THE Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) will return to Bristol this year to hold auditions for its BA (Hons) in Acting and interviews for its FdA in Technical Theatre and Stage Management courses.

The world-leading drama school regularly auditions and interviews across the UK to find the most talented young performers, technicians and designers from all backgrounds.

First round auditions for RADA’s BA (Hons) Acting course will take place on February 10-11 at Bristol Old Vic, where applicants will perform two speeches – one classical (by Shakespeare or another Elizabethan/Jacobean playwright) and one modern (written after 1960). Interviews for the Technical Theatre and Stage Management will be held at the theatre on March 13.

To further support budding performers from low economic backgrounds, RADA offers the opportunity to audition for free. If you are new to higher education, applying to an undergraduate course and have a household income of less than £25,000, you will be eligible for a free audition.

The Technical Theatre and Stage Management course is free to apply.

Applicants who pass the initial audition will be invited to participate in further workshop rounds at RADA, giving students an opportunity to meet more of the staff and students and visit the Academy.

Travel bursaries are available for these rounds for eligible applicants, to assist with the cost of travelling to and from London.

With just 28 places available on the BA (Hons) Acting each year, and 30 on the Technical Theatre and Stage Management, RADA is committed to finding the very best talent from across the UK and internationally, regardless of social or financial background. This year, Bristol joins Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester, Plymouth, Newcastle, Sheffield, Dublin, Los Angeles and New York as a RADA audition venue, enabling potential students from these regions to participate in auditions without high travel and accommodation costs in London.

Edward Kemp, Director of RADA and member of the audition panel, said: “We receive thousands of applications for our courses each year, but we are always striving to make sure that these come from students from across the country, from all kinds of backgrounds.

"That’s why we are committed to travelling beyond our local area, to places where we know there is exciting young talent, who may not know about RADA or be able to travel to us to audition.

"Applications to all London drama schools remain weighted towards students from London and the south-east, and we are keenly aware of the time and financial pressures of travelling to open days and auditions, especially if you’re applying to several schools.

"Our regional auditions, free audition scheme and travel bursaries are all created to help remove some of these barriers to higher education drama training.”

Anyone interested should first submit an application form, which can be downloaded from RADA’s website, indicating which city they would like to audition in.To find out more about RADA’s training, including how to apply and the audition/interview process, please visit www.rada.ac.uk.