page_title: Morley College
section_title: Drama Department
hierarchical_section_title: Morley College / Drama Department
caption_attribution_description: English: Morley College in Wartime- Everyday Life at Morley College, Westminster Bridge Road, London, England, UK, 1944 Students sweep their arms and heads back during a classical dancing class at Morley College.
context_page_description: Morley College is an adult education college in London. It was founded in the 1880s and has a student population of 11,000 adult students. It offers courses in a wide variety of fields including art and design, fashion, languages, drama, dance, music, health and humanities.
  The main Morley College campus is located in the Waterloo District of London, on the South Bank. Its buildings occupy sites on either side of the boundary between the London boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth. The entrance and foyer is being renovated and when complete it will provide a hub for student services and studios for the new College internet radio station.
  A new Stockwell Centre campus close to Stockwell tube station opened in 2017.
  Morley College is a registered charity under English law.
context_section_description: The Drama department began in the rehearsal rooms of the Old Vic Theatre.  Classes continued to be held there as recently as 2004, although most drama classes are now held in the main building at Westminster Bridge Road.
  The college was the scene of early experiments in Improv Theatre when Keith Johnstone brought his troupe from the Royal Court Theatre Studio  (later to become the Theatre Machine) to demonstrate his ideas to his Contemporary Theatre class. (source "Impro" ISBN 0-413-46430-X)
  Courses have included Absolute Beginners Acting, more advanced classes, leading to a year-long auditioned Acting Studio course from which students were expected to go on and write, direct and produce their own theatre.
  The department also combined with the education department of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre to teach the "Groundlings on Stage" course.
  The Theatre School enjoyed success during the 1980s and early 1990s under the direction of Paul A Thompson (who was resident dramatist with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1977 and with the National Theatre 1977 to 1979) and Brian Croucher (who played a number of roles in TV shows including EastEnders, Blake's 7, Doctor Who, The Bill, Casualty, Doctors and Edge of Darkness).
  The Acting Studio was particularly prolific under the tutelage of Craig Snelling, from 1993–2005, during which at least a dozen theatre companies were formed which went on to produce plays in various theatres at London Fringe venues.
  Companies producing plays in 2005 included: Short and Girlie, Bedlamb, Twice as Loud, Mulabanda Productions, and Acting the Goat.
caption: A classical dance class at Morley College in 1944
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