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 graduating from Mountview.

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 is awarded The Gyearbuor Asante Award for Acting 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.