Giles Woodforde speaks to George Peck of the Oxford School of Drama

Just north of Woodstock, a rural cluster of buildings has become an arts powerhouse. The European Union Baroque Orchestra is based there, and almost next door is the Oxford School of Drama, founded 27 years ago by George Peck with just nine students.

“I bought a derelict cottage just outside Oxford, worked on doing it up, and had a rethink about actors’ training,” George explains. “In those days actors were expected to learn certain skills, then display them. And if you displayed them according to a director’s wishes, that was fine. But I feel that the idea of helping actors to understand their responsibility for serving the text is a creative process — it isn’t about imitating, it’s about creating something fresh. So I wanted to combine the best of my own Oxford education with a student actor’s potential. That’s how it all started.”

George Peck is a man for whom the expression “irrepressibly enthusiastic” might have been invented. His school, described by Nicholas Hytner, director of the National Theatre, as: “in the top rank of British drama schools” has gradually expanded into a mini-campus of attractive new and converted buildings which fit seamlessly into the countryside. He now accepts only 4 per cent of the candidates who audition for the one and three-year courses. On the staffroom wall is a press cutting about student Samantha Colley, who has just been released early: she’s been picked for a leading role at the Old Vic.

On the day I visit, Ed Woodall asks his students to imagine themselves into the character that might lurk behind a beautifully detailed face mask. Next door, Ian McCracken, stage combat tutor, has the rapiers out: his class involves everything from elegant duels to meaty punch-ups.

“Your fist has to go past the target,” he tells his students, “Otherwise the audience won’t see a contact.”

Afterwards, Ian gently explains some points I’d never thought about. If someone sinks their teeth into your arm, for instance, you don’t necessarily register the pain immediately. And fists must always be thrown on the audience’s blindside, so it’s not obvious no contact has been made.

“If the audience can see a gap between the fist and the face, or whatever the target is, they will know something’s wrong. One of the problems being a fight director and tutor is I’ve become so critical of what’s done on TV — if someone gets punched, they move in the wrong direction. I love getting all these illusions right!”

In an overcrowded profession, students also get guidance on how to conduct themselves at auditions. But, of course, putting yourself in front of a paying audience is a key part of any actor’s training. The School’s post-graduate students will do just that with Othello: Deconstructed at the North Wall Arts Centre. Adapted by George Peck, this shortened version of the play will, George says: “Follow a group of actors tackling the enormity of Shakespeare’s tragedy, drawing parallels with their own lives”. “Each Desdemona is given a moment when she reveals her private feelings to the audience, and shows how she and Othello are when they’re by themselves,” explains Emily Swatton, one of six actors sharing the role. “At the same time Desdemona appears switched off from the audience. It’s a challenging task.”

And no doubt every word spoken at the North Wall will be fully audible, unlike BBC TV’s recent Jamaica Inn. Some blame that “mumblegate” debacle on poor drama school training. True or false?

“It’s an interesting debate,” George Peck replies. “In order to get a student to the level you would expect in a major TV series, or in the theatre, you need to work with them assiduously from day one. There is no way that a student can be taught diction and projection in a week, it takes time.”

Othello Deconstructed
North Wall Arts Centre, Summertown
June 7–14
Tickets: Call 01865 319450 or visit www.thenorthwall.com