News Brief: Theatre Alum Receives Sir John Gielgud Bursary Award

Alumna Olivia Merritt ’22, who is currently a first-year M.F.A. student in professional acting at the Drama Studio London, has been awarded the Sir John Gielgud Bursary Award for “demonstrating exceptional talent and an exceptional attitude to training.” (Sir John Gielgud is the EGOT-winning British actor, who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century.)

Twenty-four-year-old Merritt, who grew up in small-town, Plainville, Massachusetts, has been acting all her life. She was drawn to Rhode Island College’s theatre program, she says, because members of her family had graduated from the program.

“I loved the fact that RIC teaches you everything – not just acting but make-up, costumes, how to build sets, props and lighting,” she says. “That was very attractive to me.”

What she credits RIC the most for is helping her find confidence in her acting.

“I came in with a bad case of stage fright,” she says. “Even public speaking was something I struggled with. But working and acting on stage at RIC helped me feel more comfortable and more confident.”

Along with the support of her theatre professors – Bill Wilson and Casey Seymour Kim – Operations Manager Rob Ferland deeply imprinted upon her.

“I worked with Rob backstage. He didn’t know it, but he instilled in me a love and appreciation for technical theatre – everything that goes on backstage,” she says.

While her stage fright is now a thing of the past, Merritt admits there will always be moments before she goes on when she’s nervous – afraid she’ll forget her lines. But a case of nerves is normal for any actor. 

“Because of RIC, I’ve learned to breathe through it and tell myself I’m just going to do the best I can,” she says.

Merritt has been studying and performing extensively in England since September 2023 as well as traveling outside the country. The one piece of advice that has followed her from dressing room to dressing room came from one of her graduate professors.

“He said, nostalgia is a killer of creativity. It’s okay to reflect on the past. But comparing the past to what you’re doing now isn’t going to help you; it will actually hinder you. Just keep going forward, doing what you’re doing, without regrets.”

Merritt hopes to remain in London at the end of graduate school and audition while working backstage or at the front of the house as an usher or in the box office of a theater. What’s important to her is that she be near theatre no matter what work she’s doing.

Merritt thanks the Sir John Gielgud Charitable Trust for choosing her for the bursary award. “I also want to thank my family who have supported me through all this, as well as my friends here and across the pond who have all been so amazing and brought me so much inspiration. [And] I want to thank Drama Studio London and all the faculty who give me the courage and confidence to continue doing what I love – acting.”