OP Profiles
Meet some of our Old Princethorpians, who attended the school from when it was St Mary's Priory to recent leavers.
Lily Blunsom-Washbrook
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After leaving Princethorpe College in 2016, I was lucky enough to gain a full scholarship at The Arts Educational School London, where I trained for two years studying under industry professionals, who have guided me through my A-levels in Theatre Studies, English Literature and Film Studies. Performing in productions such as Game by Mike Bartlett and The Truth by Florian Zeller at the Tabard Theatre in Chiswick and The GATE Theatre in Notting Hill were a couple of highlights.
After this training the next step was Drama school. This involved a rigorous, intense and often ruthless auditioning process, which consisted of multiple rounds and recall sessions spanning several months. I applied to 12 drama schools, many of which have over 3,000 applicants, for 28 or less places. I was lucky enough to reach the recall and final round stages to schools such as The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Lamda, Alra, Guildhall and Artsed. However, I decided to take the place I was offered on The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art foundation course, auditioning against thousands of applicants for 32 places put into perspective how competitive this industry is.
RADA is the most prestigious drama school in the UK, with alumni such as Ralph Fiennes, Tom Hiddleston, Alan Rickman and Joan Collins. To date, I have been fortunate to study practitioners such as Stanislavski and Meisner as well as collaborating with fellow students to write and perform my own work.
I am so thankful that I was able to explore my love of acting at Princethorpe, as taking part in all the performance opportunities allowed me to develop as an actor as well as a person. Everything I learnt at Princethorpe, especially the ethos of the college, has influenced me in such a powerful way. I am having the most incredible time at RADA, although the weeks are often 45 hours plus, I would not change it for the world. Thanks to being able to discover my love of performing at Princethorpe, I now get to do what I love every day and learn from world class tutors at RADA, surrounded by like minded, talented and kind people.