Charlie heads to drama school

Congratulations to Year 13 student Charlie Latter who has got into drama school and will now take up a place at a university founded by one of Britain’s greatest songwriters.

From thousands of applicants, Charlie is one of 18 students who will begin a course later this year at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. The university was founded in 1996 by Paul McCartney, of the Beatles, and has since been a springboard for talented young people into the world of performing arts.

Charlie said: “It is a desirable university. They do everything from costume to music, musical theatre to acting, set design and songwriting. The course I am doing is a BA in Acting (Screen and Digital Media) which covers everything from voiceovers, radio, acting in front of a camera but also motion capture for video games. It is the whole TV and film industry, all digital media and screen. The course has a 4% acceptance rate and LIPA receives thousands of applications each year.”

Charlie joined Worth in Year 9 on a Drama scholarship and is grateful to Worth for the opportunities the School has given him as well as the Drama department’s desire to push him beyond his comfort zone. He said: “The first production I was in was Mary Poppins, which was a musical, with choreography and singing. The Drama department will tell you that is not my forte. But at Worth I became much more confident with my singing and I went on to have a solo song in Grease as well as a solo song and another song in Little Shop of Horrors.”

While he has enjoyed all of the shows he has been involved with at Worth, two particularly stand out for Charlie. He said: “First Light was one of the most enjoyable plays I have been part of at Worth. I was both a student director and one of the two leads. It was a World War One theme with barracks built on stage and we hired in WW1 uniform. We performed over three nights and on the last night we had people telling us they had been to all three nights because they had watched the first night and enjoyed it so much. They said it was so emotional and they had cried at the end.”

In Grease, Charlie played Teen Angel. He said: “That was just great fun. This was my first solo song ever and it was lovely to have a featured role in a musical because it was something I would not normally put myself forward for. That gave me the confidence to go on and perform in Little Shop of Horrors where I played the dentist – a very fun character. I had a lot of freedom to act.”

Charlie gained further experience outside of school working as a street actor for Tulleys at their Shocktober Fest, Europe’s largest scare attraction. He said: “I had to create my character, both physically and vocally, coming up with a life story. From here myself and my partner (Samuel Mora) would then interact with groups, acting ‘off-script’ based on the interaction with customers. It was one of the most rewarding and interesting things I have done to date.”

Former Worth student, Samuel Mora, will be on the same course as Charlie at LIPA.

Asked what stands out about Worth's drama provision from other schools, Charlie said: “Worth’s Drama department is really keen to put on interesting and immersive theatre. The acting is high calibre, as is the musical theatre – and when the colossal sets are brought in, the stunning costumes made and the captivating lights fine-tuned, a watch-worthy production is made. Worth puts on performances you will want to watch, which is so important to us as performers.”

For more on Drama at Worth click here.

Charlie is the second Worth student this academic year to secure a place at drama school.

Read about another student here.