Sophie Farrah cues in the centenary celebrations for a great local institution...
Right in the heart of Chiswick, birthday bells are ringing out for Arts Educational Schools London. With former pupils ranging from Dame Julie Andrews to new ‘007’ Lashana Lynch, ‘ArtsEd’ has been producing some of the most familiar faces of stage and screen for an impressive 100 years. And this centenary is not the only landmark being celebrated this year: 2019 also marks Principal Chris Hocking’s 20th year at the school.
“I originally trained as a performer and actually auditioned to get into ArtsEd. I got a place, but couldn’t go, as I didn’t receive a grant and my parents couldn’t afford it at the time. But here I am now!” he laughs.
ArtsEd was originally two schools: one founded in 1919 by Grace Cone and another in 1922 by Olive Ripman. Both pioneering women believed passionately in combining general academic education with specialised training in dance, drama, music, and art.
“They insisted that the performing arts needed to be part of education, and that still holds true today,” explains Chris.
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In 1939, Grace and Olive joined forces to create the Cone Ripman School, subsequently renamed Arts Educational Schools. Success was immediate. Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin drew extensively on ArtsEd students to create the London Festival Ballet, which became the English National Ballet in 1989. During her tenure as Director of the Schools, ballerina Dame Beryl Grey launched professional acting and musical theatre courses. And then, in 1986, the school moved to its present Bath Road home in the old Chiswick Polytechnic building: Cone Ripman House.
Today, ArtsEd Day School and Sixth Form provide 250 pupils, aged 11 to 18, with vocational training alongside academic education, whilst the School of Musical Theatre and the School of Acting offer full-time BA and MA courses to 270 students from across the UK.
“We’re very much part of the community in Chiswick,” enthuses Chris. “We feel a social responsibility to our neighbours, and our students are part of the community too. They work in local shops, restaurants and estate agents, so they really know the residents.
“As a result, lots of locals come to see them in the shows here. Around 40% of our audience is from the local community. When I ask why they’ve come, they always say that it’s an amazing standard of a show for £18, they’re home in five minutes and they’ve seen the stars of tomorrow.”
Not that stars are anything new at ArtsEd. Martin Clunes, Bonnie Langford, Arlene Phillips, Janie Dee, Danny Mac, Tuppence Middleton, Nigel Harman, Laura Haddock, Finn Jones: all have crossed its celebrated threshold. Dame Angela Lansbury – she of Murder, She Wrote – attended ArtsEd in 1939 and sent a handwritten note which read: ‘Everything I learned in those early years paid off and prepared me for life in the dramatic arts.’
“We feel very proud, but for every graduate that has become famous there is a huge number of people who are equally as talented, but who maybe weren’t in the right place at the right time,” reflects Chris. “We always say in this business that you need three things: looks, luck and talent – and all at the same time!”
ArtsEd’s president is Andrew Lloyd Webber, who helped to fund a major new state-of-the-art facility, the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation Theatre.
“The students call it ‘The Andy’, which he thinks is hilarious,” laughs Chris.
For the centenary, ArtsEd is releasing celebratory content across its social media channels, including eight short films dubbed ‘100 years in 100 seconds’ featuring some of its famous faces. Watch out too for behind-the-scenes footage of alumni in shows, such as Thomas Dennis in War Horse at the National, Lashana Lynch in Ear for Eye at the Royal Court and Miriam-Teak Lee in Hamilton at the Victoria Palace.
“They’ve all kindly given their time to say lovely things about us,” smiles Chris.
Spreading its wings, the school has recently launched ‘ArtsEd International’, which will see its staff work with partner schools throughout the United Arab Emirates from a base in Dubai. Meanwhile, its Chiswick home continues to evolve, with plans afoot to fund a new studio-style performance space.
“We’ve been planning this for three years now and we’re in close contact with the [local] Bedford Park Society to discuss the way forward. We may be celebrating our centenary, but we need to look out for the next 100 years too.”
