Royal Academy of Dramatic Art

The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art stands in Bloomsbury, a quiet corner of central London near the Senate House of the University of London. The main building on Gower Street, with a second entrance on Malet Street, houses classrooms and rehearsal spaces. A short walk away in Chenies Street is RADA Studios, once a drill hall where Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes rehearsed in 1911. Goodge Street and Euston Square underground stations are both within a few minutes’ walk. The Gower and Malet Street building was redesigned in the late 1990s by Bryan Avery to link both street entrances. The school was founded in 1904 by Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and granted a royal charter in 1920. George Bernard Shaw donated royalties and early council members included Shaw himself and Sir Squire Bancroft. Sir John Gielgud studied here in 1923 and later became president. The Jerwood Vanbrugh Theatre seats 194 and the Gielgud Theatre is an intimate studio for up to 50. King Charles III is the royal patron and David Harewood serves as president, with Cynthia Erivo as vice president. Visitors find five theatres and a cinema across the campus. The Jerwood Vanbrugh Theatre is the largest space, while the black-box Shaw Theatre hosts experimental work. RADA Studios in Chenies Street contains the Studio Theatre and the smaller Club Theatre. The library holds around 30,000 items, including 10,000 plays and theatre periodicals. Acting studios, costume workshops and design rooms support daily training, and the foyer bar provides a place to gather between classes.