Three hundred and eighteen students are graduating from Rose Bruford College during four ceremonies held at Holy Trinity Lamorbey in Sidcup on 10 and 11 September 2026.

The Class of 2026 includes Spotlight Screen Prize finalist Sofia Bryan Compton and Stage Management Association award nominee Izzy Cox, while graduating directors, writers and performers recently presented original work at the Edinburgh and Camden Fringe festivals over the summer.

Graduates from the College’s London and Wigan provision were joined by their families, College staff and recently announced Fellows and Honorary Fellows for ceremonies led by Principal and CEO Professor Randall Whittaker.

Professor Randall Whittaker, Principal and CEO of Rose Bruford College, commented:

“One of the privileges of my role is getting to know our students as people, not just as performers, makers and practitioners. That’s why graduation is always such an emotional occasion. You see individuals arrive with talent and potential, and you watch them grow in confidence, skill and ambition.

 

This graduating class has already achieved an extraordinary amount. Many are creating work professionally, leading projects and opening doors for themselves and others. More importantly, they have been wonderful members of our community.

 

I’m proud of every one of them and very pleased to celebrate this moment with them and their families.”

Emerging Talent

The Class of 2026 is already making its mark across theatre, screen and emerging forms of storytelling, with graduating students developing original work, earning industry recognition, appearing in professional productions and creating new opportunities for themselves and others.

This year’s graduating cohort includes Sofia Bryan Compton, who was shortlisted for the 2026 Spotlight Prize, placing her among just 40 graduating performers selected from 60 drama schools across the UK and Ireland. She was one of 20 finalists in the Screen Prize category, recognising her as one of the UK’s emerging screen talents.

In stage management, Izzy Cox was nominated for an Antonia Collins Early Careers Award at the Stage Management Association Awards.

Following her programme of study at Rose Bruford College’s Wigan campus, Mollie Evans was selected for the National Youth Theatre’s Epic Stages course in summer 2026, joining a programme designed to support emerging performers at the beginning of their professional careers.

Graduating students have spent the summer developing and presenting new work at some of the UK’s leading performing arts festivals, including Edinburgh and Camden Fringes.

This includes performing in 2025 graduate Eve Dixon-Batchelor’s horror play Turn the Cloth at the Gilded Balloon Teviot during this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, following a sold-out run at London’s Courtyard Theatre during last year’s Camden Fringe, after Dixon-Batchelor completed the Young Producers course at the National Theatre earlier this year.

Meanwhile, MFA Contemporary Directing Practice graduate Neha Hemachandra took Truth Warrior Network to Edinburgh and is currently directing SESTERCENTENNIAL, a new solo play written and performed by MFA Collaborative Theatre Making graduate Arif Silverman at London’s Bread & Roses Theatre.

At Camden Fringe, The Boy in the Ocean, an original play by graduating student Dylan Maellas, explored conversations around male experiences of trauma, directed and performed by a 12-strong cast of graduating students.

Dino Squara, named a ‘One to Watch’ by British Cinematographer following his Foundation Degree in Arts and Design at Arts University Plymouth, has now completed his training in European Theatre Arts at Rose Bruford, founding his own company and directing Karl’s Head at London’s Bread & Roses Theatre in August.

Many of our graduates are contributing to storytelling with social impact. Graduating student Mason Chandler-Wickens appeared in Within These Walls, a moving new play as part of a wider year-long Warnerford 200 programme celebrating 200 years of mental health care history in Oxfordshire.

Alumni Success

The achievements of the Class of 2026 follow another year of significant recognition for Rose Bruford alumni working across the creative industries.

Olivier Award-winning lighting designer Jessica Hung Han Yun‘s recent projects include Dreams This Way, a contemporary dance work by choreographer Micaela Taylor, debuting as part of the “Vibrations” programme at the Palais Garnier, Paris Opera in 2026, Bow Out, a new work by Micaela Taylor featured in the English National Ballet’s 2026–27 season, and Ai Weiwei: Button Up!, a major exhibition currently at the Warehouse, Manchester. She is also the lighting designer for Hamlet Hail to the Thief, the acclaimed theatrical adaptation of Shakespeare’s play featuring music by Radiohead, co-created by Radiohead’s Thom Yorke alongside directors Steven Hoggett and Christine Jones, playing at the Barbican this winter.

On stage, alumnus Michael Shaeffer recently made his Royal Shakespeare Company debut as King Aerys II Targaryen in George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones: The Mad King, while alumnus Harry Clarke will be seen in the new production of King Lear at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester opening this autumn.

College President and alumnus Ray Fearon currently leads the UK tour of Fences, a co-production between Leeds Playhouse, Lyric Hammersmith Theatre and HOME Manchester and the first major revival of the American classic in more than a decade.

Alumna Georgia Bird, who trained as a Stage Manager at Rose Bruford College, has worked for over a decade across UK and international productions. She is currently General Manager of Empire Street Productions, the team behind Sunday in the Park with George, set to star Jonathan Bailey and coming to the Barbican in 2027.

Alumnus Tom Royal features in the full-cast audio editions of the original seven Harry Potter stories, produced and released by Audible (Amazon) earlier this year. The project brings together a cast of more than 200 actors and represents one of the largest and most complex audiobook productions to date.

College alumni also play a key role behind the scenes of major live events and international sporting ceremonies, contributing technical, creative and production expertise to some of the world’s most high-profile cultural moments. Lighting alumnus Tom Young served as Lead Lighting Programmer for the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony, working alongside recent alum Marc Heimendiger.

On screen, Jessica Gunning continues to contribute to internationally significant screen projects, starring alongside Ian McKellen, Michaela Coel and James Corden in Steven Soderbergh’s dark comedy The Christophers, and set to portray Cass Elliot in forthcoming feature film adaptation of My Mama Cass.

This year, Alumna Sara Huxley‘s Mini Productions signed with United Talent Agency, marking the teams’ continued growth within the international film and television market.

Rose Bruford alumni are regularly recognised at the highest levels of national and international awards. In 2026, four alumni were nominated for Olivier Awards, with alumnus Tom Edden winning Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical for Paddington: The Musical, following his nomination in 2025 for Waiting for Godot. Fellow alumni Katie Brayben, Joshua Pharo and Hayley Squires were also recognised with nominations at this year’s Olivier Awards for their work in Into the Woods, Kenrex and All My Sons respectively.

Voice artist and alum Alex Jordan is part of the team nominated in three categories at the BAFTA Games Awards 2026 for The Alters, a sci-fi survival game recognised as one of the standout indie titles of the year. The game’s focus on deep, ethical decision-making and character-driven gameplay could set a new benchmark for indie-developed games.

Alumna Ewa Dina was awarded the prestigious JMK Award for early-career theatre directors and will direct Theresa Ikoko’s award-winning Girls at the Young Vic this autumn.

Recent graduates are also making their mark. 2024 graduate Lev Govorovski has been shortlisted for a prestigious Stage Debut Award in the Best Designer category, recognising his work as a designer on one-man play Ron at Riverside Studios, whilst in Edinburgh 2022 graduate Georgia Polly-Taylor won a Gold Fringe Theatre Award this summer for her one-woman show Georgia Polly-Taylor: Very Hot. Very Messy, developed with fellow alumna Nancy Hannigan, who directs and co-produces the production.

On screen, Netflix’s Adolescence received significant critical acclaim and international recognition across the 2025–26 awards season, with alumnus Stephen Graham receiving major industry recognition for his performance and writing, alongside fellow alumna Hannah Walters, who served as an executive producer on the series.

Alumnus Sir Gary Oldman was also recognised for his performance in Slow Horses, receiving nominations across the awards season before, and was honoured with the 2026 Global Icon Award at the Edinburgh TV Festival.

Breakthrough Research

From developing accessible VR experiences to pioneering creative learning for children and young people, Rose Bruford College is committed to socially engaged research that is making a tangible difference in our communities.

A Rose Bruford College VR project, Angel VR – an accessible dance and immersive technology initiative led in partnership with AVA Dance Company – was one of thirty-eight funded through a £9m UKRI proof of concept programme announced earlier this year. The goal of the project is to create an inclusive, virtual reality experience for users with diverse physical and sensory needs.

Professor Brian Lobel was this year awarded a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship and was named one of nine Health & Wellbeing Churchill Fellows, recognising his pioneering work exploring how arts and culture can support people living with and beyond cancer. His Churchill Fellowship will take him to the USA and Mexico to explore international approaches to post-cancer care.

Rose Bruford College conferred professorships on two members of academic staff, recognising careers that have shaped their fields nationally and internationally. Professor Jeremy Harrison was appointed Professor of Actor-Musicianship, and Professor Mary Irwin Furey was appointed Professor of Voice. Harrison is currently working on a Playground commission, collaborating with Makers of Imaginary Worlds, the University of Nottingham’s Mixed Reality Laboratory and the Turing AI Fellowship, exploring how soft robotics and arts-led approaches can support relationships between babies and adult carers.

The College previously announced that actors and alumni David Ajao and Macarena Gómez will receive Fellowships at this year’s Graduation, alongside Honorary Fellowships for comedian Ola Labib, former Chair of the Board of Trustees Jennifer Sims, and performer and advocate Kim Tatum.

Fellow and alumna Macarena Gómez said:

“I’m deeply proud to return to Rose Bruford and to be part of its family, and I hope today’s graduates will protect their imagination, stay curious and remember that there is no such thing as an overnight success.”

Honorary Fellow Ola Labib said:

“I hope my story reminds students that there is no single route into the creative industries. Your career may take unexpected turns, and the skills, resilience and experiences you gain along the way can open doors you never imagined possible.”

 

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