Louise touched everyone she knew and brought joy to those who saw her in Mamma Mia, Wicked, Hot Shoe Shuffle, EastEnders and so many others.

The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School is setting up a bursary in memory of Louise whose untimely death from pancreatic cancer was recently announced. We hope that you will be able to help us all achieve this ambitious goal on behalf of our wonderful, sparkling and irreplaceable Louise.

Louise joined the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School as a mature student; aged 28 she gave up a secure job as a shoe-shop manager in Weston-super-Mare to train as an actor, having been encouraged by friends and
colleagues in amateur theatre. 

Louise could only afford to train by gaining a further education discretionary grant from Somerset local education authority;
she was refused this initially, but with lobbying from Principal Chris Denys, who wrote “Miss Plowright was unanimously considered to be the most uniquely talented young woman we have seen for many years. She was selected for one of only four places from nearly a thousand young actresses who auditioned for us this year. We are all confident that Miss Plowright has an excellent future.” How true that was!

In 2016 funding for drama school is very different. Discretionary grants are a thing of the past; the financial challenges that mature students face nowadays are immense. With tuition fees set at £9000 and loans only rarely available for very talented mature students changing career
to train as performers or in production, we see many applicants who can only contemplate taking up a place with additional financial backing.

Louise’s family wish to celebrate her life by establishing a bursary which will help others who find themselves in the position that Louise was in back in 1984; an immense talent that needed significant financial support to be able to train for a career in this rewarding but very demanding industry. 

The aim is to raise a significant sum, £250,000, to create for the Louise Plowright bursary to help students who would otherwise not be able to afford to train.