It’s always exciting to see Oxford School of Drama alumni collaborating in the industry, and this month we’re delighted to spotlight a project bringing together several graduates from across different years.
Pattledom, directed by OSD alumna Charity Wakefield, will be performed at Watts Gallery as part of the gallery’s programme exploring the fascinating history of the Pattle sisters. The performances will be followed by a Q&A with the creative team.
The production features three OSD graduates: Daisy Bainbridge, Sara Safi, and Maryam Grace. Seeing our alumni working together in this way is always incredibly special, and it’s a fantastic example of the creative connections that begin during training, continuing long after graduation.
From London Season to the Professional Performance
Daisy Bainbridge and Sara Safi first met director Charity Wakefield during their London Season, the final term of the Three Year Course at OSD.
The London Season is designed to bridge the gap between training and the professional industry. During this time, students move their work to London and collaborate with industry professionals through performances, workshops, and research and development opportunities. The aim is to help graduating actors step confidently into their professional lives and begin building the creative relationships that will shape their careers.
The London Season further highlights the importance of collaboration and creating opportunities, skills that we strongly believe put our grads in the best position to head into the professional world.
As part of the 2025 London Season, Charity led a week of research and development workshops with the graduating actors. For Daisy and Sara, this was an invaluable opportunity to explore new material in a professional rehearsal environment alongside an established director and OSD alumna.
That initial week of creative exploration has now grown into a new collaboration, with Daisy and Sara joining Charity once again on Pattledom, alongside fellow OSD graduate Maryam Grace.
Tickets for Pattledom are now sold out, but you can visit the Watts Gallery to see the exhibit about the awe inspiring Pattle sisters until the 4th May. Good luck to Charity, Sara, Daisy, Maryam, and the whole Pattledom team – we have no doubt Pattledom will be a success. Theatre about incredible women, made by incredible women. What a treat for International Women’s Day!
Alumni Supporting Alumni
The collaborative spirit fostered at OSD often inspires graduates to create their own opportunities for making work. Across the industry, alumni are launching scratch nights, development labs and creative platforms that bring artists together to experiment, collaborate and share ideas.
Notable examples include Pressure, Kick the Door Down, and Reset — initiatives founded or run by OSD graduates that champion emerging writers, actors and directors while building supportive creative communities.
Kick the Door Down is a new writing lab designed to platform exceptional emerging writers and performers, encouraging artists to take creative risks and take up space in an industry that can often feel full of closed doors. Co-founded by OSD One Year grad Oli Fyne, the project focuses on the exciting stage between the first spark of an idea and a fully realised piece of work, giving writers and performers time to experiment and develop their ideas together. Over a three-month development period, artists receive feedback and support from one another as well as industry professionals, helping transform early ideas into new plays, short films and professional calling cards. In its first year alone, the initiative has partnered with Riverside Studios and The Pleasance.
Meanwhile, Pressure, founded in the café bar of Soho Theatre by OSD grad Gregor Roach and his 2nd Quarter Productions partner, brings together emerging theatre-makers for a professional-quality scratch night with a competitive twist. Writers are given six weeks to respond to a creative prompt and develop a short play, with four finalists selected to bring their pieces to life with a director and cast. After just twelve hours of rehearsal, the plays go head-to-head across three nights, with audiences voting for their favourite production. The event has already attracted industry attention, with agents, programmers and casting directors attending performances, and several pieces developing into full-length plays. The latest Pressure nights are coming up this month. Get your tickets for performances on the 12th, 13th and 14th March before they sell out!
Another alumni-led initiative, Reset, has grown out of the popular Tuesday Night acting gym — a weekly gathering where actors meet to practise their craft through scene work, cold readings and peer direction. Founded by Oxford School of Drama graduates Catriona Stirling and Aiyana Bartlett and Royal Conservatoire of Scotland graduates, the group has grown into a thriving community of actors across London. Reset brings that playful spirit of experimentation to the stage, inviting audiences to watch actors perform scenes before radically reimagining them based on audience suggestions, pushing performers to respond instinctively and creatively in the moment. Reset have their first performance on the 25th March, be sure to get your tickets here!
Together, initiatives like these and work like Pattledom demonstrate how the collaborative ethos developed during training at OSD continues to shape graduates’ work long after they leave the school. By creating spaces where artists can test ideas, support one another and build new work, OSD alumni are helping to foster the next generation of theatre-makers.