The FinTrU Theatre Bursary supports members of the Lyric Drama Studio – the theatre’s highly successful actor training programme – while they are studying at Drama School. Each year, 14 aspiring actors successfully win places to the Lyric Drama Studio which is a rigorous and intensive course of workshops for 18-26 year olds. The students have been consistently successful in gaining places at Drama Schools across Ireland, UK and beyond at institutions including the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Leeds Conservatoire, Mountview, East 15, LAMDA, The Lir, Arts Educational and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
Previous recipients of the FinTrU Theatre Bursary include Ellie McKay who is final year at LAMDA, and has recently been seen on our screens in Soft Border Patrol and in the comedy horror movie Boys from County Hell which won Best European Fantastic Film in 2021.
Ellie explains how important the bursary means to her and fellow Drama Studio students:
"The costs of headshots, spotlight, travel from auditions, meetings and rehearsals are quite daunting for anyone, especially a drama student living in London during a pandemic. The support of FinTrU has meant that I’ve been able to throw myself into rehearsals for all of my final year shows and alleviated the stress of working a part-time job whilst balancing full-time training. I think it is brilliant that a homegrown company is investing in homegrown talent. I am so grateful for the support FinTrU has given to me and other local actors."
Philip Crawford, Head of Creative Learning at the Lyric Theatre said on the partnership:
“This has been a really fantastic partnership between the Lyric and FinTrU, investing in local creative talent in a really meaningful way. The support from FinTrU is hugely appreciated and makes what can be a prohibitively expensive venture a little easier to manage, and for FinTrU we can offer whole range of opportunities for staff engagement. It’s a brilliant example of how arts and business can support each other. ”
Katrien Roppe, Chief of Staff at FinTrU, said:
“We are delighted to be continuing our partnership with the Lyric Theatre. Supporting the Arts and Culture sector is hugely important to FinTrU and we are passionate about investing in the future of young people across Northern Ireland. We are immensely proud of the achievements by the FinTrU Theatre Bursary recipients in recent years and look forward to continuing our support for emerging talent.”
