Cheshire College South and West Drama and Acting

Check the events tab for upcoming public performances. Call the box office on 01244 656308 for additional information or to book/pay for tickets.

About us:

West Cheshire College is a further education college specialising in vocational education and training. The College encourages everyone to apply and will accommodate everybody.

The Theatre & Performance Department firmly believes students learn by doing and for this reason it stages several major performances each year. Recent work has included The Leaving of Liverpool (devised), Pravda, Confusions, Jack and the Beanstalk, School's Out (devised), The Crucible, Antigone, E unus pluribum (devised), Snow White, Oh What a Lovely War, Doctor Faustus, Metamorphosis, Because I Said So (devised), Blood Wedding, The Laramie Project, The Caucasian Chalk Circle and Road.
Projects for 2012/2013 include Dick Whittington (Pantomime), Equus and Vinegar Tom.
Students are encouraged to explore their own design and directorial skills by working in small companies to stage plays. Recently such work has included Two, American Psycho and Accidental Death of an Anarchist. Each year students create work which is toured to local community venues such as schools and retirement homes. Projects ensure that students leave having had a broad range of experiences. Recently, students have performed at The John Prescot Theatre, The Whitby Hall Studio, The Civic Hall Theatre, The Forum Studio Theatre (old Gateway) Chester and Pacific Road Arts Centre.

Course tutors are keen that students have as much contact with industry professionals as possible and believe that one of the secrets to becoming a good practitioner/performer is to watch professional theatre. Each year students visit the theatre a great deal. There is an annual Theatre Weekend Residential, London and Stratford-upon-Avon being the places visited most. In 2009, students visited Stratford, birthplace of Shakespeare, where they watched Anthony Sher in The Tempest. In 2010 and 2011, they visited London where they watched two plays in the West End.
In 2012 they visited New York and as well as catching some shows on Broadway they also attended a workshop at the New York Conservatiore for Drama.They also watched shows in Manchester and Liverpool and participated in backstage tours and workshops at The Royal Exchange Theatre and Theatre Clwyd, as well as a stage combat workshop facilitated by Swordplay, amongst others. Every year students take a Solo Acting exam with the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA). Students regularly work on film and TV projects with local organisations (such as Connexions) and undergraduate film makers. They have also benefitted from a good relationship with Action Transport Theatre Company, with whom they have toured. All courses are heavily practical, but this does not mean an abandonment of the theoretical. A good practitioner/performer needs to be able to understand how to analyse theatre and performance.

On average 80% of Extended Diploma students will progress to university or drama school. Students go on to The Arden School of Theatre, LIPA, Central School of Speech and Drama, The Welsh College of Music and Drama, East 15, Manchester Metropolitan University, John Moores University, Hope University, Edge Hill University, The University of Leeds, Salford University, Aberystwyth University and universities in London, including the University of London. The course produces results which are well above the national average.

Full-time course tutors are Paul Moss B.A. (Hons), PGCE and Alex Durrant B.A. (Hons). Also teaching on the course is Steve Lawson who is an established scriptwriter and has won a BAFTA for the writing of BBC show Cops. They are all very disciplined and passionate about what they do - as such they expect students to have the same work ethic. In return they guarantee you the time, space and tuition you need to be successful on the course.