Class of 2017: Grace Duggan

All this week we are celebrating the achievements of some of our students who are graduating in the class of 2017. Grace Duggan, graduating today from East 15 Acting School tells us her story.

Grace Duggan (BA Acting and Community Theatre) will leave a lasting legacy when she finishes her degree, in the shape of a new youth theatre in Southend.

Grace and fellow graduate Katie Greenhill formed the The Clifftown Youth Theatre following an Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (UROP) research project during which Grace looked into what arts opportunities were available for local youngsters.

“As a young person I saw how important and valuable theatre can be. We need there to be cheap access to it for young people outside the classroom and I wanted to set something up for the age range that had the least support locally.”

The result was the theatre workshops – an initial taster session for five to eight-year-olds was a sell out and there followed a five-week programme, with sessions every Saturday exploring elements of storytelling, physical theatre and singing.

Now in its second term, a summer school is planned for an extended age range and second-year students from Essex have been trained to take over the sessions when Katie and Grace leave.