.D) ) is a drama school located in Birmingham, England.
It was founded in 1936 by Pamela Chapman and became a faculty of Birmingham City University in 2005. In September 2006, it moved from Paradise Place to a purpose-built state-of-the-art facility at Millennium Point in the city's Eastside area. In 2008, it became a school of the university's Faculty of Performance, Media and English (PME) alongside the world-famous Birmingham Conservatoire.
Two higher education courses exist with a range of part-time, summer school and short courses for adults and children. The three-year BA (Hons) Acting course and the one-year Diploma course are accredited by the National Council for Drama Training, and the school itself is a member of the Council of Drama Schools.
Alumni of the school include Nicol Williamson, Tom Lister, Catherine Tyldesley, Rachel Bright, Barbara Keogh, Luke Mably, James Bradshaw, Stephen Laughton, Anna Brewster, Jimi Mistry and Nicholas Gledhill
Famous quotes containing the words school and/or acting:
“Bodily offspring I do not leave, but mental offspring I do. Well, my books do not have to be sent to school and college, and then insist on going into the church, or take to drinking, or marry their mother’s maid.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)
“We are always acting on what has just finished happening. It happened at least 1/30th of a second ago. We think we’re in the present, but we aren’t. The present we know is only a movie of the past.”
—Tom Wolfe (b. 1931)