Drama school bootcamp aims to give North East performing arts students a break
A new programme aimed at helping aspiring North East actors get into top drama schools is launching in Newcastle this summer.
Breaking in: The Drama School Intensive will run from Monday 4 to Friday 8 August 2025 and is designed to prepare young people for the notoriously competitive audition process. The week-long training course will be led by experienced facilitators and theatre professionals, and is the brainchild of Teesside-born actor Sol Taibi.
Sol, a graduate of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, said: “There is a huge lack of opportunities like this in the North East of England.”
The project is being delivered in partnership with Rosy Cheek, the company founded by North East theatre maker Rosie Bowden, and is presented in association with Live Theatre.
Rosie said she is passionate about working with young people in the region and “celebrating the region with its’ next generation.”
Affordability is key to the programme’s design, with participants asked to pay a fee based on household income to ensure accessibility.
Sol will lead the intensive alongside facilitators Jack Robert Young and Maya Torres - both actors and educators with deep regional roots. All three have credits across theatre, film and television, and bring personal insight into the drama school journey.
The initiative is backed by Live Theatre, a nationally recognised champion of new work which also runs the North East’s largest free youth theatre programme. Breaking in builds on that ethos by helping young people build confidence, polish monologues, and develop the tools to thrive in auditions.
With limited opportunities in the region, the organisers hope the intensive will fill a gap for those dreaming of a future on stage - and show that world-class training can begin at home.