As from this year the London Academy for Music and the Arts (LAMDA) will also be carrying examinations for theatre students here in Malta, thanks to Lorraine Aquilina of Drama Troupe and Patrick Vella of Curtain Raiser.
After Ms Aquilina made the initial contacts, Mr Vella got the ball rolling by going to the UK for meetings with LAMDA officials. All these efforts gave a positive result since LAMDA agreed to open its examinations also to Malta.
Other local drama schools are also preparing their students for these examinations which will be held next month, when an examiner will be sent to Malta.
LAMDA examinations vary considerably so that each candidate can sit for the examination that fits him or her best. Examinations vary from initial grades for young children to diploma level for the older and mature students and can be done in groups, duos or individuals. They also offer a choice of different examinations such as Acting, Mime, Devised Drama, Public Speaking and Performance Arts. As from next year LAMDA is also offering Musical Theatre examinations.
The first examiner representing LAMDA will be Dr Jeffrey Grenfell-Hill trained for the professional theatre at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
When he graduated he went to work at the Gateway Theatre in Chester. In 1969 he was invited to make a lecture tour of the United States and lectured at the universities of New York, Colorado, Wyoming and South Carolina.
For several years he made lecture tours of American schools, colleges and universities giving workshops, recitals and lecturing on Shakespeare and the Elizabethan theatre. Then in 1978 he was the lecturer in Practical Drama at University College Swansea. Samuel French has published Dr Grenfell-Hills plays and Heinemann his poetry.
The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art invited him to become an examiner in 1973. He also adjudicates the major speech and drama festivals in the UK. In 1996 Dr Grenfell-Hill was chosen to be the Teacher Scholar at Trinity College Oxford, and researched the sonnet form. At present he is director of Sixth Form Studies at St George's School in Harpenden.