Help me complete my training as an actor at LIPA

Dear All,

My name is Anna Bontovics, I'm a 25 year old actor-pupeteer, physical performer and writer from Hungary. I'm neurodiverse, queer and come from a working class family. I have been working hard for the past ten years to make my dream of becoming a professional actor come true. After countless rejections from Hungarian drama schools I tried my luck at auditioning abroad in the hopes of a more inclusive, non-discriminating environment. However, I knew that most likely I wouldn't be able to afford the training. We were all overjoyed and stunned when The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) offered me a place. I was in despair - I could make my dream (not my goal, my absolute dream), if only I had the money. My Mother, with endless kindness, simply said: "Enroll anyway. I'll figure something out. We'll make it work."

And we tried our best- due to Brexit my tuition fee was raised to £16,700/year with three years of training for my BA Honours. Furthermore, I get no student loans, scholarships or any kind of support from the Hungarian or the UK government, but have to pay a VISA and health insurance of course. My mother has taken as many personal loans as possible, including putting a mortgage on our family home in Hungary. I have been working as a Front of House employee at a local Liverpool theatre and teaching English on the side as well, desperately trying to at least cover my living costs. But things did not progress in our favour- the currency exchange rate of the HUF to pounds has risen from 420 to 480 Hungarian Forints for a single pound and I had become temporarily disabled due to a spinal cord issue, making me unable to work for over 9 months and able to work significantly less ever since, despite being in recovery for two years now. I was loosing my ability to walk and take care of myself one week to another but did not receive any help from the NHS and thus, had to pay for a private physiotherapist.

In my final year at LIPA we have come to a point where my mother isn't allowed to take any more loans and I'm a quarter - 4,175 pounds short of my tuition fee. If I can't acquire the money somehow, I will not be allowed to graduate LIPA in July. If I do succeed, it will make me the first Hungarian Acting graduate in LIPA's history, and the second actor to graduate in a UK or US drama school from my hometown, Szeged.

Thus, I kindly ask you to donate and help me graduate. No matter how small the amount it is helpful and will be endlessly appreciated. All the money raised will go directly towards my tuition fee.

If you'd like to follow my work as an actor:

My actor profile

My Instagram page

I also take commissions of pyrographed (woodburning) costum objects and embroidery through my Instagram page, or my email address.

Please don't hesitate to reach out!

Thank you so much for reading,

Anna