ARN celebration of RADA Centenary (1904 to 2004)
The ARN celebration of RADA's Centenary was held at the Abingdon Theatre, NYC, on May 16, 2004. The evening festivities began with a viewing of the 1917 silent film, MASKS AND FACES. [The MASKS AND FACES film information (below) is based on background material supplied by Peter Fiddick, writer and critic, who edits RADA The Magazine, and is writing the history of RADA]
The Academy Council agreed to the making of the film as a means to raise moneyto prevent the Academy from closing its doors, in the face of the harsh realities of wartime.
The Academy's sole female Council member, Irene Vanbrugh, was also determined that her brother, Kenneth Barnes, the Academy's first Principal, would have a job to come back to after the war. Irene successfully gained the support of well-known fellow West End artists, Academy personnel and Academy students, each agreeing to perform in the film for free.
The film includes footage of actual Academy Council members re-creating the meeting in which they agreed to have MASKS AND FACES made (see photo directly below).
The ARN celebration of RADA's Centenary was held at the Abingdon Theatre, NYC, on May 16, 2004. The evening festivities began with a viewing of the 1917 silent film, MASKS AND FACES. [The MASKS AND FACES film information (below) is based on background material supplied by Peter Fiddick, writer and critic, who edits RADA The Magazine, and is writing the history of RADA]
The Academy Council agreed to the making of the film as a means to raise moneyto prevent the Academy from closing its doors, in the face of the harsh realities of wartime.
The Academy's sole female Council member, Irene Vanbrugh, was also determined that her brother, Kenneth Barnes, the Academy's first Principal, would have a job to come back to after the war. Irene successfully gained the support of well-known fellow West End artists, Academy personnel and Academy students, each agreeing to perform in the film for free.
The film includes footage of actual Academy Council members re-creating the meeting in which they agreed to have MASKS AND FACES made (see photo directly below).
ARN members who attended this event
but are not pictured here:
Jude Calder, Barbara Caruso, Lisa Eichhorn,
Robert Kaliban, Pilar Limosner, Peter Phillips,
Richard Rivas, Joan Shepard, Sloane Shelton,
John Steiner, Jill Tasker, and Richard Willis
_______________________________________________
but are not pictured here:
Jude Calder, Barbara Caruso, Lisa Eichhorn,
Robert Kaliban, Pilar Limosner, Peter Phillips,
Richard Rivas, Joan Shepard, Sloane Shelton,
John Steiner, Jill Tasker, and Richard Willis
_______________________________________________