Royal Academy of Dramatic Art

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art

The main entrance to RADA on Gower Street
Type	Drama school
Established	1904
President	Sir Kenneth Branagh
Director	Edward Kemp
Location	London, England
Affiliations	King's College London Conservatoire for Dance and Drama
Website	www.rada.ac.uk

The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) is a drama school in London, England. It is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, founded in 1904 by Herbert Beerbohm Tree.

RADA is an affiliate school of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama. Its higher education awards are validated by King's College London (King's) and its students graduate alongside members of the departments which form the King's Faculty of Arts & Humanities. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senate House complex of the University of London.

Undergraduate students are eligible for government student loan through the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama. RADA also has a significant scholarships and bursaries scheme, offering financial assistance to many students at the Academy.

The current director of the academy is Edward Kemp. The president is Sir Kenneth Branagh, the chairman is Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen and its vice-chairman was Alan Rickman until his death in 2016.

RADA was founded in 1904 by Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, an actor manager, at His Majesty's Theatre in the Haymarket. In 1905, RADA moved to 52 Gower Street, and a managing council was set up to oversee the school. Its members included George Bernard Shaw, who later donated his royalties from his play Pygmalion to RADA, and gave lectures to students at the school.

In 1920, RADA was granted a Royal Charter, and in 1921, a new theatre was built on Malet Street, behind the Gower Street buildings. The Prince of Wales opened the theatre. The Gower Street buildings were torn down in 1927, and replaced with a new building, financed by George Bernard Shaw, who also left one third of his royalties to the academy on his death in 1950.