Now in its second year, Ruthie Henshall's new drama school is giving students the personal and entrepreneurial education she feels is missing from today's industry. Thomas Lydon reports.

In show business, it pays to learn from the best, and many people – including me and the group of friends with whom I used to watch her play Fantine in the Les Mis 10th anniversary concert on repeat every weekend in the mid-90s – will tell you they don't come better than Olivier Award-winning musical theatre legend Ruthie Henshall. Along with her long-time musical director and business partner, Paul Schofield, Henshall has set up a new drama school, ‘Ruthie Henshall's CAST’ (RHCAST). Based in Suffolk's Bury St Edmunds, the school accepted its first cohort in 2023.
The overriding philosophy in setting up the school was to prepare new generations of students for the challenges of a business that Henshall says has ‘changed exponentially’ since she trained in the 80s. ‘When I came into it, it was show business, with the emphasis on “show” – but now the emphasis is more on the “business”. Drama and dancing alone won't cut it these days, and that was a big drive for me to find a way to give students the full range of skills they'll need. Social media is a wonderful thing, and while it's true that followers are important – and we do teach how to manage this – there is much more beyond that. We can see what each student personally needs more of in their own development and can address that specifically.’
Register now to continue reading
Register to the Drama & Theatre website today and gain access to all the latest news and developments from the world of drama education.
By registering you will receive:
-
Free access to 4 subscriber-only articles per month
-
Unlimited access to news and opinion on our website
Already have an account? Sign in here