This initiative is not open to funding enquiries or applications.

Launched in 2014 with a £1.25 million allocation, Dramatic Arts had two strands: bursaries for talented students from low-income backgrounds and an annual £150,000 Clothworkers’ Regional Theatre Award.

In 2019, we commissioned Sam Culture to undertake an independent evaluation of Dramatic Arts. Based on the evaluation’s conclusions and recommendations, we extended Dramatic Arts with a new £1 million allocation from 2020.

The Clothworkers’ Regional Theatre Award will not feature in phase two of this proactive initiative, but the bursary element will continue. Having awarded grants to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), the National Youth Theatre (NYT) and the Society of London Theatre in the first phase, we extended our support to these organisations with phase two grants in 2020.

The £1 million budget for the second phase of our Dramatic Arts proactive initiative was committed in full during 2020.

Grants for Dramatic Arts II

• London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art: £225,000 over five years to award annual bursaries of £15,000 to students from low-income backgrounds for the entirety of their two-year undergraduate technical or three-year acting course.

• National Youth Theatre: £490,000 including £400,000 to plan, implement and evaluate a revised model for young people’s participation; £60,000 for bursaries over five years; and £30,000 towards ‘NYT on Tour’. Read more ...

• Royal Academy of Dramatic Art: £225,000 over five years to award annual bursaries of £15,000 to students from low-income backgrounds for the entirety of their two-year undergraduate technical or three-year acting course.

•  Society of London Theatre: £50,000 to fund the annual £10,000 Laurence Olivier Clothworkers’ Bursaries over five years, awarded to talented final-year acting students from low-income and/or disadvantaged backgrounds.