BA (Hons) Acting for Stage & Screen students will present an original production The Courage Within by Becci Sharrock, a new co-commission between ARC and The Northern School of Art this month on Wednesday 20th May and Thursday 21st May 2026 at The Arc, Stockton Arts Centre. The Courage Within is a new play written specifically for final year BA Acting for Stage & Screen students as part of their final showcase as undergraduates at the school. This kaleidoscopic piece explores both small and large acts of courage in day-to-day life, shining a light on the sometime secret battles those around us face.

The Courage Within has been written with Gateshead based writer, theatre maker and creative producer Becci Sharrock. Becci is a Creative Associate at Unfolding Theatre and worked as a Writer in Residence at Beamish Museum, her recent writing credits include Night Classes (Unfolding Theatre & ARC, Stockton), The Secret Garden (Queen’s Hall, Hexham) and It Takes Two (Live Theatre). She has previously worked with and for a number of North East cultural organisations including New Writing North, The Word and Hexham Book Festival.

Speaking of the play Becci said “The Courage Within is a play following the lives of a group of office workers over the course of one weekend. In a series of snapshots, it explores just how little we know those we spend our working week with, and the many forms that courage can take from facing our fears to trying something new, reaching out to those around us or making life changing decisions.  As the characters form new friendships, re-light old flames and follow their hopes and dreams we join them all as they each seek to find The Courage Within.”

Senior Lecturer for Acting Jonny Bussell said “We are really excited to share this piece and it is brilliant that we are able to support local talent in producing new work.  The play has been developed through workshops Becci ran with our third year students where they developed scenes from the stimulus.  Becci then created the play taking inspiration from the students’ ideas.”

On the process of developing the piece Becci stated “I’ve really enjoyed working with the students to create The Courage Within.  Right at the beginning of the process we workshopped ideas together and they were all very generous in sharing what courage means to them and the myriad of ways it could be explored in the play.  This formed the basis for the script and gave me the opportunity to create a rich and complex narrative, with lots of interwoven stories.  It was a challenging brief to create a piece with such a large number of equally weighted, largely gender neutral parts – but as is often the case, these ‘restrictions’ actually created a really exciting proposition and I hope audiences enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed writing it.”

Students Molly McKean, from Hull said. “I’m playing the character of Kerry she’s a single mum who’s looking to get back into the world of dating.  I’ve enjoyed my time at uni, I’ve especially enjoyed working on the bigger scale plays I love being part of an ensemble and working with new people each time”

Fellow actor Jade Osborne who is playing Ali commented “Ali is a new starter in the office and longs to build relationships with her co-workers. She is a quiet observer to everything that goes on which makes her perspective quite interesting -especially amongst all the different dynamics of the office. Throughout the play, we see her try and build up her courage to overcome her fears and communicate with her co-workers.”

“From my time on the course, it’s helped me grow as both an actor and a person. There’s such a variety of topics, styles and genres that get explored through the three years. This variety has given me the opportunity to constantly experiment with new and exciting material alongside my peers. Constantly trying new things is a big part of the course, whether it’s working with new people or trying something you never thought you could do. This has made me open to opportunities in the future and has really prepared me for the industry.”

When talking about the students Jonny stated “Our third year students are the first graduates since we joined The Federation of Drama Schools and they are such a talented year group.  They have been diligent, creative and fun students to work with for the last three years and we are all really excited to see what they do after graduating.”

This years final production will also have technical support from BA Film, TV & Theatre Production students. Find out more and book your tickets here.