Top uni places for backstage students

Morgan Hardman, Benjamin Morgan and Jasper Anderson

Three creative students have secured places at some of the country’s leading drama schools.

Benjamin Morgan, Jasper Anderson and Morgan Hardman completed the Level 3 Production Arts (Live Events) course at Gateshead College and will start university this September.

Benjamin has a place at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, Jasper is going to Mountview Drama School and Morgan will study at Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA).

Morgan is going to be studying Theatre and Performance Technology at university.

She said: “When I finished my GCSEs I knew I wanted to work in theatre and Gateshead College was one of the only places locally offering a course where I could train towards a career in theatre production.

“The production arts course was really good. It has prepared me for uni and confirmed that theatre production is definitely the right career choice for me; I’d like to work in stage management. I absolutely loved my time at college working on live shows; they were hectic but it was such a rewarding experience.”

Benjamin added: “By far the best part of my course was having the opportunity to gain work experience at Northern Stage where we got the opportunity to work on a show with professionals in their environment.

“At university I am studying Stage Management and Technical Theatre and I hope this will further improve my skills and knowledge so I am ready to move into work.”

Jasper is moving on to study Production Lighting. He said “I've enjoyed my time at Gateshead college, all the staff are exceptionally friendly and ensure you are working to the level you are comfortable at, for me I constantly look for new ways to challenge myself and gain better understanding into my field of training.

“At college I have had experience in all aspects of theatrical production in various small projects, and this has helped me discover my passion for production lighting. My favorite part of any production is the set up and the prep, nothing is quite like seeing your design and work pull together.

“It’s a competitive industry and I have had to work hard outside of college to build a network of contacts and gain additional experience to get me to where I want to be."

Paul Phillips, curriculum lead for the Production Arts course, said: “The whole team are very proud of all three students. They’ve worked very hard and have secured places at some of the most prestigious theatre schools in the country. Huge well done to all of them!”