Alumni

The impact of the ADC on British theatre is vast. Our alumni include Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi, Simon Russell Beale, Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Rachel Weisz and many many more
Rent backstage
Rent backstage (Photo: Johannes Hjorth)

We boast an alumni list far longer than any other theatrical training ground.

The impact of the ADC on British Theatre is almost inestimable; four of the five directors of the National Theatre (Sir Peter Hall, Richard Eyre, Sir Trevor Nunn and Nicholas Hytner) are alumni of the Theatre. 

In the world of comedy too, names as diverse as Peter Cook, Monty Python, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie to more recent alumni such as David Mitchell and Robert Webb all learnt their craft here.

Many of our performers today will be the famous names of tomorrow.

Morwenna Banks Simon Russell Beale
Eleanor Bron David Buck
Tony Church Emma Corrin
Christian Coulson Julie Covingron
Julian Curry Sam Dastor
Kate Duchene Robin Ellis
Stephen Fry John Grilo
Roger Hammond Phyllida Hancock
Terrence Hardiman Jonah Hauer-King
Tom Hollander Sir Derek Jacobi
Simon Jones Richard Kay
Christopher Luscombe Miriam Margolyes
Daniel Massey Sir Ian McKellen
Poppy Miller Michael Pennington
Bryan Pringle Corin Redgrave
Sir Michael Redgrave Jonathon Cake
John Shrapnel Clive Swift
Tilda Swinton Emma Thompson
Justine Waddell Ian Wallace
Bill Wallis Rachel Weisz
Olivia Williams Mark Wing-Davey
Peter Woodthorpe Sarah Woodward
David Yelland Hannah Yelland
Alexander Armstrong David Baddiel
Sacha Baron Cohen John Bird
Simon Bird Tim Brooke-Taylor
Graham Chapman John Cleese
Peter Cook Hugh Dennis
Jimmy Edwards John Fortune
Stephen Fry Graeme Garden
Kit Hesketh-Harvey Alex Horne
Eric Idle Tim Key
Hugh Laurie David Mitchell
Rory McGrath Nick Mohammed
Ben Miller Jimmy Mulville
Rob Newman Steve Punt
Leo Reich Griff Rhys-Jones
Joe Thomas Tony Slattery
Johnny Sweet Sandi Toksvig
Robert Webb  
Michael Apted Annabel Arden
John Barton John Boorman
Jez Butterworth Richard Cottrel
Declan Donnellan Dominic Dromgoole
Mark Elder Sir Richard Eyre
Stephen Frears Malcom Griffitds
Sir Peter Hall Carev Harrison
Nicholas Hytner David Jones
Jonathon Kent Nicolas Kent
Jonathon Lynn John Madden
Simon McBurney Michael McCaffrey
Sam Mendes Roger Mitchell
Robin Midgley Jonathon Miller
Mike Newell Trevor Nunn
Tony Palmer Clive Perry
Steven Pimlott David Poutney
George Rylands Iain Softley
Tim Sullivan Tim Supple
John Trademan Chris Weitz
Peter Wood  
Douglas Adams Clive Anderson
Mary Allen William Allen
Cecil Beaton Timothy Birdsall
Michael Birkett Howard Brenton
David Brierley AS Byatt
Alistair Cooke Margaret Drabble
Sir John Drummond Anthony Everitt
Julian Fellowes Peter Fincham
Michael Frayn Sir David Frost
Bamber Gascoigne Mel Giedroye
Germaine Greer Lee Hall
Nick Hancock Sir David Hare
Norman Hartnell Peter Hemmings
Clive James Nathan Joseph
Chris Kelly Tom Kempinski
Duncan Kenworthy Raymond Leppard
Graham Marchant Denis Marks
Toby Marlow Matthew Mitchell
Jonathan James Moore Lucy Moss
William Nicholson Timothy O'Brien
Gary O'Connor Bill Oddie
Nick Ormerod Sue Perkins
Julian Pettifer Jan Pienkowski
Sylvia Plath Simon Relph
Tom Rosenthal Nick Salmon
Peter Samuelson James Sargant
Anthony Shaffer Peter Shaffer
Julian Slade Philip Steadman
Richard Stilgoe Guy Woolfenden
Sir John Tooley John Tusa
Michael Winner  

Alumni Updates

We would love to hear from our alumni about any relevant life updates or theatrical successes. Please get in touch with hello@adctheatre.com to share your news with us.

If you would like to receive alumni bulletins by email, please make sure you are opted into alumni communications in the contact preferences section of your online account, and that you are tagged as an Alumnus in the other preferences section. Or you can call our Box Office on 01223 300085.

05/07/23 We regret to pass on the news that former Chairman of the Theatre's Executive Committee, Nigel Bragg (1986-1993), has passed away. We thank Nigel for all of his contributions to the ADC Theatre and pass on our deepest condolences to his family and friends.
14/06/23 Congratulations to Leo Reich (2016-2019) who has been listed in the Times as the arts critics pick of the best new British talent. This follows sell-out runs of his comedy show, Literally Who Cares?! in London and New York.
26/05/23 Jonah Hauer-King (2014-2016) will be starring as Prince Eric in Disney's live action adaptation of The Little Mermaid, released in cinemas today.