Academic Awards

The Diana Boddington Award

Diana Boddington enjoyed a hugely successful career as a stage manager, working with Tyrone Gutherie, Orson Wells and Laurence Olivier at the New Theatre, Chichester Festival Theatre and the National Theatre where she remained until her retirement in 1987.  

She was highly respected by the many leading names she worked with and was honoured to be the first stage manager to receive an MBE for services to the theatre. Diana enjoyed close links with Mountview, where her daughter Claudia trained, so it is a fitting tribute to present an annual award in Diana’s name to an outstanding Technical Theatre student at their graduation.

Gyearbuor Asante Award for Acting

Gyearbuor Asante came to England from Ghana in 1967 and trained at Mountview where he distinguished himself as a prize-winning student. 

He had numerous theatre, film and television appearances to his credit and was perhaps best known as the African student Matthew in the hugely successful Channel 4 sitcom, Desmond’s, produced by Humphrey Barclay. He died from natural causes at the early age of 58 in 2000.

The Gyearbuor Asante Memorial Fund, from which The Gyearbuor Asante Award for Acting is awarded, was founded by Humphrey Barclay and friends including Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ian McKellen, Richard O’Brien, Hugh Quarshie, Emma Thompson, John Alderton, Pauline Collins, Kenneth Branagh, Maureen Lipman, Neil Pearson and Matthew Kelly. They could think of no better way to commemorate Gyearbuor’s inspiration, contribution, and example than to offer a yearly salute to the talent of somebody new – somebody who in the view of the judges is equally likely to make an unforgettable mark on the acting scene.

The Gyearbuor Asante Award is presented to the top-scoring undergraduate performance student each year.

The André Ptaszynski Prize for Producing

André Ptaszynski was an award-winning producer held in the highest regard throughout UK theatre and the international stage. 

With his first West End production opening in the late ‘70s, he was a key player in shaping British theatre and entertainment into the world-leading industry it is today. A Trustee at Mountview from 2017 until his untimely death in 2020, André brought incredible experience, wisdom, wit and generosity to our Board and to Mountview as a whole.

Awarded each year to a graduate of Mountview’s MA in Creative Producing, this prize recognises a student who displays exemplary leadership and creative collaboration – qualities which André embodied.

THE EMILY OULTON AWARD 

Emily Oulton studied MA Theatre Directing in the class of 2021/22. Emily loved Mountview, and was interested in all disciplines of theatre, which made her direction inclusive and collaborative.

Emily’s MA show, Generous Creatures, combined extracts from A Midsummer’s Night Dream with the contemporary experiences of two young queer women, one of whom has her drink spiked in a club. The piece reflected Emily’s belief in creating theatrical content which expressed her own views while continuing to shape her professional evolution as a director. For Emily, writing was not only about expressing her views, but also about shaping her evolution as a director. She wrote all her life, and her notebooks are packed with scenes, ideas for plays, stories, poems and screenplay outlines. 

After completing her MA, Emily directed her first play Parma Violets at the Vaults Festival in February 2023. Shortly after the much-acclaimed run, Emily fell suddenly and gravely ill. She was admitted to hospital, spent a short while in a coma and died at the end of March 2023.

Established by donations from her family and friends, the Emily Oulton Award honours her memory and creative spirit, encouraging students to be brave in sharing original work. It is awarded to a student who, like Emily, has shown courage and originality in their creative practice during their time at Mountview. The award offers financial support to help the recipient continue writing beyond graduation.

THE ARIF HUSSEIN AWARD

Arif Hussein studied acting at Mountview from 1980- 83 and went on to an illustrious career as an actor, theatre founder, screenwriter, film producer, and Hollywood executive producer.

Through his company Kaos Films, he established the prestigious British Short Screen Play Competition, giving many upcoming film makers an important break into the industry. Many films produced from the competition went on to win international film festival awards. 

Arif’s values of entrepreneurialism and compassion shone through his work. He sadly died from COVID-19 in January 2021. We are honoured that his wife Kathryn Wolfe chose to set up the award in Arif’s name.

The award is made annually to a graduating student who emanates the attributes Arif held dear.