Post by Richard Delaney

As the academic year draws to a close at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, I want to begin a short retrospective series looking back across the public work this year's graduating CDT cohort engaged with — starting with where their final year began: Grimm Tales, directed by Rachel Valentine Smith, in November 2025. Taking five classic Grimm tales and filtering them through the lens of our time, the company built a glorious, surreal mayhem of princesses, witches, and wolves — spinning storytelling itself on its head, and asking real questions of how narrative shapes culture and identity, and vice versa. What stayed with me most was the ownership and agency the company held within the process itself, and the live, dynamic energy that ran right through it. The production was performed by BA (Hons) Acting: Collaborative and Devised Theatre, designed and produced by BA (Hons) Theatre Practice, and with contributions from Central's Pedagogies course — and beyond! Exactly the kind of cross-course collaboration that defines so much of the public-facing work in this building. Images by Cam Harle. Director Rachel Valentine Smith Set Designer Noga Gilboa Costume Designer Matilda Wheeler Assistant Costume Designer Sophie Uno Lighting Designer Adrien Mathieu Assistant Lighting Designer & LX Programmer Jack O'Neill Consultant Video Designer Ryan Watson Video Production Gregory Essex Sound Designer Zoe Olajide Sound Associate & Sound Operator Jesper Raymond Voice Coach Megan Burns Costume Supervisor Alison Cartledge Assistant Costume Supervisor Ashleigh Ridding Dramaturg & Co-Creator Lara May Movement Advisor Laure Bachelot Stage Manager Wang Shao Kai Deputy Stage Manager Seraphina Denton ASM Book Cover Finn Meader Assistant Stage Manager Orr Hacohen Head LX Lewis Ashton Deputy LX Mika Herring Myrholt Fit Up LX Crew Deejay Clayton & Vinay Nagah Production Sound Engineer Steven Tovell Stage Crew Harry Maltby, Alex Webster & Brooklyn C. Eri Dresser Micky Jordan & Storm Williams Production Manager James Thompson. Cast: Noma Abifade William Alexander Dara Anklesaria Louise Appleford Shamailah Elleston Pascall Harrison Fennell Carmen Fyfe Paulo Francesco Granata Emre Gunes Ryelie Kaye Char McIntyre Ida Marie Nielsen Jevan Onasanya Ifunanya Nnaji Freedom Osagie Camille Quain Leon Schoder Molly Thorne Sophie Leigh Williams.