The Oxford School of Drama

Ella Road’s The Phlebotomist at Hampstead Theatre is nominated for a 2019 Laurence Olivier Award

ella r individual page new

Ella’s debut play has been nominated in the category ‘Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre’.  It premiered in the Downstairs theatre at Hampstead last year and has transferred to the main house there and will open on 19th March.

It is described as ‘a powerfully provocative vision of a dystopian future, questioning the value we place on one another, whether knowledge really is power, and if love truly can conquer all.’

The Laurence Olivier Awards are annually presented by The Society of London in recognition of achievements in commercial British theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards in 1976, and, renamed in 1984 in honour of English actor Lord Olivier.

Latest News

Seamus Allen

Seamus trained in his hometown, Dublin at the Conservatory of Music and Drama. After graduating he toured nationally with some of Ireland’s premier children’s theatre companies, as well as developing and performing clown performances for Barrabbas, and magic shows for Cahoots N.I. 

Since moving to the UK Seamus has appeared in The Tempest, As You Like It, Comedy of Errors, Macbeth and Robin Hood (Creation Theatre Company), Quest (Folklore Presents) The Disappearance (The Sticking Place),and Where’s My Desi Soulmate? (Rifco Arts). Tv work includes Bear Behaving Badly (Thames Valley).  Seamus is also a skilled improviser, training with Ken Campbell’s School of Night and core cast in the annual London 50 hour Improvathons and performs with “Austentatious, The improvised Jane Austen Novel”.  

Seamus was the director of the Young Company at the Watermill theatre in Newbury. He established Readings only Improvisation comedy club, “What’s the Game?! Improv”, hosting shows as well as coaching professional performers.  Seamus was Head of acting at Read college, a course which he wrote and which became one of the most successful Foundation courses for getting students into the top acting degree programmes in the UK.  Most recently he has been Head of Year at Drama Studio London and gained an MSc in Performance Psychology focusing on excellence in actor training.

Seamus is Head of Foundation and teaches on the Foundation Courses