An 18-year-old from Bowdon will follow in the footsteps of Tom Hiddleston and Sir Kenneth Branagh after winning a coveted place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).
From thousands of young hopefuls who applied, Jonah Rzeskiewicz won one of 25 places at the world-renowned home of British stage and film craft.
He’s now had to turn down a similarly coveted offer from Paul McCartney’s LIPA school in Liverpool.
Jonah had been rehearsing two soliloquies since October, from Hamlet and Coriolanus, for the first of four stages of his audition.
He then had to perform another soliloquy, choosing an Edward 11 epic by Christopher Marlow.
Although he had only a week to prepare for the latter, Jonah had played the young Edward II at Manchester’s Royal Exchange in 2011 when he was only 13, starring alongside Christopher New, who played the older King.
Jonah said: “I remember Christopher performing that soliloquy so vividly on stage and bringing so much to that role, so when I was asked to pick another soliloquy I called up Christopher and we met in Manchester to discuss my approach; it was invaluable.”
After passing that stage, Jonah then had to work through another day of drama workshops for his final test, and said: “It was incredibly draining and incredibly challenging but if every day of my learning experience is going to be like that then I know I will have a fantastic few years ahead.”
He added: “So many of the most respected actors of this and any other generation have been trained at RADA: Tom Hiddleston, Kenneth Branagh, Richard Attenborough, Alan Rickman and Ralph Fiennes the list goes on and on, so how could I not accept.”
Jonah is currently sitting A Levels in English, Art and Philosophy at St Ambrose College.
Mair Bull, head of drama at the Hale Barns school, said: “Jonah is a striking young character actor who played Prospero in the College’s production of The Tempest and gave such a memorable and polished performance. He has always been a joy to work with.”
