Congratulations to Central’s Graduating Class of 2023
Congratulations to Central’s Class of 2023, who graduated on Friday 1 December in a ceremony held at London’s Royal Festival Hall.
Central’s Principal Josette Bushell-Mingo OBE presided over the ceremony and opened proceedings by addressing the graduands.
“Nothing shall take away from today – which is your moment to be congratulated and celebrated. To acknowledge your humanity, determination, creativity – and to know that each one of you will go on to be someone amazing.” - Principal Josette Bushell-Mingo OBE
Josette Bushell-Mingo was joined by Central’s President Sonia Friedman CBE, who also addressed the graduands, and on stage by Central’s Chair of Governors John Willis, and the Vice-Chancellor of the University of London Professor Wendy Thomson CBE, who conferred the Degrees.
Performances from Central’s BA (Hons) Acting Musical Theatre Students, and MA/MFA Movement: Directing and Teaching Graduands and Students with Musical Direction from Course Leader Wendy Gadian, choreography from Dr Tia-Monique Uzor, Lecturer in Contemporary African and Caribbean Diasporic Performance, and assistant choreography from MA/MFA Movement: Directing and Teaching graduand Amelia Chinnock-Schumann, featured on the day.
The ceremony, which was supported by a team of Central BA (Hons) Theatre Practice students, was also live streamed and presented simultaneously in British Sign Language, as part of Central’s continued commitment to access, inclusion and diversity.
Central is delighted to celebrate the many accomplishments of the Class of 2023 and looks forward to the amazing things that these talented graduates will go on to achieve.
CLASS OF 2023 - CEREMONY
In a ceremony celebrating the achievements of the Class of 2023, Central was pleased to award 479 Central graduates with:
11 Certificates of Higher Education
1 Diploma of Higher Education
1 Bachelor of Arts
209 Bachelor of Arts with Honours Degrees
3 Postgraduate Certificates
2 Postgraduate Diplomas
204 Master of Arts Degrees
44 Master of Fine Art Degrees
4 Doctors of Philosophy
Central was also pleased to award an Honorary Fellowship to Nia DaCosta as well as the title of Professor Emerita of the University of London to Professor Sally Mackey.
“My time at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was incredibly meaningful to me. To be recognized by a place that so positively impacted my life is an immense honor.”- Nia DaCosta, Honorary Fellow
“It is a huge privilege to be awarded an Emerita Professor title at Central after over 32 years of working there. Central was, and is, a leader in the field of theatre training and research and it has been an honour to be part of its development over the last three decades. Working with such committed staff and excellent students has been a joy.” - Professor Sally Mackey, Professor Emerita
The Honorands join Central in congratulating the newly graduated Class of 2023 and in wishing them success in their future careers.
Wherever their future takes them after graduation, they will always remain an important part of the Central network, and Central is committed to ensuring that graduate’s links with the School do not end at graduation but are carried throughout their lives.
For over 100 years, many of the most preeminent theatre practitioners and performers in the world have been Central alumni. We see our relationship with those we trained as lifelong, and all graduates of Central are part of this legacy and are encouraged to stay engaged with the school and tap into its thriving alumni community.
Find out more about our alumni networks, events, benefits and dedicated programmes of support by visiting our Alumni pages or contacting our Alumni Office.
ABOUT THE HONORANDS
Nia DaCosta (Honorary Fellow): Nia DaCosta is one of the freshest and most in-demand voices in Hollywood. Her debut feature, Little Woods, was developed through the Sundance Institute and starred Tessa Thompson and Lily James. It premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival and was released theatrically by Neon in 2019.
Next, she directed and co-wrote the Universal Studios feature film Candyman. Produced by Oscar-winner Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions, Candyman, starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris and Colman Domingo, was released in August 2021 and debuted at #1 at the box office, receiving overwhelming critical acclaim.
Most recently, Nia directed and co-wrote the highly anticipated Captain Marvel sequel, The Marvels.
Currently, Nia is in pre-production on Hedda, a reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s famous play Hedda Gabler, for MGM’s Orion Pictures and Plan B. The film, which Nia will write, direct, and produce, stars Tessa Thompson as the title character.
Nia received a BFA in Film and Television from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU and MA in Writing for Stage and Broadcast Media from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.
Professor Sally Mackey (Professor Emerita): Sally has been Professor of Applied Theatre and Performance at Royal Central for several years; she was the first female professor at Central. After a successful teaching career in comprehensive schools finishing as Head of a large Expressive Arts Department, Sally started teaching at Central in 1992 as a drama education specialist.
She became widely known initially as co-author of Drama and Theatre Studies and Practical Theatre (1997), both core teaching texts. With colleagues, Sally founded ‘applied theatre’ at Central teaching up to PhD level and still researches predominantly in this field.
Since 2009, she has been the successful principal applicant for a Leverhulme Trust Award for Central’s BA and MA Applied Theatre students enabling them to undertake outreach placements around the world.
A member of the editorial board of RiDE: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance since its first year, she also peer reviews for a number of other international academic journals.
Her main role at Central from 2006 until 2016 was as part of the Senior Academic Management Team, with responsibility for key aspects of the taught courses, including quality, development and admissions.
Awarded the first Art and Humanities Research Council grant for Central, she continued to receive research grants over the years for projects such as Challenging concepts of ‘liquid’ place through performing practices in community contexts (2011- 2014), Performing Local Places (2016-17) and Performing Places Bexley (2018-2020). All research was undertaken with local resident groups, interrogating how we ‘perform’ places and how we can reconsider new, embedded or temporary ‘locatedness’. Sally has been invited to speak about this work internationally, including Canada and South Africa.
In 2016 she was awarded the David Bradby TaPRA Award for Research in International Theatre and Performance, an award that celebrates outstanding research in the discipline.
Through Leverhulme and research grants, Sally has brought in over £2 million to Central.
The Sally Mackey Bursary Fund
In honour of Professor Sally Mackey who led the way in making Central a leader in the field of applied theatre, and who retired this autumn after 31 years of teaching at Central, The Sally Mackey Bursary Fund has been established to honour her achievements and prompted by her deep understanding of student need.
“I’m honoured that Central has created the Sally Mackey Bursary Fund which will offer bursaries to those studying BA (Hons) Drama, Applied Theatre and Education and MA Applied Theatre. After serving on the Scholarship and Bursaries Panel for over 20 years, I have seen firsthand how many students need financial help in order to study and, in the last few years, more students than ever before are having to apply for funding.” - Professor Sally Mackey
Donations made to The Sally Mackey Bursary Fund during the Big Give Christmas Challenge will be doubled. Once you have made a donation, please contact development@cssd.ac.uk with subject ‘Sally Mackey Bursaries’ and tell us your name.
