Welcome was the first word I heard as I stepped into the Drama department of Royal Holloway for the latest National Drama Conference 2025. A tiny but important word. For me at least, who hadn’t been to a National Drama Conference for decades; so not quite a virgin, but almost. It is hard to capture in words what this conference meant to me so I will give you a snapshot and hope that it whets your appetite to join us in 2026.
It was three days of connection with treasured colleagues – spontaneous sparkling conversations about Drama and community and the future of the world could be heard all over campus and over the road in the Packhorse Pub long after the sun had gone down…
There were hours of learning opportunities – urgent scribbling, noting down Katie Mitchell’s pioneering practice…Kylie and Georgie from Paper Birds challenging us to re-create the varying textures of a painted wall through movement… on stepping into the brand spanking new Futures Studio, the big disrupter AI became a creative collaborator in the hands of University lecturer, Will Shüler…
So many moments of generosity and kindness… – free books left for us by Helen as she sorted through her department’s bookshelves… Jo checking in with all delegates, especially those who have travelled halfway round the world to be here… offers of follow up Zoom calls from very busy teachers to engage with a knotty problem…
Then there were those feelings of empowerment wherever you looked – the young students from Coombe Boys’ School as they performed their harrowing immersive piece about the Holocaust… many individuals voicing Malala’s strong words last spoken at the UN Conference and truly believing they can change the world… every Drama teacher singing Pilot Theatre Company’s Find your Tribe and quite possibly raising the roof of the Caryl Churchill Theatre…
And finally there were those moments of awe and wonder and deep intakes of breath – when Sharon quietly shows us how Vita Nova’s work changed the lives of the Penwithen boys – for once we created something rather than destroying it, and Geoff reminds us that A Drama teacher is worth thousands and thousands to Society…
As I stepped out of the Drama department at Royal Holloway and the latest ND conference, I felt ALIVE, empowered and definitely no longer a virgin! We walked away with healthy egos striding out, ready to take on SLT, the Labour Government, even the world.
– Judy Seall
(Apologies if I have slightly mis-quoted anyone!)
Judy is a Drama teacher and a theatre maker. She is currently based in a couple of schools just outside Reading but has taught in Colombia and Spain, and regularly pops over to Guatemala to teach in a variety of schools and charitable organisations. Highlights of her life so far include taking groups of young talented actors to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe, collaborating with a Catalan youth theatre and touring in Barcelona, running an intergenerational Arts project of active hope called the Time Bandits, and working alongside too many to count inspiring performers, writers, directors, teachers, designers but above all, students.
