Ryan Denton, current third-year student on Drama, Applied Theatre and Education, BA and the first in his family to attend university, shares his journey to Central, his experience on the course, and advice to other first-generation university students.
Tell us about your journey to Central, and why you wanted to go to university
Prior to Central, I did the entirely ordinary journey through schools and Sixth Form. Aside from a pandemic in my final years of state education, I am lucky to have had a very good experience at school. Alongside education I was of course engaged in theatre: performing it, making it, enjoying it.
There are multiple reasons why I was keen to go to university. For myself, like many I considered it a gateway and strong first step on a career ladder. Since the age of 12 I had been considering community theatre courses, courses which would look at creating proactive community-oriented work, which responds to the needs and wants of groups, however, it was only during sixth form that I discovered the Drama, Applied Theatre and Education, BA course. The interview processes and application all happened digitally, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which meant I was particularly uncertain as to whether I would be accepted.
The moment of receiving confirmation was understandably exciting and came with great relief, knowing the next chapter was starting to unfold. A place in an institution like Central presented a huge opportunity to make connections, meet colleagues and friends, seek advice and guidance for the future and to develop theatre-maker me!
How did you find out about Central?
I first heard of Central through a TEDx Talk. I was researching for an EPQ, a small additional qualification that my Sixth Form offered and encouraged us to do. Whilst hypothesising about the potentiality of theatre, I stumbled across a TEDx Talk delivered at Central by Prof Selina Busby, Course Leader for MA Applied Theatre. Selina was asking questions about a field which was entirely alien to me: Applied Theatre. What was this strange form? What could it do? What should it do? In delving in to answer this question I discovered the Drama, Applied Theatre and Education, BA course at Central, the rest, as they say, is history.
How did you decide which course you would apply for?
There was no question regarding the course for me at Central; Applied Theatre had my name on it. Theatre which is attempting to do more, in the most interesting ways - I wanted in on that. Furthermore, I have a strong passion for education and the importance of providing good, quality learning for all, something that myself and fellow students believe can be done through theatre forms.
What advice would you give to someone that is thinking about applying to Central?
My advice is for applying to courses on the Contemporary Performance Practice (CPP) undergraduate programme, as these require an interview not an audition. No matter which forms your application takes though, preparation is paramount. So, prepare - that is perhaps the first piece of advice. My second piece of advice, and this is more specialist to CPP, is to know which questions you have. Yes, you may have logistical questions of wanting to understand the place and how we all work at Central but, most importantly the bigger questions. Lecturers do not expect you to arrive at Central with the answers, instead they want to know the questions you have, the work you want to interrogate and consider the potential of, and the questions you ask of yourself: what you could and should do, and where your passion drives you. Arrive with the eagerness to want to find answers, to want to expand what these answers could be. If your passion is rooted in this, Central is for you.
What have you enjoyed most about your time on your course?
As a third year there is a lot to reflect on: many enjoyable moments and occasions of triumph, seeing projects to completion, sharing the joys of participants and colleagues, and celebrating the landmarks of degree study. There is however an ultimate enjoyment to the Drama, Applied Theatre and Education, BA course and that is, as I defined it the first time we assembled in a room together: finding my people. The course is quite niche, certainly in the sense that many do not fully understand it and because those who find themselves on the course, have rarely done so by accident. The thing I have most enjoyed about this course is those I work alongside, fellow students driven by an ambition to push the theatre artform to reach more, do more and apply itself more.
What has surprised you the most about your course?
Whilst on this course I was most surprised by the world’s openness to theatre. We have taken work into settings expecting the worst, or at least disgruntled appreciation, but they have rarely been so. The work is instead often welcomed with excitement, relief, and pleasure. This always surprises me; I have a perception that outside of our drama school bubble people will hear the word “theatre” and run for the hills! Instead, people have often been incredibly forthcoming and eager. Theses could, and have been, written on why this might be; but in a purely human response to this question, I think people crave the interaction and a listening ear. Outreach in its most basic form seeks to listen, interact with and uplift people. In my surprise at people’s ability to embrace theatre, I am also proud to have been that listening ear and to have celebrated with those we have had the pleasure to meet.
What do you plan to do after you graduate?
The dreaded question! Most students on my course have through various projects found their calling; writing, Special Needs and Disabilities (SEND) work, film production, facilitation, festival theatre, teaching, directing, and producing to name a few. This isn’t the case for myself, I would be very pleased embarking on many of these pathways, but I instead leave the course with an expanse of interests and intrigues. The theatre, charity and youth sectors all interest me, largely due to my work on this course, but also courtesy of my volunteering roles outside of Central. Irrespective of the field I enter, it is with great certainty I can credit the Drama, Applied Theatre and Education, BA course as an invaluable source of inspiration, preparation, and connection for my future career.
What would you say to other first-generation students who are thinking of applying to university or drama school?
Do it – beyond the commendable and deeply rewarding educational realities of universities and drama school, there is much to also be said for the crucial independence and lifestyle of further education.
Being a first-generation university goer presents understandable challenges, for myself there was the puzzle of drama school application – an unknown to all in my family and then there is the nervousness of what university life might actually be like. Thankfully we live in an age of information sharing and there is much online to explain the processes. What the online world cannot exactly prepare us for is how we, as individuals, might experience and process university. There is no guarantee university will be the perfect fit. But we should all without doubt take on the challenge if university is what we want.
My advice therefore for anyone with a twinge of intrigue in attending university is to research and prepare, read up on your course, ask questions so you can understand exactly how your years at university are structured and most of all, make sure you study something you love. If the course is your course, everything else will follow.
Ryan Denton has been selected in the ‘Local Heroes’ category in Universities UK 100 Faces campaign. 100 Faces celebrates the stories and achievements of students who are the first in their family to go to university.
Learn more about 100 Faces on the Universities UK website #100Faces
