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Life at LIPA in pictures

These nine students want to be at the forefront of our performing arts industries in a few short years. But first, during their final year at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, they’ve got to hone their craft.

Connor Lee Dye in Whose Afraid of the Working Class?

The performances start coming thick and fast. Final year actor Connor Lee Dye (centre) has been cast in the lead role of a new play written by Luke Barnes called Whose Afraid of the Working Class?

Dan Kraines at the See Me Now conference

Dan Kraines is a club and radio DJ. He’s also a Music and Entertainment Management student, and during his final year is having to become comfortable speaking at conferences and presentations in front of his peers and the wider industry. Photo credit: Matt Goodfellow.

Rachael McDougall working on the Immigration Project

Applied Theatre and Community Drama students are training to facilitate art projects within communities, often for a social purpose. Rachael McDougall is working with two different community groups in Liverpool, to encourage a dialogue about immigration. It’s not been easy.

Danielle Robinson

LIPA’s graduating students are in-training for final assessments and performances. Dancer Danielle Robinson is getting to grips with aerial choreography.

Sarah Gallegos in Crimes of the Heart

American student Sarah Gallegos is a final year acting student. She’s playing the lead role in Crimes of the Heart, playing a downtrodden older sister dealing with tragedy and heartbreak in Mississippi. But Sarah is turning away from the spotlight, she now wants to concentrate on becoming a Director. Credit: Sam Heath.

Lauren Reyhani's All Flesh is Grass

Lauren went back to study theatre and production design at University because she doesn’t just want to design costumes; she wants to build the world. Her final project was a short installation piece, performed to one audience member called All Flesh Is Grass. The theme? Life and Death.

Lauren Reyhani

Mature student Lauren Reyhani is studying Theatre and Production Design at LIPA. She’s already a successful costume designer and in demand outside of her studies. She’s pictured here working on a short film called Marina & Adrienne, set on a fishing trawler on the north sea. It was part of the Shakespeare 400 celebrations in 2016.

Katya Edwards

Singer-songwriter Katya Edwards has been working on an album of material which she’ll perform live at the end of her final year. Her tutors are excited for her future and have been helping set up writing sessions with professional songwriters and producers to give her a head start in the music industry.
Katya’s final performance at university is part of the 2ube Xtra festival in the Paul McCartney auditorium at LIPA. It’s put on entirely by students, from the organisation and marketing to the lighting and sound tech.

Shannen Merwick's I am Human

Working with a group of women from the Al-Rahma mosque in Toxteth, Liverpool, Community Drama student Shannen Merwick is putting on a short play about Islamophobia. It’s called ‘I Am Human’ and aims to challenge perceptions about Muslim women.

Janice Long and Paul McCartney

It’s been over twenty years since Sir Paul McCartney and Brit-school founder Mark Featherstone-Witty set up the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts on the site of the former Beatle’s old school. Sir Paul was worried about what they would offer - as he tells Janice Long "you can’t teach them to be John Lennon". Instead LIPA claims to teach students the business side of one of the most competitive industries there is.

Django Holder's graduation

The reward for all of that hard work? A shake of the hand from one of the most famous musicians in the world, co-founder of LIPA, Sir Paul McCartney. Sound technician Django Holder won the ‘Spirit of LIPA’ award for lending his services to pretty much anyone who needed them!

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