Drama Centre London

Drama Centre London was a drama school in King’s Cross, London. It moved there in 2011 after becoming part of Central Saint Martins, a college within the University of the Arts London. Before that it had been based in Clerkenwell and, earlier, in Chalk Farm. The school was founded in 1963 by teachers and students who left the Central School of Speech and Drama. John Blatchley, Yat Malmgren and Christopher Fettes led the breakaway group. It offered degrees in acting, directing and screenwriting until it closed in 2022. The Centre brought major developments from American and European theatre to British training. Its work combined Stanislavski’s system with movement work by Rudolf Laban and Carl Jung’s character typology. It also drew on the English tradition, especially Joan Littlewood and Theatre Workshop. The school placed great emphasis on the Western theatrical tradition that began with the Greeks. At its start it was England’s only drama school with an acting class and was considered the first Method drama school in Britain. Its rigour earned it the nickname ‘Trauma Centre’. The Platform Theatre stands in the same complex at King’s Cross. It holds 360 people in different arrangements and has an orchestra pit and a full flying tower. Productions by Drama Centre students were shown there, along with work by students from other colleges in the University of the Arts London. The theatre aims to present all aspects of the performing arts to high professional standards.