Mad Hatters Theatre School was established in June 2011, founded by Theatre Professional Hollie Milburn. Hollie was brought up in Clifton and attended local state schools in the area. Having always been intensely interested in Musical Theatre, Hollie actively took part in all School productions but was not able to attend stage school as it was far too expensive at this time.
After successfully auditioning for and completing a 3 year Musical Theatre BA Course at the prestigious Guildford School of Acting, Hollie pursued an acting career whilst returning to her home region and was flabbergasted that there still, after many years, wasn’t any affordable extra-curricular Theatre Training for children and young people in and around the Shefford area. This is where the idea for Mad Hatters was born!!!
The School was set up with one class and 8 children on the waiting list. Now, 6 years later the School offers 8 classes of affordable, professional theatre training to over 130 students in the local area, and has done to hundreds more over the years. We are very proud to boast that over the years our students have performed at the Gordon Craig Theatre several times, that we have had students appear in London’s West End and had students go onto Drama School to pursue further professional training in the Arts.
Our aim is to offer affordable training for ALL children and young people so that they can improve their physical stamina, fitness and coordination, learn to express themselves in a creative way, build friendships and learn to trust others in a safe environment, explore their imaginations, learn to hear and use their voices, and most importantly improve their self-confidence, self-esteem and learn to believe in their own ability to do anything. All students take part in annual shows in local theatres with full costume, professional set and lighting as well as taking part in smaller shows and demonstrations throughout the year.
We promise to enhance your child’s enthusiasm for performing, nurture their natural talent and both support and develop their drive to succeed. The training we offer is both fun and focussed and we are sure that you will love it, as part of our Mad Hatters Family! However please note, we take our training very seriously and require the students who attend with us to be both hard working and committed. After all, Mad Hatters is a Professional Theatre School and we are proud to hold an excellent reputation as one in the local area.
Come and be part of Mad Hatters Theatre School, you will be thrilled that you joined us!