Royal Academy of Dramatic Art - History - 1904 To 1950

1904 To 1950

In 1904 Herbert Beerbohm Tree established an Academy of Dramatic Art at His Majesty's Theatre in the Haymarket (London). In 1905 the Academy moved to 62 Gower Street. Fees of six guineas a term were doubled in 1906, except for the children of actors, who paid only half. A managing council was established on which Tree was joined, among others, by Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson, Sir Arthur Wing Pinero and Sir James Barrie. Within a few years they were augmented by others, including W. S. Gilbert, Irene Vanbrugh and George Bernard Shaw. In 1909 Kenneth Barnes, brother of the Vanbrugh sisters, was appointed principal. In 1912 George Bernard Shaw donated the royalties from Pygmalion to RADA; the Academy ultimately benefitted substantially from the success of My Fair Lady. Pre-First World War graduates of the Academy included Athene Seyler, who became president in 1950, Robert Atkins and Cedric Hardwicke. During this period Beerbohm Tree took some forty academy graduates into his company at His Majesty's.

In 1920 the Academy was granted its Royal Charter. In 1921 a new theatre for the academy was built in Malet Street, adjacent to the Gower Street premises. In 1923 John Gielgud, who would later become President and first Honorary Fellow of RADA, studied at the Academy for a year. In 1924 the Academy received its first government subsidy in the form of a Treasury grant of £500. In 1927 the two Georgian houses which comprised the Gower Street site were replaced with a single new building, with George Bernard Shaw donating £5,000 towards the cost. In 1931 the Duchess of York opened the new building. In 1941 Richard Attenborough joined the Academy as a Leverhulme scholar. At the height of World War II, the Academy's theatre was demolished by bombs during an air-raid and public performances moved to the City Literary Institute. Academy students toured shows to the troops. The sculptor Alan Durst was responsible for the sculptural work over the Malet Street entrance.