When he is not teaching the next generation of actors at Gower College Swansea, Wyn Richards – Curriculum Leader for the UAL L4 Professional Diploma in Performance (Acting) – writes for the highly-respected industry magazine Drama & Theatre.
Wyn’s latest article focusses on the work his students completed for their Final Major Project back in May.
Entitled Brushstrokes in the Sand, the piece was inspired by the work of Swansea artist Nick Holly and saw the students taking five of Holly’s paintings as inspiration to devise an original piece incorporating acting, song and movement/dance. In addition, they weaved in scenes and monologues from existing Welsh plays, many of whose playwrights have a close connection to the Swansea area and to the College.
Wyn has written many articles for the magazine, with content ranging from the importance of schools teaching technical theatre as part of their GCSE Drama curriculum to the new BA (Hons) Acting (Musical Theatre) degree at Italia Conti, one of the UK's leading Performing Arts training institutions.
His link with the magazine began when he was a drama advisor for both London and Manchester’s Music and Drama Education Expo - Europe’s largest conference for music and drama education. At the time, the event organiser was also the editor for the UK Drama & Theatre magazine and she approached Wyn with a view to him becoming a freelance contributor – which was an offer he was delighted to accept.
“My writing for the magazine has allowed me to showcase the excellent work taking place within Gower College Swansea's Performing Arts department,” says Wyn. “It enables me to highlight the broad and varied work undertaken by our students and the courses’ suitability for those preparing to progress onto specialist drama school training.”