Drama Centre London was founded in 1963 by a breakaway group of teachers and students from the Central School of Speech and Drama, led by John Blatchley, Yat Malmgren and Christopher Fettes. The school was located originally on Prince of Wales Road, Chalk Farm, but moved first to Back Hill, Clerkenwell in 2004, then to its current site at King's Cross in 2011. Since 1999, it has operated as an integral school of Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design, offering degree programmes in acting, directing and screenwriting. A principal aim in the founding of the school was to bring some of the major developments in American and European theatre to the training of British and international actors. Its approach articulates Stanislavski's system, with the movement work of Rudolf Laban and the character typology of Carl Jung to produce a 'movement psychology' for the analysis and development of characters. The school's work also draws on the English tradition, particularly that of Joan Littlewood and Theatre Workshop. These approaches are taught as part of the Western theatrical tradition that began with the Greeks, on which the school places great emphasis. When the school was founded, it was the only drama school in the country to have an acting class, and is considered to be the first 'Method' drama school in Britain. Because of its rigour, the school's nickname is "Trauma Center". Like most drama schools, Drama Centre places a particular emphasis on the work of Konstantin Stanislavski, also training students in improvisation through the Yevgeny Vakhtangov and Jacques Lecoq traditions. The school offers a theatre-based training incorporating both modern and classical texts, and also prepares actors for the demands of screen acting, for which it has a two-year postgraduate course. In September 2005, the school launched their MA Acting course which includes residencies at both the Vakhtangov Theatre Institute in Moscow and Imalis Center for Ancient Hellenic Theatre in Epidaurus, Greece. The Drama Centre has always had an international outlook and was the first British drama school to introduce some of the great classics of the European repertoire: Spanish, German and French. Today, this tradition continues and is reflected in a broad spectrum of international links, which includes schools in the USA, Russia and China. In March 2020 UAL announced that they were to close the Drama Centre, following an unfavourable review of the Centre's provision for academic development, quality assurance and equal opportunities. Students currently enrolled will complete their training.
