Theatre / drama school
Acting and directing students make pilot about a fictional drama school closing down
With Olivia Colman, Sir Daniel Day-Lewis and Jeremy Irons amongst its numerous famous acting alumni, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (BOVTS) has long held a place as one of the UK’s most prized drama schools.
It continues to deliver a range of postgraduate courses, yet as a result of what former principal and chief executive Fiona Francombe called “unprecedented funding challenges”, in September 2025 the school is no longer in a position to welcome a new undergraduate cohort.
Rafael Solimeno-Harris is a student on the MA Directing course at BOVTS. Along with some of his postgraduate and undergraduate peers, he remains intent on keeping the conversation about the lack of funding for drama schools ongoing. The group have now created and shot a pilot for a series about a fictional drama school closing down.
is needed now More than ever
DIVAS composite – photo: Rafael Solimeno-Harris
“In January we, the students, were told that the school would be losing its BA course”, he outlines. “We have since seen the Head of school step down as well as multiple heads of courses.
“Myself and several fellow students wanted to capture our feelings and responses to these events, as well as the state of the industry as a whole.”
Now available to watch on YouTube, the pilot is called DIVAS, with the acronym standing for ‘The Dramatic Institute of Valuable Actors’.
As well as being written by the students of BOVTS, it was staffed by the production arts course, and filmed on location at the drama school itself.
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When developing the project, how did you come upon the tone of DIVAS?
“We felt that we needed an authentic and student-led response to the situation that our school was now in. We wanted to create a comedic, satirical and entertaining piece of work, reflecting the wonderfully joyous atmosphere of our own school, while simultaneously confronting the real issues facing not only arts training, but the industry as a whole. It was imperative that we were delivering a message to champion funding and training in the arts, and showing its importance to young people like ourselves.”
How did the rest of the school feel about it?
“We benefited greatly from the collaborative atmosphere of BOVTS, and what began as a conversation between a few 1st Year BA actors quickly grew as students from a wide variety of other programmes began to take interest in the project, eventually resulting in a production team spanning a huge variety of different courses and years, including MA Directing, Screen Acting, BA Production Arts and MFA Acting.
“The school themselves also took a large interest in the project, and agreed that it was a great way to reclaim the narrative, especially with the backdrop of speculative news articles and catastrophising headlines. As pre-production continued, our writers room was fuelled by stories of other arts institutions, both training and performing spaces, facing financial difficulties, which only went to further highlight the importance of the message we were trying to send through the pilot.”
Promo shot from DIVAS – photo: Izzy Phillips
What impact has the pilot made so far, and what’s next?
“In making DIVAS, our primary motivation was to elicit conversation, not just within BOVTS but beyond. On its release date, to our pleasant surprise, we found that the pilot was being shared amongst other drama schools. This has sparked a desire to try and push our message further, because ultimately, we are all emerging creatives in an industry that is proving harder and harder to break into.
“In the future, we have a desire to continue to make episodes of DIVAS, and possible story ideas remain abundant in the news. The community we have established during the course of the project is one we want to continue to foster. Our hope is to be the voice of the students, and to highlight their feelings in our own unique way.”
Promo shot from DIVAS – photo: Izzy Phillips
Follow @divasbristol on YouTube or Insta for updates.
Main photo: Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
Read next:
- Mephisto: BOVTS lead an immersive journey through the tunnels of Loco Klub
- Review: Deposit/Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again, The Weston Studio, Bristol Old Vic – ‘A cracking evening of theatre’
- Review: Foxfinder/The Effect, The Weston Studio, Bristol Old Vic – ‘A superb double bill showcasing a raft of talent from BOVTS’
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