Tring Park School for the Performing Arts to stage hugely ambitious Contemporary Theatre Festival

Students at the UK's most prestigious performing arts school, once attended by actors Lily James (Disney's Cinderella, Downton Abbey, War and Peace) and Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi), will put on an ambitious six plays in 10 days in February and March this year - in a bid to explore contemporary theatre.


Sixth-form pupils on the acting course at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts will be performing all of the plays at the school's on-site Markova Theatre as part of the Six on Six Contemporary Theatre Festival from 27 February - 8 March.


Tring Park is thought to be the only drama school to put on such a festival that challenges its students with highly regarded plays by legendary playwrights.


The plays include: Cressida by Nicholas Wright; Plague by Albert Camus; Blue Remembered Hills by Dennis Potter; Amy's View by David Hare; Way Upstream by Alan Ayckbourn; and Two by Jim Cartwright.


Director of drama Ed Applewhite: "The Six on Six Festival is a hugely ambitious undertaking by our students, and the plays we have chosen really push them to explore the depths of their acting skills.


"It's a great opportunity for them to try different genres of plays in a short space of time, and we are proud to say that Tring Park is one of the only performing arts schools in the country to take on such a challenging project.


"It is the 8th year that we have undertaken the Contemporary Theatre Festival, and our students have learnt a lot from the experience, and the plays have proved to very popular with our audiences."


Meanwhile, Tring Park School is poised to embark on the first phase of its major multi-million-pound development programme.


The first phase will be a new building consisting of three floors and a lower ground floor, which will contain a state-of-the-art boarding house for 70 pupils, six academic and vocational teaching spaces, a theatre workshop and other pupil facilities. This exciting new building is due to open in September 2019.


Tickets for all shows cost £10. Book for more than one play to qualify for discounts.

Bookings for 2 plays: 10% discount

Booking for 3 plays: 15% discount

Booking for more than 3 plays: 20% discount


Performance programme

Tuesday 27 February, 7.30pm - Cressida by Nicholas Wright directed by David Newell

Wednesday 28 February, 7.30pm - Plague by Albert Camus adapted by Neil Bartlett directed by Dominic Yeates

Monday 5 March, 7.30pm - Blue Remembered Hills by Dennis Potter directed by Antony Bessick

Tuesday 6 March, 7.30pm - Amy's View by David Hare directed by Jane Verrall

Wednesday 7 March, 7.30pm - Way Upstream by Alan Ayckbourn directed by Edward Applewhite

To book, please go tringpark.com

Photo shows Tring Park's Annie Kingsnorth and Charlotte Hayman in Amy's View