Hi — I’m Matt Magee. I’ve just been offered a place on the MA Classical Acting course at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, and I’ve got four weeks to raise the funds to take it.
The tuition fees come to just under £30,000.
Every fibre of my being is cringing as I write this, but here we are — I am gonna need some help!
Why this matters:
Three years ago, I left my band — after nearly a decade fronting a post-punk group — to pursue acting seriously. It had been calling to me since I was young, but in my early 20s when I was getting sober I chose music and formed a band with some old school friends, one of whom was also getting sober at the time.
We had some great times, played some wicked shows, recorded some cool tunes, and I learned a huge amount about performance, storytelling, and collaboration (and gratefully spent the rest of my 20s clean!).
But acting never left me.
Over the past three years, I’ve been steadily building toward this moment: applying to courses, taking classes, getting out there, learning monologues, auditioning for commercials and short films thanks to my wonderful agent, writing and devising my own work -- bit by bit, paving the way.
This MA at Central isn’t just about becoming an actor. It’s about developing as a performer, storyteller, playwright, filmmaker, and theatre-maker — someone who can move people by creating memorable because truthful characters, breathe fresh life into our language and culture, and with a heart full of love for life and art to inspire others to do the same. I want to contribute meaningfully to people’s lives through my work. Through laughter and grief, beauty, and pathos.
I'll be going deep into Shakespeare and touching on other traditions from Greek tragedy right through to Stanislawski and beyond. I'll be developing new writing, working with other people at the top of their game to bring out the best in each other. I'll be deepening the craft. This has been a dream of mine for years.
Why I’m asking for help:
The full tuition is nearly £30k. I’m applying for grants, charitable funding, private donors — and I’ll be continuing to teach guitar throughout the year to support my living costs. But I don’t have that kind of cash sitting around. My family doesn’t either.
Some people are born to be doctors. Some are born to be teachers.
This is my calling.
This is why I’m here on this earth.
I don’t know what else to do. I don’t have anything else I want to do.
And I’m so grateful that I’ve been afforded a life where I’ve been able to do it to the extent I have — and now I want to keep going. This is the next step.
If you know me…
You might have seen me play with one of my bands. Maybe you’ve come to a show or followed something I’ve made. Maybe you’re a friend or mentor or someone who’s supported my creative work in other ways over the years. If so: thank you. And if you’re able to help now, I’ll be deeply grateful.
And if you don’t know me…
Hi, I’m Matt Magee. I’m an actor, musician, teacher, writer — trying to get better at all of it. If you’ve read this far and feel like chucking a few quid toward someone trying to make something good — thank you. And if not, fair enough. Sharing this would still help a lot.
With love and thanks,
Matt
Organiser
Matt Magee
Organiser
England