Visiting the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London: performances, history, and tips

In your opinion, what do Tom Hiddleston, Alan Rickman, Ralph Fiennes, and Clive Owen have in common? Yes, they are all actors, but above all, they were all trained in the same place: at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London.

This legendary drama school, located in the heart of Bloomsbury, is one of the most prestigious drama institutions in the United Kingdom and in the world.

In this article, I'd like to help you discover RADA as a place to visit in its own right during a stay in London: what you can see there without being a student, how to attend a performance, what life inside the school looks like, and why this place captures the imagination of so many theatre lovers. Whether you are simply curious, enjoy seeing behind the scenes, or are an aspiring actor, you'll find concrete information here to help you include a stop at RADA in your next trip to London.

The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, a legendary drama school in London

RADA is both a top drama school and a lively place you can discover as a visitor, especially through its student performances.

A century-old institution in the heart of Bloomsbury

The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art has existed since 1904 and was founded by Herbert Beerbohm Tree, a leading actor and director of his time. The school set up in Bloomsbury, a student and cultural district of London, surrounded by universities and libraries, which gives it a very distinctive studious and creative atmosphere.

RADA's main building is now on Malet Street, not far from University College London and the British Museum, in an area where you'll cross paths with many students and academic staff.

It is often considered one of the most prestigious drama schools in the world: it frequently appears in rankings of the best schools in the world alongside major American institutions like Juilliard. This status attracts candidates from all over the globe every year and helps make RADA a name that resonates far beyond the United Kingdom.

A breeding ground for major British actors

RADA is particularly well known for its impressive list of former students, which helps explain why the school holds such a powerful place in the imagination of theatre lovers. Among them are Tom Hiddleston, Alan Rickman, Ralph Fiennes, Clive Owen, Kenneth Branagh, Mark Rylance, Fiona Shaw, John Hurt, Jessie Buckley… and the list goes on. When you watch a play within its walls, it is hard not to imagine that one of the students on stage might one day be among those names that have become familiar in film or theatre.

This reputation is not just a marketing argument: many industry professionals keep a close eye on RADA to spot new talent. The school maintains strong links with the worlds of theatre, film, television, and radio, which further reinforces its role as a springboard.

A personal attachment to RADA

For many personal reasons, I have a very strong attachment to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. It's where I had one of my most meaningful artistic and professional encounters, with the young English actor Frank Dillane, when he was still a student there (in the same class as actress Jessie Buckley, who won an Oscar in 2026 for her role in Hamnet, by the way!). It is also thanks to RADA that I got Alan Rickman's autograph: he was very involved in the life of the school, where he was vice-chair, and he regularly attended student productions.

I still remember receiving a text message from my boyfriend at the time: "Alan Rickman is two seats away from me tonight." At that moment, RADA was no longer just a prestigious, somewhat abstract drama school, but a very real place where students' paths crossed those of actors I cared about deeply.

How to visit the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art when you are in London

RADA is not a place you visit like a museum, but you can get a feel for its spirit by attending a performance in its theaters and soaking up the atmosphere.

Can you visit RADA without being a student?

You cannot just wander freely through the corridors of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, but you can go inside to see a play and enjoy the areas that are open to the public. RADA is above all a school, keen to preserve its students' privacy, and you can sense that in how the space is organized.

Teaching and technical areas are protected by badge systems, and only certain parts of the building are open to audience members on performance days: the public entrance, the theaters, the bar, and the restrooms. If you like the idea of discovering what goes on behind the scenes at a drama school, the best way is therefore to book a seat for a performance, then take a bit of time to soak up the atmosphere before and after the show.

Attending a play at RADA

You can go see a play at RADA by booking your tickets online, which is the easiest way to discover the school. Student productions are offered at very affordable prices compared to West End theaters, while often delivering a remarkable level of acting and production.

Seats can be booked online in advance and then collected at the box office before the performance. The RADA website offers a clear calendar of upcoming shows, with summaries, cast lists, and the exact venues within the school. To discover the core of the acting training, I would suggest you first look out for productions involving students from the "BA (Hons) in Acting", which is the three‑year program.

Prices vary depending on the production, but generally remain well below what you would pay in London for professional shows. This makes it an ideal activity if you enjoy theater or if you feel like having a slightly different cultural experience, in direct contact with a new generation of actors.

Atmosphere and bar at RADA before or after the show

The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is also a very warm place, with a bar where you can meet up to chat and have a snack before or after a play. It is a friendly, fairly simple space where students, teachers, regular audience members, and passing visitors all mix.

I really enjoy watching the conversations that unfold there at the end of a performance: passionate analyses of the direction, students' nervous laughter, and small friendly reunions. If you are used to more formal theaters, you will quickly notice that the atmosphere here is more relaxed, almost like a family setting, while still remaining very focused on artistic work.

A top-level training program for actors and theater technicians

RADA offers an intensive three‑year program for actors, complemented by several technical courses dedicated to backstage and production careers in the theater.

The 3-year acting course: a highly competitive selection process

RADA's flagship training is its 3-year theater program, accessible through a competitive entrance process. Every year, several thousand candidates audition, and in the end, only around twenty students (about 25) are selected to join the main acting program.

This extremely rigorous selection process means that each class is made up of students who already have very strong profiles and are able to handle an intense work pace. It is a demanding program, aimed at people ready to devote three years of their life to theater in an almost exclusive way.

Here is the staircase students often use to access the classrooms…

In this staircase, you can still find framed boards presenting the most outstanding students of each year. Until the mid-1980s, medals were awarded to the most gifted students, and their names were publicly inscribed in the school's memory: Alan Rickman in 1974, Mark Rylance in 1980, Kenneth Branagh in 1981…

A very comprehensive pedagogy: from classical theater to camera work

The training offered by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is deliberately broad. It prepares students not only for classical theater, but also for singing, stage combat, period dances, radio work, and acting "for the camera". They even receive accent classes to learn how to reproduce different types of English and international accents.

This versatility is a huge asset on the job market: it allows graduates to move with real technical ease from a TV series shoot to a Shakespeare play, from radio dubbing to a historical production. As in many countries, building a career as an actor in the UK is highly competitive, and having attended this type of school remains a strong asset when it comes to contacting agents and directors.

It is a program of extraordinary intensity: having spent time around students from the school, I can tell you that they quite literally spend their lives there during the 3 years of their training. Days often stretch from morning to evening between classes, rehearsals, and projects, but passion far outweighs fatigue.

Technical tracks for behind-the-scenes careers

RADA does not only train actors. It also offers technical tracks that prepare students for careers as costume designers, stage managers, set designers, lighting and sound designers, and many other roles that are essential to the running of a theater.

The sets are created on site, in a basement with an impressive ceiling height, full of nooks where set elements, props, and raw materials that will later be used on stage are piled up. In this maze, you move from a worktable covered in costume patterns to a woodworking area, then to shelves filled with strange objects that will find their place in a future staging.

It is a real labyrinth of rehearsal rooms, basements where the sets for the plays are built, and staircases that make you feel like you are in a Broadway musical…

Students from the technical departments work hand in hand with acting students to imagine set designs, create props, and set up lighting. The fact that everything is produced on site, in the workshops, gives the projects strong coherence and creates a real mutual understanding between the different professions.

Behind the scenes at RADA: a protected yet deeply alive place

The backstage areas at RADA are not open to the public, but you can still feel the general atmosphere of the school even from the spaces that visitors are allowed to access.

Strictly controlled access to teaching areas

RADA is a very secure school and you need a badge to be able to walk through its corridors. The teaching areas and workshops are not open for casual visits, specifically to guarantee students a calm and safe working environment.

I won't name any names, but one day I heard someone get gently told off for letting a relative into the restricted areas. The school really makes sure that only authorized people move around in these spaces, which shows how seriously it takes its students' comfort.

In reality, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art has immense respect for its students. It protects them and makes sure they develop in an environment where they are in the best possible conditions to give their best, without feeling constantly observed by passing visitors.

A daily life completely centered on theater

For two years, the students in a way work "behind closed doors." They go from classes to exercises to creative labs, without yet being exposed to an outside audience. This preparation period allows them to experiment, make mistakes, start over, without the pressure of any outside gaze other than that of their teachers and classmates.

It is only in the third year that they perform regularly in front of an audience, with three productions during the year, including a play they write entirely themselves. They also shoot a short film, which broadens their experience of acting in front of the camera. I really like this progression: first the patient construction phase, then the opening to the outside with concrete projects.

Links with cinema and popular culture (Harry Potter, etc.)

If you are a fan of British cinema or the Harry Potter series, you will recognize many names among RADA's alumni and prizewinners. On the boards honoring the most outstanding students, you will find, for example, Professor Snape (Alan Rickman), Gilderoy Lockhart (Kenneth Branagh), Petunia Dursley (Fiona Shaw).

Other actors from the Harry Potter films studied at RADA: Ralph Fiennes, a.k.a. Lord Voldemort, who graduated in 1985, or John Hurt, a.k.a. Ollivander, who graduated in 1962. When you are sitting in one of the school's theaters, it is hard not to avoid thinking that some of the students who step onto the stage may also one day write part of the history of cinema or television.

RADA's theaters: where to see the students on stage

RADA has several theaters that allow students to work and perform in conditions very close to the professional world.

The Jerwood Vanbrugh Theatre, the largest theater at RADA

The school has several theaters in its main building, including my favorite: the largest one, the Jerwood Vanbrugh Theatre. Depending on the configuration, it can seat between 100 and 183 spectators, which allows for fairly ambitious productions while maintaining a very strong sense of closeness between the actors and the audience.

Having real theaters within the school itself allows students to train in real conditions: professional lighting, stage machinery, welcoming the audience, managing set changes. This is particularly valuable for students in technical tracks, who can experiment on complete projects rather than theoretical scenarios.

Sets and costumes: work created entirely at the school

The costumes for the plays are made by students from the costume department, and they are often genuine works of art. In the workshops, you come across bodices in the middle of being assembled, period dresses half pinned, and piles of fabrics in every kind of texture and color, just waiting for a stage to bring them to life.

Every time I have had the opportunity to see a play at RADA, I have been amazed by the work done by these young people who are not yet professionals, whether on the costumes, the sets, the directing, or the acting itself. You can sense a great creative freedom, supported by very strong guidance.

"The Tree": the students' final performance

One striking tradition at RADA is "The Tree," which takes its name from Herbert Beerbohm Tree. It is the final performance given by the third-year students before they leave the school. This show is performed "behind closed doors" for two days, in front of an audience made up exclusively of professionals: agents, casting directors, directors.

For many students, "The Tree" marks a turning point, as many land their first role even before they have received their degree. This very targeted spotlight is a good illustration of the way RADA connects training and professional integration.

Should you go see a show at RADA during a stay in London?

If you enjoy theater or if the life of prestigious art schools intrigues you, attending a RADA play is an experience that is well worth your while.

Why I recommend that you see a play at RADA

I really encourage you to go see a play at RADA if you are in London. Ticket prices are very low compared with the level of quality on offer, as these are student productions, but you will often see precise acting and demanding directing that easily stand comparison with some professional theaters.

Attending a performance here also means discovering another side of London: that of a city where theatrical creation is not limited to the big bright billboards of the West End, but is also nourished by more intimate venues, more focused on training. And if you are an actor or actress yourself, or simply passionate about theater, you will leave with a wealth of images, ideas, and new desires.

A chance to see future major actors at the very beginning

And if you are lucky, you may have the chance to attend, in a very privileged setting, the very first steps on stage of actors who will be in the spotlight tomorrow. Seeing a talented young actor or actress perform in front of just a few dozen spectators, then seeing them again a few years later in a film or in a major London theater, is an experience that only this type of school can truly offer.

For me, this is part of RADA's appeal: you feel that you are at the very beginning of artistic journeys that are just waiting to unfold. I happened to see Frank Dillane and Jessie Buckley at that stage in their careers, a very enriching experience for following the later "maturation" of their acting.

Getting to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London: practical points of reference

RADA is easily accessible by public transport and can easily be combined with a day of sightseeing in Bloomsbury.

Where is RADA in London?

The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is located on Malet Street, in the Bloomsbury district, a few minutes' walk from Tottenham Court Road and the British Museum. It is a very central area, where universities, bookstores, student cafés, and cultural institutions all sit side by side.

Practically speaking, this means you can plan a visit to the British Museum, a walk through the squares of Bloomsbury, then end the day with a play at RADA without multiplying journeys back and forth. The neighborhood is pleasant to walk around and relatively easy to navigate, even if you are discovering London for the first time.

How to get there by public transport

To get to RADA, the easiest option is to take the London Underground and walk a few minutes. The most convenient stations are generally:

• Tottenham Court Road (Central and Northern lines), which gives fairly direct access to Malet Street.
• Goodge Street (Northern line), slightly further north.
• Russell Square (Piccadilly line), handy if you are coming from King's Cross St Pancras or Heathrow.

Once you come out of the Underground, just follow the main streets toward University College London. You will quickly start seeing university buildings and, by looking up "RADA" on a map, you will be able to get your bearings easily. London buses also serve the area well, but the Underground is often simpler for a first visit.

Key points to remember about the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London

Traveler's memo for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London

Here are the answers to the most frequently asked questions about visiting RADA and its student performances in London.

For me, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is much more than just a school: it is a place where theatrical tradition, professional standards, and youthful energy all come together. By attending a performance there, you step for one evening into a world where everything is devoted to acting and creativity, far from the "glitz" you sometimes associate with the movie world. If you are planning a trip to London and would like to add a cultural experience that's a bit different, RADA truly deserves a place on your list of ideas for evenings out.