Abi Morgan

Eight Central alumni have been named in the Evening Standard’s Progress 1000 for 2017.

The Progress 1000, in partnership with Citi, is the Evening Standard’s celebration of the people who make a difference to London life: a diverse list of the city’s most influential people across the creative arts, politics, business, food and science.

This year’s Progress 1000 party celebrated an overall theme of London’s creative industries, and Central alumni featured in two of its categories.
 

Named in Progress 1000: Performers for Screen, Central alumni included:

Dame Judi Dench (Stage, 1957), who recently appeared in Victoria & Abdul, and has enjoyed decades of success in film, television and theatre in everything from Shakespeare to Cabaret.

Martin Freeman (Stage 1995), who gained notoriety in BBC’s The OfficeSherlock, and Peter Jackson’s epic trilogy of The Hobbit; this year saw him return to the stage in political drama Labour of Love, co-starring Tamsin Greig and also to Hollywood with a role in Marvel’s Black Panther.

Kit Harington (Acting, 2008), aka Jon Snow in dragons and dungeons epic Game of Thrones, Kit has also appeared in West End stagings of Doctor Faustus and War Horse.

Abi Morgan (Adv Dip Creative Theatre 1993). The writer of Suffragette and The Iron Lady, she continued her trend for women in politics by making a short election video for the Women’s Equality Party last year; and also created BBC hit The Hour.

Vinay Patel (MA Writing for Stage and Broadcast Media 2011), who according to BAFTA is a ‘Breakthrough Brit’. His script Murdered By My Father was one of BBC3’s most-acclaimed programmes of 2016, and his series Good Karma Hospital has aired on ITV.
 

Named in Progress 1000: Theatre and Dance, Central alumni included:

Sonia Friedman (Tech 1985). Already named earlier this year by The Stage as the most influential person in UK theatre, her recent successes include Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (with Olivier Award-winning sound design by Central alumni Gareth Fry and Pete Malkin, and video design from alumnus Finn Ross), hit musical Dreamgirls, and West End transfers such as The FerrymanOur Ladies of Perpetual Succour and Ink.

Andrew Garfield (Acting, 2004), who recently won rave reviews for his performance alongside fellow Central graduate Nathan Stewart-Jarrett in Angels in America at The National Theatre; and appears in Hacksaw Ridge, Martin Scorsese’s Silence, and the upcoming Breathe> Read more about Andrew Garfield’s recent return to Central

Sir Cameron Mackintosh (Tech 1965), a theatre producer whose most famous association has been with Andrew Lloyd Webber — he produced Cats and Phantom of the Opera — he’s also had success with Les Misérables and Miss Saigon, as well as owning eight London theatres.

This small group of Central alumni give us a glimpse of the success of the Central family in the wider creative industries; the contributions made by our thousands of graduates working across theatre, film, performance, education, therapy and many other sectors continues to inspire the work we do here.

Read our Alumni: Latest News to find out what our graduates have been up to.

Find the full lists of The Evening Standard’s Progress 1000.

NB. copy for this story was adapted from the Evening Standard’s Progress 1000 profiles.

Image: Youtube / BBC Radio 5

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