Category: Drama

Get Into: Performing and Production Arts

Posted on by Ellen McNeill

 Get Into: 

 Performing and Production Arts 

Performance, Production, Singing and Arts with Community

For Young People 16+

Young person smiling trying on costume

Starting Autumn 2025

Would you like to Get Into: Performing and Production Arts but not sure where to begin? Our free Get Into courses could be the perfect answer. 

We’re running four separate programmes starting this Autumn:

  • Performance (acting, devising and movement)
  • Production for Stage and Screen (sound, lighting and production arts)
  • Singing Together (singing chorally in many styles and vocal leadership)
  • Arts with Community (exploring multi-artform community projects)

These free weekly part-time sessions will be a great opportunity for you to:

  • Build your confidence
  • Develop your skills in your chosen field
  • Meet others who love the same thing as you

Text: Apply Now

Please note: Fair Access will prioritise places for young people aged 16 – 19. To be eligible, you must meet one or more of the following criteria: 

  • live in an SIMD1 Postcode 
  • are care experienced or estranged from, and receive no support from, family or carers
  • live in an SIMD1 Postcode or SIMD2 Postcode and belong to one of the following groups:
    – living rurally with poor transport links
    – Black, Indigenous or People of Colour 
    – D/deaf or Hard of Hearing

Depending on available places, we will also consider college students up to the age of 25 years.

Get in touch and we can check your postcode for you. 

 Get In Touch 

If you have any questions or queries, email: fairaccess@rcs.ac.uk

Performance Trip: War Horse

Posted on by Ellen McNeill

 Performance Trip 

Join us for the second in our series WACI performance trips to see the award winning, National Theatre tour of Michael Morpurgo’s ‘War Horse’.

A life size puppet horse and a man holding it's face

War Horse is an unforgettable theatrical experience which takes audiences on an extraordinary journey from the fields of rural Devon to the trenches of First World War France. Based on the beloved novel by Michael Morpurgo, this powerfully moving and imaginative drama, filled with stirring music and songs, is a show of phenomenal inventiveness. At its heart are astonishing life-sized horses by South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company, who bring breathing, galloping, charging horses to thrilling life on stage.

This performance trip is the perfect opportunity to see award winning theatre that combines puppetry, movement, emotive story telling and innovative sound and lighting design. It is open to those aged 16+ with an interest in drama, performance, sound and lighting technology. 

Please note that signing up does not automatically mean you will receive a place on the trip. After the signup date we will prioritise applications who meet our eligibility and contact you to let you know if you have been successful.

DISCLAIMER: This show uses strobe lighting. It also deals with themes that some people may find upsetting including war, and depictions of violence and death. This trip will be supervised by Livi from the WACI Team, who will be in attendance. Please make any reasonable adjustments/accessibility requirements known

When: 31 March
Time: 7.30pm
Where: Theatre Royal, Glasgow

Book Now button

Spaces are limited. Completing the booking form doesn’t automatically guarantee your place.
We will notify successful candidates.

Booking Deadline: Monday 24 March

Please note: WACI prioritise those facing barriers in accessing the arts such as those who are:

Get in touch and we can check your postcode for you. 

 How to Contact Us 

If you have an queries or questions about this activity, you can contact the team at: 📧waci@rcs.ac.uk

Creative Conversations in the Classroom

Posted on by Yvonne McLellan

 Careers Talks Across Scotland 

With Accompanying Teacher Resources

Are you, or the young people you teach, interested in applying to study in the performing and production arts? Are you not sure where to start or what careers there may be? Fair Access have produced a suite of films and resources that can help making those decisions.

What is ‘Creative Conversations in the Classroom’?

Creative Conversations is a series of short films and accompanying teachers’ resources. The aim is to give young people an insight into what it’s really like to work in the creative industries.

​Each film features three professionals who work in a specific area of the performing or production arts in conversation with each other, and with an audience of secondary school pupils. At the end of each film, young people from the audience describe the impact this conversation has had on them. The Teachers’ Resources provide questions to get your own conversations in the classroom started after watching the film. ​

The Creative Conversations series includes artists working in:

All the films can be viewed at home, on your mobile devices or as a group in your classrooms or community spaces. You can also access them via our Toolkits page.

Contact Us

We’d love to hear about how you use these resources in your classroom or if you’re a young person that has found them useful in learning more about career options. You can say hello on our social media or if you have any questions about these resources, please get in touch at: fairaccess@rcs.ac.uk

Taster Mornings

Posted on by Yvonne McLellan

 Taster Mornings 

For Music Teaching, Production or Acting

Are your pupils interested in studying Music Teaching, Production or Acting at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland? Teachers can sign up now for you and up to three of your pupils to attend our taster morning.

These sessions will focus on providing information about the degree programmes here at RCS. They will be a great opportunity to:

  • Find out about the programmes from those who teach it
  • Get involved with interactive workshops
  • See inside RCS and get a feel for what it could be like to study here
  • Meet the Fair Access Team and learn what support we can offer you and your pupils

All sessions are taking place at RCS in the Renfrew Street building taking place from 9:30am until 12:30pm. Choose below from the sessions you’d like to attend:

 

 Who Can Take Part 

WACI is funded to support young people who face barriers in accessing the arts. You are welcome to book up to 3 pupils on this session who meet the following criteria:

Get in touch if you have any issues with filling out any of the forms.

 Contact Us 

If you have any questions about these activities please get in touch with us at: waci@rcs.ac.uk

National Schools Workshops

Posted on by Yvonne McLellan

 National Schools Workshops 

School workshops in the performing and production arts

WACI are delighted to be offering a new programme of National Schools Workshops. Aimed at S5-6 classes and delivered within schools across Scotland. The workshops in performing and production arts are interactive, high-quality and delivered by industry experts.

Places are strictly limited and can be requested via the information pages for each workshop and subsequent signup forms:

All workshops will: 

  • Require two periods or equivalent 
  • Be targeted toward S5-6 
  • Be offered on a first come first served basis 
  • Provide students with an insight into the fully funded access programmes at RCS, further and high education pathways and potential career options 
  • Serve as talking point on their personal statement 
  • Provide them with transferable skills for their SQA assessments 

To be an eligible school you must be listed on our wider schools list 

 How to Contact Us 

If you have an queries or questions about this activity, you can contact the team at: 📧waci@rcs.ac.uk

Focus on Applications: DDPF

Posted on by Yvonne McLellan

 Focus on Applications: DDPF 

24 and 26 September, 5 – 7pm, Online

Young person designing an artwork in a classroom

Want to discover more about applying to and studying dance, drama, filmmaking or production? Then our Focus on Applications for Dance, Drama, Filmmaking and Production (DDPF) sessions are for you.

These two free sessions will be a great chance to:

  • Learn about studying music at a college, university or conservatoire in one of the following:
  • Gain an understanding of the application process
  • Get top tips on how to write your personal statement
  • These sessions focus on applying via UCAS and UCAS Conservatoires, as well as applying for a creative course at any college and/or university

When: 24 and 26 September, 5 – 7pm
Where: Online

*Bookings now closed*

Please note: WACI prioritise those facing barriers in accessing the arts such as those who are:

Get in touch and we can check your postcode for you. 

 How to Contact Us 

If you have an queries or questions about this activity, you can contact the team at: 📧waci@rcs.ac.uk

Get Into: Performing and Production Arts

Posted on by Yvonne McLellan

 Get Into: 

 Performing and Production Arts 

Performance, Production, Singing and Community Arts

For pupils S5 & S6 or Young People 16+

Woman performing for school children

Starting Autumn 2024

Would you like to Get Into: Performing and Production Arts but not sure where to begin? Our free Get Into courses could be the perfect answer. 

We’re running four separate programmes starting this Autumn:

  • Performance (acting, devising and dance)
  • Production for Stage and Screen (sound, lighting and camera)
  • Singing Together (confidence building and vocal leadership)
  • Community Arts (leading creative projects with communities)

These free weekly part-time sessions will be a great opportunity for you to:

  • Build your confidence
  • Develop your skills in your chosen field
  • Meet others who love the same thing as you

*Sign Ups are now closed*

Please note: Fair Access will prioritise those aged 16-19 facing barriers to accessing the arts such as those:

Get in touch and we can check your postcode for you. 

 Get In Touch 

If you have any questions or queries, email: fairaccess@rcs.ac.uk

Performance Trip: Inter/Sections

Posted on by Ellen McNeill

 Performance Trip: Inter/Sections at RCS 

Wednesday 13 March, 7pm – 9pm

RCS, 100 Renfrew St, Glasgow G2 3DB

Join us at RCS to watch the multi-artform production of Inter/Sections. This production is a fantastic opportunity to experience an array of different artistic practices.

Words: Performance Trip Intersections. Two dancers on a darkened stage with string running through their fingers

Not only does Inter/Sections promise to feature great performances but is also a celebration of the many Fair Access alumni involved. Come along for a preview of what some of our previous Fair Access students are doing now as this show brings together RCS students in Music, Music Composition, 3rd year students in Contemporary Performance Practice and Production Technology and Management programmes. 

Click on the button to apply for free tickets via our form.

* Applications now closed *

Deadline: 6 March, 12 noon

Please note: Fair Access works with young people facing barriers in accessing the arts, such as those who are:

Get in touch if you have any questions or need us to check a postcode for you.

Contact Us

You can contact the team at fairaccesshello@rcs.ac.uk

Directing Skills for Pupils and Teachers

Posted on by Yvonne McLellan

 Directing Skills Workshop 

For Pupils and their Teachers

Two young women sitting looking at scripts

Fair Access brought together Neil and Linda, both experts in their own fields, to work alongside pupils and teachers exploring directing skills. The session aimed to inspire pupils with the confidence to direct for Higher and Advanced Higher Drama, giving them practical skills to put into action, but also ensuring what they did fitted the SQA marking criteria for directing. It was a brilliant session involving pupils from eight different schools. Here are some comments: 

‘Thank you so much, it was an amazing opportunity and so informative. I now know that I want to be a director for sure!’

Pupil, Paisley Grammar



‘The session was very helpful in relation to SQA marking guidelines for Higher. It was very effective in boosting my own confidence and it was fabulous to see my pupils grow in confidence directing! I feel much more comfortable to present directing candidates.’

Teacher, Levenmouth Academy

 Get in touch 

If you’d like to find out about more opportunities for you and your pupils, contact the team at: fairaccesshello@rc.ac.uk 

Get Into: Performing and Production Arts Update

Posted on by Yvonne McLellan

 Get Into: Performing and Production Arts Update 

Musical Theatre, Filmmaking, Production, Singing and Guitar

Two people standing in a darkended room experimenting with lighting

This term, Fair Access has been running a fantastic programme of ‘Get Into’ courses designed as pathways towards further training in higher education.

Forty-five young people from across Scotland attend weekly workshops to develop their skills and confidence in either Production Arts and Technology, Guitar, Musical Theatre or Filmmaking (which focuses on either Script Writing or Post-production Sound).

Young woman showing a prop

We are especially delighted to be working in partnership with Eden Court Theatre in Inverness to host a further ‘Get Into: Production’ course, which focuses on prop making and includes a work experience placement at RCS.

Courses are led by RCS tutors and freelance artists, many of whom are RCS alumni, now working professionally. In January we are excited to offer ‘Get Into: Singing’ as part of this programme. 

 Want to know more about our ‘Get Into’ programmes? 

Look out for more Get Into programmes that you can sign up for next Spring. If you have any questions or queries, email: fairaccesshello@rcs.ac.uk