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New Drama Director has Designs on the Future
The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama has just announced that its new Director of Drama will be the current Head of Design, Sean Crowley.
Sean has been Head of Design at the Royal College since 1999 and is now Wales' most prolific theatre designer having designed over 100 productions across Wales, the UK and Europe. Currently Chair of the Association of Theatre Design Courses in the UK and a member of the Linbury Prize Committee, Sean is also the UK commissioner and Vice Chair for the Education Committee of the Organisation of International Scenographers, Theatre Architects and Technicians (OISTAT). In June 2007 he was Project Leader for the Prague Quadrennial Scenofest - an international festival of design and performance, attracting over 28,000 visitors and with over 5000 active participants. Sean was made a Fellow of the College in July 2007.
"Sean has served the College supremely well throughout his time here, and I look forward to working alongside him in this new role as he builds on the College's strong reputation and track record in this field," says Principal Hilary Boulding.
Sean says of his new position: ‘I am delighted to be appointed to the position of director of Drama at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, especially at this exciting time as we move forward with our building development and ambitious plans for the future. The potential the College has to offer Cardiff and Wales as a vibrant arts and education centre will grow significantly over the coming five years. We are working to provide not only vocational training of the highest quality but to contribute significantly to the life of the city by providing a rich programme of performance, summer schools and short courses for everyone. He continues, ‘In partnership with the Atrium and leading Welsh arts originations we are beginning to plan major international exhibitions and performance events to create a programme of annual events that will enhance both the College and the city's profile, nationally and internationally when our new buildings open in 2011."
The College has been celebrating great success in design and drama: Recent graduate Kimberley Nixon (Acting 2007), star of Cranford, Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, and Wild Child is to star in another feature film Cherry Bomb, out in 2009. Ruth Jones (Acting 1989) has been collecting an array of awards since co-writing and starring in the smash-hit BBC3 romantic comedy Gavin and Stacey, which also features Royal Welsh College fellow, Rob Brydon. Graduating actor Craig Ritchie is playing alongside graduate Ryan O'Donnell (Acting, 2006) in the RSC's Romeo and Juliet featuring Laura Rees (2001) as Juliet.
The College is renowned for its outstanding success in theatre design with a large number of graduates working in significant roles on Dr Who and Torchwood. Design students have consistently been Linbury Award winners for Stage Design since 2001 and last year Tom Scutt and Rhys Jarman were among the four winners.
Graduating student Josie Thomas, having achieved a distinction for her post-graduate theatre design degree, has just won the costume society's annual Janet Arnold ‘The Patterns of Fashion Award,' a rigorous competition, demanding that each student demonstrates excellent levels of workmanship.
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