BBC Carleton Hobbs Bursary Awards success for LAMDA students

LAMDA celebrates unprecedented success at this year’s BBC Carleton Hobbs Bursary Awards, with all four students who entered recognised by the judging panel.

Scarlett Courtney won a highly coveted BBC Carleton Hobbs Bursary as well as three commendations. Scarlett will join the BBC’s Radio Drama Company on a 5-month contract, providing the opportunity to extend her actor training in a unique environment, working with some of the country’s best actors and writers.

Ell Potter will record a play with the BBC later this year, having been named as a runner-up as well as receiving a commendation. Further commendations were also awarded to Joe Rooney and Benjamin Bridson.

Named after one of radio’s most distinguished actors, the Carleton Hobbs initiative has been run by BBC Radio Drama every year since 1953 and has established a strong reputation for finding and encouraging those starting out on their professional acting careers. The Carleton Hobbs Bursary is aimed at students graduating from courses run by accredited drama schools across the country, with over 70 students from 19 schools across the country taking part.

A J Quinn, Head of Screen and Audio Performance said: “This is a brilliant result for LAMDA and is testament to the hard work and talent of our students and tutors. It’s also a validation of our increased investment in the Audio facilities in our new building. Our work with Audible has been invaluable to our students and has really helped showcase the range of work available within the audio entertainment industry. Congratulations to Scarlett, Ell, Joe and Ben and a huge thank you to Screen and Audio tutor Tamsin Collinson for all her work with the students across the Academy.”

This success comes as we approach the first anniversary of our partnership with leading audio entertainment producer Audible. Students have had the opportunity to visit Audible UK’s state-of-the-art studios, taking part in specialist tutorials designed to enhance their audio skills as well as working with professional writers and directors to develop new audio dramas. It was recently announced that Ell Potter will narrate Audible’s Thriller of the Year, Winter Dark by Alex Callister, which was released on 21 March. LAMDA alumni who have also narrated classic and original stories including Nikki Amuka-Bird, Richard Armitage, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeremy Irvine, Rory Kinnear, Rose Leslie, Paterson Joseph, Katherine Parkinson, Topy Stephens, David Suchet and Harriet Walter.