Meet our graduates: Tanya Vital

I began my career back to front. Before training at RADA I’d been working, mostly in TV, for many years. I came through the National Youth Theatre and had done lots of acting training on short courses, but I always felt I’d missed out by not having that intensive drama school training. I had very little vocal technique and didn’t know how to use my voice properly. I was also dead below the neck, acting with only my face. I didn’t know how to use my physicality and it was having a detrimental effect on the work I was trying to book.

I chose RADA for a number of reasons - a) so many actors I respected had trained there, like Sophie Okonedo and Adrian Lester; and b) because I’d worked externally with some of the school’s teachers and had learnt so much from them. What better way to follow them and learn even more?

The MA Theatre Lab course was a perfect fit. It is designed for people like me, who already had some experience of the arts industry, but really wanted to fine-tune their technique and learn how to create their own work.

It was an extremely intense year because so much was packed in for us. We learnt countless techniques, alongside studying both classic and contemporary practitioners.

This course completely changed me as a performer. It changed me as a collaborator and gave me the confidence to take ownership of my work through writing and directing. It really gave us the tools to make things happen for ourselves.

Tanya Vital, MA Theatre Lab 2013