The Drama Student Magazine - Issue 6 by The Drama Student Magazine

issue 6 | spring 2010

Olivier awards

Exclusive Report

Summer School

Rising Stars Highlights

Neerja Naik , Paul Spicer and Luke Brady

Old Vic New Voices ● Equity ● Latitude ● Theatre ● Culture

Auditions are, or will be, a huge part of your life Do you really know what casting directors do? Would you like to know exactly what they are looking for? Would you like to dramatically improve your presentation and delivery at audition?

For the very first time, you can watch and learn about the secret world of the casting director and obtain priceless guidance and instruction from one of the best in the field, Neil Rutherford

Audition! Audition! Audition! A Musical theatre Master-class with Casting Director Neil Rutherford

Quite possibly the best Audition Educational DVD set in the world! Come and take a look at:

www.auditionauditionaudition.com where you can view some of the content free - and judge for yourself !!!

contents

Photography by Shalina www.shalina.uk.com

8 Olivier Awards Report

Rubbing shoulders with the stars, Benjamin Potter was at the theatrical awards ceremony of the year, to bring us his special report

Neerja Naik

20Paul Spicer

Musical theatre performing entrepreneur Paul Spicer walking down Avenue Q, but there’s more than puppets in his schedule

Simply Fantasticks

Making his West End debut this spring as the romantic lead in The Fantasticks, Luke Brady is a young star on the ris

4 News

The First Word 6

14Take Control

Into the Profession 18

22 Blog

Actor’s Toolbox 26

26 Student Support

Training 30

46 Theatre & Culture

Oh go on then, enjoy! Phil Matthews Editor

8 Photo: Charlie Hopkinson

The sweet scent of spring is finally in the air and of course that means our annual Rising Stars issue – and boy does this edition deliver! From the hottest talent treading the theatrical boards to the freshest screen stars – yup, we’ve got it covered. As an Editor, you just know that an issue is going to be a ‘good-un’ when firstly you’re inundated with frankly superb pitches for interviews and articles, and secondly you find yourself totally engrossed in the content. It seems the UK has got some pretty gifted artists eager to make their creative mark and we’ve got up close to them. This time last year we introduced you to a little-known actress by the name of Patina Miller who was tipped to make a name for herself in the musical Sister Act. The Drama Student clinched one of her first UK interviews, and of course the American actress has since gone on to win awards, critical acclaim and the hearts of millions. It will certainly be interesting to see what happens in the next twelve months for the following rising talent. Fresh from hosting the Asian Film Festival in London, Neerja Naik talks to Daniella Gibb about rejecting The City for Drama Studio London, a move that’s seen the actress make waves already. Paul Spicer is fast becoming a familiar face in the West End, but with his latest role in Avenue Q and a successful producing career ahead of him, I just know he’s one to watch. And as 19 year old Luke Brady gears up to take on one of the most exciting roles in Theatreland, we catch up to talk all things Fantasticks. What with that and a packed edition of entertaining and informative articles, not to mention our special Summer School feature, you know I really do think we spoil you lot.

Photo: Dan Tsantilis

prologue

From The City to the Big Screen, Daniella Gibb gets a close up of Neerja Naik, the fresh young ingénue of the Indian Film Industry

Photo: AM-London www.am-london.com

news

Audition! Audition! Audition!

CLASSICAL HOLLYWOOD SPOTLIGHT BALL The annual Spotlight Summer Ball returns on Sunday 30th May for another celebration of the hottest talent emerging from top drama schools across the UK. Students from schools recognised by the Conference of Drama Schools and the Council for Dance Education and Training will descend onto Leicester Square’s Café de Paris for an evening of glitz and glamour. Now in its 6th year, the event has become a fixture in the student calendar. This year the dress code is ‘Classic Hollywood’ and will feature entertainment from singing sensation Miranda. Tickets are £22 and includes bubbly and canapés on arrival, plus there’s some great prizes to be won at the Spotlight Oscars! Get your tickets at www.spotlight.com/shop/summerball

Neil Rutherford, Head of Casting for the Ambassador Theatre Group and a contributor for The Drama Student Magazine, steps up to the mark in this fresh and somewhat unique educational DVD resource. Rutherford is one of the top Casting Directors in the UK and is truly passionate about theatre. Audition! Audition! Audition! sees the experienced and influential figure workshop with young performers to guide them through the audition process, with each actor making huge leaps in the one-on-one sessions. A full camera crew has captured literally hours of Rutherford working with the performers who are all from various backgrounds and different levels of musical theatre training and experience, which has been edited down to a fascinating 4 hours. The information is incredibly valuable for anyone aspiring to appear in the West End, right through to those wanting to improve their performance in amateur productions, in small theatres or on the fringe. If you absorb and act upon its content, you can transform into a highly sought after performer and valuable asset for any production, over time. Even if you already feel you are at the top of your game, there is always room for improvement and Audition! Audition! Audition! can show you how to achieve it. What makes this product so unique and special is that Neil Rutherford had a successful career as an actor for many years before becoming the leading casting director that he now is. He knows exactly what you are going through in an audition, because he has been there countless times himself in the past. He is able to integrate his vast experience in both fields and on both sides of the fence, in educating you about how to give your best in the audition room. Visit www.auditionauditionaudition.com to watch a preview and to find out how you can own your own copy.

BACK TO SCHOOL FOR JACK DEE An unlikely candidate found himself talking to acting students at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts on Monday 1st March. 2nd and 3rd year and Postgraduate acting students were delighted when Jack Dee gave a talk and held a Q & A session. In his own inimitable style Jack gave an account of his life and career with great wisdom and humour. Here he poses for a photograph with students Emma Jane Richardson, Priya Bhamrah and Oliver Biles

news

TALENT BOOST IS BACK Following two very successful years of Talent Boost, the Actors Centre has announced that the 2010 project is back with the aim to provide creative opportunities for participants from communities across the UK that are currently underrepresented in the broadcasting industry. Talent Boost 2010, which is supported by the BBC and Graeae Theatre Company, has been expanded to promoting talented disabled actors. The project will recruit 12 disabled actors and 8 ethnically diverse actors to take part in an intensive on-camera training in the autumn, with two short films being shot in winter 2010/11, one in Leeds and one in London. Auditions for Talent Boost 2010 have taken place, but DVD audition applications are still being accepted. DVD auditions must be posted along with your application form, CV and headshot by Friday 21st of August 2009. For more information visit www.actorscentre.co.uk

TALENT EXPO at Excel An exciting new talent fair is coming to London in June. Talent Expo is bringing together various strands of the talent industry under one roof in what promises to be a truly exciting and exhilarating event. The creation of entrepreneur Robert Fenton, Talent Expo will give visitors the opportunity to find out about the different careers, training and support available within the industry. The exhibition area will be divided into zones including Bollywood, Drama, Variety, Dance, Music, Modelling and Retail. There will be various workshops and talks in each zone as well as performances on the main stage. Young talent will have the chance to perform although Fenton is at pains to stress that this is not a shortcut to celebrity. “We are keen to make sure that new performers realise the importance of training and continuing development and that seasoned professionals have the opportunity to look at developing additional skills perhaps in new areas”, he says. Fenton acknowledges there are other excellent trade fairs. “Move It is a well organised and popular event,” he says. “There is no reason why we can’t sit side by side. Talent Expo is different because we are not concentrating on just one area – we are celebrating all talents.” Talent Expo runs from 24 to 27 June. Admission will be £15.00 for one day or £25.00 for the weekend. Workshops will cost between £2.00 and £5.00. There is a real buzz about this event which promises to be dramatic, theatrical and visually striking. Keep an eye on the website for more news: www.talentexpo.co.uk

From being very young I wanted to be an actress and everybody knew it. I would ask every new friend what they wanted to be when they grew up and was amazed to find that some had no ideas, writes Francesca Waite. When we were growing up, my sister and I would spend all our playtime writing plays, or improvising stories with friends, to perform for the class. The teacher must have been thrilled! I remember one day in particular, sitting in the back of my Dad’s car, reminding him what I wanted to be when I was big. He told me that if I really wanted to act then I’d have to train at RADA! So that was it sorted, my life had a direction. As I grew older my aspiration didn’t waver, but my confidence overcame my determination and I started to doubt that I could get onstage to perform, let alone brave a drama school audition. Thankfully my parents encouraged me to stick with drama when I chose my A levels. After Sixth Form I still desperately wanted to go to an accredited drama school, but was encouraged to get a degree, so I applied to universities. Although I feared I was allowing myself the easy option, I realised I could apply for a postgrad course later if I thought I needed it. In 2001 I graduated from the University of Northumbria at Newcastle, intending to go full steam ahead with the acting career I was itching to get on with. At this time the second passion in my life - travel, challenged my grand plan with opportunities I couldn’t ignore. I filled my early twenties with acting professionally, ushering in theatres and waiting tables, while travelling on and off for almost 3 years. On my return from work in Australia, I decided it was time to consider a drama school course. I auditioned for three and was invited onto a short course at Webber Douglas Academy, my favourite of them all. The course succeeded in reminding me that as actors we can always keep learning, but it’s mainly our own dedication and hard work that will pay off in the end. With the course completed and my must-see countries visited, I put all of my devotion into acting. Monkeywood Theatre, the company that I set up with three fellow actors in 2003, was preparing for its second production and I threw myself into the project. Having moved back to my hometown of Manchester I was reunited with school friends who, in my absence, had all settled down and developed professionally, buying their own houses and paying off student debts. As an actor, working from job to job, a mortgage and

the first word

pocket money seemed an unrealistic ambition for me. Security is a sacrifice that actors are forced to accept. But, while surrounded by friends with spare cash, rather than fellow actors, I began to crave material possessions too. After several months of demoralising temp work while waiting for the phone to ring, I got a job in a press office. This was far more interesting than the accounting companies I’d been contracted to and I realised that I would like to work as a Press Officer. I started looking for ‘proper jobs’ to get some money behind me. It wasn’t long before I began working in the media relations department at The Lowry, an arts and entertainment venue in Salford Quays, the perfect job to keep my creativity satisfied. For three years I enjoyed promoting theatre productions at the north west’s leading arts venue and developed myself professionally as a Press Officer. During this time Monkeywood were going from strength to strength. We had performed twice in Manchester’s premiere fringe festival, the 24:7 Theatre Festival, and had garnered 5 stars for A Song for the Lovers, that we produced at The Lowry. I started to consider what my next step should be and down which career path. For three years I’d accepted that I’d be working in a ‘proper job’, though I wanted that to be in a theatre, and I’d resigned myself to only acting professionally with Monkeywood. As with many of life’s decisions, opportunity and timing played a hand and last year I was offered my dream job with the theatre programming department at The Lowry. As the role is part time it provides me with a golden opportunity to dedicate more time to Monkeywood and my own acting career, while at the same time gaining experience in theatre programming and production. The knowledge I gained as a Press Officer is invaluable in any business and has also allowed me to work as a freelance PR consultant and feature writer in my free time. I’d never regret the choices I’ve made or the roads I’ve taken – university versus drama school; Manchester versus London; ‘proper job’ versus acting career, in all its creative, fulfilling, unstable glory. But now I am finally back on track – perhaps diverted from RADA - but right where I want to be. ●

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awards

olivier awards exclusive report

Sparkling chandeliers, starry backdrops and sizzling stars - it could only mean one thing. The 34th Laurence Olivier Awards, writes Benjamin Potter. The prestigious awards celebrate the very best in theatre, musical theatre, opera and dance performance and famous faces old and new turned out in force to celebrate the event and present or collect an award. As usual I was running late and although I thought I had left enough time to make my way from Bond Street to Grosvenor House Hotel, where the awards were being handed out, I hadn’t forecasted for my train to be delayed. As I stepped off my tube I quickly ran down towards the hotel as not to miss the cut-off for press. As I entered the grand venue I straight away bumped into Keira Knightley, who had been nominated for her debut West End performance in The Misanthrope, and she was looking gorgeous as always. As we stepped in to the Great Room, bagpipes filled the air with their drone and beautiful highland melody-strange I know, but atmospheric all the same.

The ambience in the room was buzzing, old friends of the stage were kissing and hugging and as I made my way to the balcony, looking over the room, I spotted the huge band set to play all the musical intros for the evening’s ceremony. We hurried into the press area and took up our stations. We were very lucky throughout the ceremony as The Drama Student Magazine is a publication stars and winners are very happy to talk to, as most of them were a student once at a drama school!

TDS top ten awards of the evening Best Theatre Choreographer presented by Arlene Philips and Ben Richards went to Stephen Mear for Hello Dolly! at the Regents Park Open Air Theatre. A truly phenomenal production that deserved this recognition and Stephen Mear’s second Olivier, his first was for Mary Poppins. It was really nice to catch up with him to talk about his career.

awards The Mountaintop, a two-hander that premiered at a pub theatre before transferring to the West End’s Trafalgar Studios won Best New Play. Written by 28 year old American Katori Hall, the play is set on the night Martin Luther King was assassinated and following its run at Theatre503, was picked up by commercial Producer Sonia Friedman. Hall’s play fought off stiff competition from Lucy Prebble’s Enron and Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem. It has been announced that Hall will have her play restaged in the West End soon, largely due to its success at the Oliviers.

The Outstanding Achievement in Dance presented by Adam Cooper went to Rambert Dance Company for an outstanding year of new work. Mark Baldwin was over-whelmed by the win: “Passion, belief in yourself and being able to kiss everybody are the things you need to join Rambert.” On winning the award: “This award is the big one for us, we do get several awards but this is amazing. Rambert is eighty years old and Madame Rambert and Laurence probably hung out together.” Former Spice Girl Mel C has received rave reviews this year for her starring role in Blood Brothers and she entertained the audience at the ceremony with a performance of Easy Terms from the musical. Best Actress presented by Tim McInnerny went to Rachel Weisz for A Streetcar Named Desire at the Donmar. And to finish off the first half before the stars sat down for their fare, the cast of Sister Act at the Palladium wowed the crowds with Raise Your Voice, Sister Act has definitely raised the bar this year. As we prepared for the second round an award was presented for one of the greatest plays this year, which made it’s home at the Novello. Directed by Debbie Allen, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof won Best Revival presented by Jonathan Pryce. Younger actors showed their faces in winning awards in the shape of Iwan Rheon for Spring Awakening (Best Supporting Role in a Musical) and also for Spring Awakening was Aneurin Barnard for Best Actor in a Musical. Iwan Rheon told The Drama Student: “Nothing really prepares you for winning an award, my agent said I should prepare a speech but I didn’t really think about. It’s amazing.” Hello Dolly! at the Open Air Theatre picked up another two awards as well as Stephen Mear’s choreography triumph, Samantha Spiro won Best Actress in a Musical and the show won Best Musical Revival presented by Jill Halfpenny and Legally Blonde’s Duncan James. Best Director presented by Jude Law went to Rupert Goold for Enron at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at the Royal Court and now at the Noel Coward. And finally Spring Awakening picked up another award for Best New Musical this year. So what do we take away from this year’s ceremony? The economy may be down but theatre has been thriving and by the looks of it there are many surprises to come this year. Coronation Street The Musical might even be on the cards. ●

a moment with

Stephen Mears

stephen, what do you think a drama student should have under their belt in terms of dance for the industry?

I think a drama student should have the basic ballet, no one likes saying ballet because they think it’s too technical, but you should have basic technique and not have a fear of dance just enjoy it- think of a character when you’re dancing.

Have you always wanted to choreograph hello dolly? I love the show and it was fabulous acting, singing and dancing and a great challenge for the company to do. I will definitely go back to the Regents Park.

Top tip for the aspiring actor? Keep trying never give in, if you’re not passionate you’ll never make it.

Main image: Jude Law and Katori Hall. Top: Aneurin Barnard and Iwan Rheon. Middle: Keira Knightley. Bottom: Stephen Mears.

hate less Director and Playwright Russell Labey on when the hatred is no act. My Crispy Duck had just arrived, just arrived when the call came. I’d snuck out of the theatre for supper after seeing the show up. On the phone was the Company Manager whose calls I’d come to dread. “What fresh hell is this?” a voice in my head would say. Turned out the leading man was threatening a walk out, there and then, half way through the show. Protecting identities I can’t give too much away but I pelted down Great Victoria Street to Belfast’s Grand Opera House, possibly my favourite theatre. Designed by the great Frank Matcham who also built the Palladium, Coliseum and a dozen or so others that still stand. His genius is not in the ornate decoration, or breakthrough cantilevering eliminating the need for pillars, but in the relationship he creates between stage and auditorium, actor and audience. But back to the relationship between actor and actor... By the time I reached the theatre it was the interval and the leading man had indeed walked out and already left the building. Apparently in a scene at the end of Act One his co-star had slapped him for real and so hard across the face he resolved to never share a stage with her again. Thank God it wasn’t Act Two - she might have shot him! There was much clucking around back

stage, actors caught up in a real life drama lose all their skill at deception, mock shock and ill concealed excitement at the “disaster” abounded. Earlier in the tour we had watched from our digs one afternoon as two planes flew into the Twin Towers, this I pointed out was a disaster. More recently the tour had spent the three weeks at the end of January in a deserted Blackpool at a time when the town flooded. The disaster here being that the flood waters didn’t take more of the town with them, not including the Grand Theatre of course (another Matcham). It was an inconvenience nothing more and gave us all an anecdote for parties for years to come every cloud. I made the announcement using the obligatory “owing to the indisposition of” and put the understudy on. The escapee was never made to return to fulfill his contract or sued for breach of it which speaks volumes and he remains constantly employed and highly successful. Frankly, to do what he did took balls and you had to admire him for that. I did. So the audience that night saw two actors play the same role and not a refund in sight, which is the most important thing. Seriously, no matter what occurs if you can

director’sdiary ensure that no money is returned your producers are happy. This skill became something of an art form for me when Resident Directing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! It was hatred at first sight between these two from day one of rehearsals and the relationship went downhill from there. I was reminded of Bette Davis & Errol Flynn while making The Private Lives of Elizabeth & Essex in 1939, a film I wasn’t working on. Davis had wanted Laurence Olivier to play opposite her as Essex. She resented the casting of Flynn so much that in a scene where Elizabeth has to slap Essex, Davis really let rip, Flynn reportedly almost retaliated. “I am the star of this picture” Marlon Brando felt compelled to remind Richard Harris when they worked together on Mutiny On The Bounty. Harris took his revenge in the chat shows of the 1970’s revealing on Parkinson that Brando’s thoughtful glances off into the middle distance were nothing more than him looking for the idiot boards from which to read his lines. Marlon Brando hated everyone he worked with at one time or another, or rather they hated him. He became a big star quick and thought that gave him license to behave badly. I wonder if our new reality TV stars are the same? Not from my experience - Michelle McManus was a joy when I cast her as the Virgin Mary in Discotivity, the disco retelling of the Nativity story. Not once did she complain about the roller skates. Peter Sellers and Orsen Welles hated one another so much on Casino Royale (1967) filming for the scene where both of them face each other across a gaming table actually took place on different days with a double standing in for one the actors. A modern parallel I know of saw an actress recently not only refuse to show up for a face-to-face scene but substitute her 10x8 with the words “Act to this, Asshole!” artfully scrawled across it. I find I don’t encounter much hatred now as I’m usually the director and at auditions can spot a jerk blindfold so don’t cast them. In that village that is the West End, particularly musicals, there are names on a cast list that can fill fellow company members with horror. Many are not famous but their reputation in the business is stellar. We actors are supposed to understand humans, aren’t we? We can find what there is to love in every character we play, even Hitler. As elsewhere at drama school there will often be people who attract ‘antipathy’ and not just from the other students. Keep an eye out for them though and just make sure they’re not starting to attract hatred from the majority, that’s called bullying. I can miss the point of you, you can miss the point of me, but when we all miss the point of him, something’s wrong with us. Even if he is holding the whole class back. Finding something to like about that underdog and reaching out to him can impact on his life in ways you could never imagine. It makes you a better human and I think, a better actor. I listened as the audience filed out that Belfast night, not one word of complaint. Next time, I thought, I won’t even make the announcement, see if anyone notices. Then a terrible sensation gripped me, not anger exactly or hatred but... hunger. It’s true, I thought, half an hour after a Chinese meal and you are hungry again. Then I remembered, I hadn’t got to eat it at all. That’s when I got angry. ●

Are you an actor? Can you see yourself on any of your favorite TV shows? Thinking about your acting career?

www.sft.edu 11

Photo: Phil Matthews

BIG CREATIVE APPLE

Old Vic New Voices is on a mission to connect young artists with the industry. Their latest project, The TS Eliot US/ UK Exchange, sees those links travel across the pond in a week of cultural activities with New York’s Public Theater. It was an opportunity I couldn’t resist applying for, writes Phil Matthews.

I remember being fixated on Eileen Atkins performance in the Broadway play Doubt. I felt fulfilled and drained. For light relief, we were lifted by the lively musical Hairspray the following night, in awe of the Broadway cast. As we stood in Times Square surrounded by Theatreland in what was New York’s biggest winter storm in decades – cabs stranded in the snow, New Yorkers wrapped in fur coats, roads like ice rinks – I couldn’t stop smiling. I was buzzing. I told myself I would make a return one day to delve into the city’s creative culture. Hands on. Somehow. That was my goal. So of course I couldn’t resist downloading the TS Eliot US/ UK Exchange Application Form that evening. Within an hour it was complete, my passion for acting, theatre and forming key relationships spilled all over it. It’s what I’ve been doing with the publication for over a year, crafting this special little voice for fellow artists, so there really couldn’t be a better way to connect to the international creative industry than this. The following week thoughts of what it would be like to spend a week living, learning and developing theatre in a vibrant and intense New York, dominated my mind. How exciting would it be to host a fellow artist in London, introducing them to the artistic delights of our Capital city? Yet I knew whatever the outcome I would be happy for anyone lucky enough to be chosen to take part in the project and I would, without question, assist in highlighting their experience through the magazine. Late on a Friday afternoon, the call came. It turned out, I’d be one them. “Congratulations Phil, you’ve been selected.” Suddenly my mind was back in Times Square with thoughts of my creative goal. Somehow, it had just been realised. ●

Photos by: Ben Carpenter

The Press Release came through one morning in February. ‘This coming April you could be one of 50 actors, writers, directors and producers who will travel from London to New York to engage in a week of cultural activity and artistic development, hosted by The Public Theater, an NYC institution and home to some of America’s most exhilarating theatre. The following month, 50 American artists will travel to London to take part in a similar program at The Old Vic.’ I knew this was going to be a special project. I was also acutely aware that our readers would be eager to apply, so without delay I published an article online and flagged it up in our weekly news roundup, an e-shot that goes out to over 5,000 young actors and drama students every Tuesday (you can sign up free at our website). After all, the very purpose of The Drama Student Magazine is to raise awareness of such opportunities and to champion young people eager to develop their creative links. That online article received a massive amount of attention, as I knew it would do of course. The following lunch time, Jeremy Irons and James Earl Jones took to the Old Vic stage to officially launch the project. As I sat in the magnificent auditorium, I looked around at the packed and enthusiastic audience of young artists who hung on their every word, me included. Both actors talked passionately about the importance of creative relationships and the rich wonders of the New York theatre scene – the wisdom being shared generously. As I left the Old Vic that day, I was inspired. Perhaps in the same way I had been on my flying visit to New York in 2006. Although my trip was a brief one, I had simply fallen in love with the ‘city that never sleeps’. Geez, loving that city is easy! The energy, the immediacy, the zeal. It’s really something else.

director’sdiary

a moment with...

Steve Winter Head of Old Vic New Voices

How exciting is it to be taking 50 young actors, directors, writers and producers to new york? It’s extremely exciting. It’s also very important to Kevin Spacey, our Artistic Director, to have a presence in New York which is why we set up the New Voices Network in 2008 so that New York based American practitioners could benefit from the work we had been piloting in London for the last five years. There is no project out there that is quite like this and we’re thrilled there’s such a buzz around it.

What was the inspiration for setting up a project such as this? The inspiration for the project came from wanting to create a transatlantic event that would allow emerging practitioners to develop their practice in another city. The T.S. Eliot US/UK Exchange represents an expansion of an earlier US/UK Exchange project run by The Old Vic which, since 2002, has taken two directors and two writers across the Atlantic each year. Taking 50 Actors, writers, directors and producers is huge but exhilarating leap for us. The expansion was made possible through The TS Eliot Estate, who saw the potential to raise the profile of Eliot to a youthful audience and highlight not only his poetry, but his plays too.

Your acting future starts here. The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts provides the most comprehensive training for today’s aspiring film, television and theater actors.

What are you hoping the young creative teams will achieve from the project? We are giving the opportunity for emerging artists to immerse themselves in a different artistic culture – spending a week living, learning, and developing theatre in a foreign city, members will be able to identify transatlantic career opportunities, develop a greater understanding of their own theatre history and practice and showcase their talents to a new artistic community. They will have the opportunity to hone their craft whether as an actor, writer, director or producer and learn from leading industry professionals who are currently working on Broadway. We hope that the young creatives will form dynamic relationships with peer artists from another continent and forge future working relationships.

What will the US team expect from the old vic when they come to london at the end of may? The US team will have roughly the same experience that the UK team will have in NY. They will have a stimulating mix of workshops and meetings with industry professionals. They will also get the chance to perform their showcase on The Old Vic stage and afterwards watch our current production The Real Thing.

Come and visit us at www.sft.edu and see what NYCDA can do for you. If you would like more information about our programs or if you’d like to know how you can submit your audition materials from UK, please send us an email at admission@sft.edu or simply call us at +1-212-812-4080.

Engaging with Old Vic New Voices Old Vic New Voices aims to support emerging talent, inspire young people and open up The Old Vic Theatre to new and diverse audiences. For those embarking on a professional career in theatre, the Old Vic New Voices Club offers actors, directors, producers and writers, aged 18-25, the opportunity to learn from industry professionals, receive support for projects they are passionate about, and to network with like-minded peers. Old Vic New Voices has just announced a range of dynamic Master Classes and workshops around their current production of Tom Stoppard’s The Read Thing. Most workshops are free to attend and are aimed at helping you build your skills and make new contacts. Please email newvoices@oldvictheatre.com for a full programme of activity or see www.oldvictheatre.com/ovnv/club

www.sft.edu 13

Colin take control ‘What’s in a name?’ as my teacher, Mrs Kywzpocycziecwsky-Smith, always used to say. How important is your name in your professional career? Will the name by which you are known make any difference to your success? Assuming you aren’t going to use the name you were born with, what name should you choose? Writes Richard Evans. As to whether using your birth name, or changing it will increase your chances of success, the simple answer is who knows?! Would Anthony Macmillan have been any less successful had he not changed his name to Robbie Coltrane? Or indeed Norma Jean Baker if she’d not become Marilyn Monroe? We’ll never know – though in Monroe’s case, the name she chose is somewhat more memorable as it is an alliterative, with both names beginning with the letter M. Why might you change your name? It may be that you feel your birth name doesn’t sound particularly good, although there are some actors with very unusual names, which are not easily forgettable. It may also be that an existing member of Equity already has your name, and under their ruling no two members must share the same name. That said, as it is no longer compulsory to be a member of Equity to work in the industry, anybody who is not in the union can now use anyone else’s name. Take one of my favourite actors, Colin Farrell… he had to change his name when a good-looking young Irishman came along and landed leading roles in a few movies, using the same name (being Irish, he’s not a member of British Equity). Despite a prestigious career over many decades on television and with leading theatre companies, including the RSC, the Colin Farrell was forced to change his name to Col in order to avoid confusion. I received a phone call a while ago, from an actor whose name I knew well, inviting me to see him in a play on the London Fringe. I was somewhat surprised, as the actor whom I knew was playing a leading role in a hit West End musical at the time. “Have the producers given you time off to do the play?”, I asked. “Oh no”, he replied, “I’m not that Stephen, I’m Steven with a v”. Silly me for not realising!

The duplication of names is hugely confusing for those responsible for casting too, sometimes resulting in the wrong performer being brought in to read for a part for which they are not remotely right – a waste of time and embarrassing for all concerned – and therefore should be avoided. Your name is by far the most important thing about you and will (hopefully) be remembered for years to come, so ensure you’re 100% happy with your choice before launching it into the minds of potential employers. The first thing to do before your final shows – when you’ll doubtless be writing to agents and casting personnel – is to contact the membership department at Equity to find out if your name is available, or if someone has already staked their claim to it. This may be done for you by your college or discussed when a representative from Equity comes to talk to your year, but if this isn’t the case, do your own research, as, while membership isn’t obligatory, it’s well worth being a member, especially in the early years of your career. So if you have to change your name, how do you go about deciding on the right one? Firstly ask your family and friends what they think suits you and if there are any family names that you could possibly use. You might choose a name that people may recognise from another context, such as Poppy Seed or Bill Durr; one that’s a soundalike of one that’s already famous, James Pond or Judy Bench, for example; one that’s doubled, like Norman Norman or Kelly Kelly or even a single name, like Lemarr or Madonna. While these may sound a good idea and be memorable in principle, choosing a name like this may affect your chances of being taken seriously in the industry, so be sensible in your choices, making sure the name suits you, your look, ethnicity and personality. Remember also that it’s far easier to change your last name and

takecontrol

will the real

Farrell please stand up?

“

The best job I got through PCR was my first ever professional job - Rewind On>. It really gave me a lot of confidence as a new actor that I could actually do this and made me want to carry on at a time when I didn't think I was capable.

”

Cathy Conneff

keep your first, as it’s the one thing to which you will always respond, having been programmed into your brain since you were born. On many occasions at castings, I’ve called out someone’s name several times… and because it hasn’t been the name they were born with, they haven’t recognised as being their own! Choosing a last name that begins with a letter earlier in the alphabet will also ensure you’re billed nearer the top when actors’ names are listed alphabetically. One thing to avoid is changing your name during your career, or indeed regularly, as this can be really confusing to those who know you professionally. Once we are told something that we believe to be plausible, our brain recognises this as fact. If, for instance, we met at a party and I said “Hello, my name is Anthony Dunn”, unless you knew that I was Richard Evans, your brain would accept this as true and whenever you saw me, you would immediately think “Oh, there’s Anthony Dunn”. If, some years later, I told you that my name is actually Richard Evans and not Anthony Dunn, you would accept this, but your brain would continue to think of me as the name it was originally given, as that is what it has always associated with me. It may be, as in Colin Farrell’s case, you’ll have little option but to change your name during your career, but it is usually an option taken by those who have bad reputations in the hope that people won’t remember them and they can start afresh (it rarely works!) Whatever name you end up choosing, it’s vital to ensure that it is memorable. ‘Remember my name – Fame!’ may be cheesy, but it is actually very true. If you can’t get your name to stick inside the heads of those who can give you work, and indeed the theatregoing or TV watching public, then you might as well give up. My book, Auditions: A Practical Guide, contains some simple and effective techniques that will help you to make it unforgettable. I look forward to hearing, and remembering your name in the future! ●

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close up introducing...

Neerja studied economics at Cambridge University and after graduating worked as a banker in The City. An unquenched desire to act proved too strong however, as Neerja choose to trade in her career by going back to study, this time screen acting at Drama Centre London. Within two years she has successfully established herself as the new young ingénue in the Indian Film Industry and is starring in the film Life Goes On. Her passion and determination to fulfil her dreams and to make the most out of every opportunity is inspiring for all actors, young and old, as is her humility and desire to learn. Neerja Naik has the full package – brains and beauty.

how was hosting the gala night of the london asian film festival earlier this month?

A lot of fun, I did it with Riz Ahmet. It’s weird because we have similar paths; he went to Oxford and then to drama school and is now doing amazingly well as an actor and I went to Cambridge and then onto drama school and am just starting off. Riz was great to work with, he has a lot of energy.

wanted to ask you about going to cambridge, why did you go there and not to a drama school? did you always want to act or was it something that grew?

Inside of me I have always wanted to act. I loved watching movies as a kid like Edward Scissorhands and learnt all of the lines. I was weird like that! But I come from a family of business people so the pressure was there for me to follow that path especially as I got good grades. So getting into Cambridge was really good because it offered me a lot of freedom to explore other things as well as studying. So I was on this track of studying economics and heading towards The City but the reality of the “day-in day-out 9 – 5” made me realise that this isn’t the world I actually want to live in for the rest of my life. For me, that was enough to decide to do something else.

That was extremely brave, especially in our current financial climate, to go from a secure job into a notoriously insecure industry. a real leap of faith... You don’t want to live with any regrets, you only live once and I flashed forward 10 years in my life thinking “was this the job to make me happy?” sitting at a computer all day and the answer was ‘no’, so for me it was about taking responsibility for my own happiness. I wouldn’t change anything; I have had so much fun in the last two years.

Yes,

it has been less than two years since you left drama centre london, and you have achieved so much. how has your life changed?

It has changed a lot. It is just a lot more fun to be honest. I get to meet people that inspire me and I want to work with. I love losing myself in a character and going to drama school was amazing. Because at Cambridge you obviously use your mind but at drama school you start thinking about all the other things that you need to use as an actor, the things in your “toolbox”; your body, your sexuality, your feelings, so I think it has made me a better rounded human being.

It is definitely a full-rounded training. how else was drama centre useful to you? It was really disciplined and there was a gruelling schedule which was exactly what I needed. They have a strong focus on movement which is brilliant for screen acting because you often don’t have many words so you have to tell the story with a look, the way you walk or a movement.

You

did the screen acting course at drama centre, do you feel that it prepared you for the film experiences you have had so far?

Yes I think it really did, it terms of getting practice in front of a camera it

Photography by Shalina www.shalina.uk.com

Fresh from hosting the Gala Night of the 19th Asian Film Festival in London, Neerja Naik talks to Daniella Gibb about her journey from a credit-crunching City worker to successful starlet.

was brilliant for that but you also get the all-round training of a normal BA course so it really did prepare me for what I have done so far.

What about dance training? have “bollywood style” for any films?

you needed to dance

(Laughs) There was a small amount, but when I say movement I meant mostly actor’s movement. We focused on how to embody a character by changing your centre of gravity and changing your body. But yes, in terms of Bollywood and all that, you do need to shake it Bollywood style, but the film I did was actually more parallel cinema and art house style.

yes your film, life goes on. it was shown at the asian film festival, wasn’t it?

Yes it has had its UK premiere and its premiere in New York which I went to and it is now going around the festival circuit. I worked with some really amazing actors on it, real Titans of Indian cinema, so it was really cool.

Was that at all intimidating working with such successful actors? I wasn’t intimidated as it was more of a learning experience for me. If you can trust in another actor’s talent and ability it makes it so much easier, so I felt in the safest hands. When Om Puri first came onto set he had this amazing presence as a human being as well as an actor and that is the quality that he brings on screen. He was very encouraging and said not to be afraid of making mistakes. They were all lovely people so it was very inspiring.

does sound inspiring and being a theatre actress it all seems terribly glamorous to me. are all the films and awards ceremonies as glamorous as they seem or does it very quickly become part of your job?

Well the film Life Goes On was shot in Slough so make of that what you will!! But the film does look very beautiful on screen with the costumes etc, but like I said, I think it is the people who bring the glamour and star quality with them.

The

story is inspired by a king lear-like tale about a grieving widower and his three daughters, did you film in india or the uk?

All my scenes were shot here in the UK. I play the middle sister of the three who is a sports journalist and we are all trying to deal with the grief of losing our mother but the flashback sections of my father and mother before they were married were filmed in India.

What

are your future plans? would you like to do some theatre?

Ah I would love to do some theatre. I just want to act as much and work as much as I can. I have some more short films coming up which should be fun and potentially some things in America which would be amazing, but I will just go where the work is! I am also learning Hindi because after working with everyone on Life Goes On I think any languages you can have that fits your casting will really help you and create opportunities.

That

is useful advice. do you have any other advice for drama school students or leavers?

In terms of screen acting you need to have an understanding of yourself. If you can get in front of a camera and force yourself to watch yourself back then you will see how you are coming across. All the little habits you have that you may not be aware of, no one likes to look at themselves, but you must force yourself to do it. It is a weird and surreal experience but get a little camera and record yourself before an audition so that you assess and adjust.

From

your personal experience what could you suggest to people choosing between a university education and the pull of drama school?

At the end of the day all actors take a different path to get to where they want to be, so it is hard for me to give people advice on where to train as everything is a good experience. If you follow your heart and your instincts then you will be in a pretty good place and mostly... just enjoy yourself. Have fun with what you are doing because if you’re having fun then chances are good things are going to come to you. ●

Photos: Vipul Sangoi - Courtesy: Stormglass Productions

into the profession

aiting in the ings

Very few young actors are catapulted to fame and lead roles straight out of drama school, so being an understudy is often one of our first jobs in the professional world. Daniella Gibb describes her experiences of waiting in the wings in anticipation of her big break. I was sat behind a Greek taverna waiting to begin a performance of Mamma Mia! in Cologne Arena and as the overture died away I listened for my cue. I waited and waited some more until I realised that the curtain hadn’t even gone up. I raised my fake-tanned face over the taverna wall to see the actress playing the lead part of Sophie vomiting in the wings. Clearly her knock to the head during warm-up an hour earlier wasn’t “going to be fine” after all. It took me a few more seconds to realise that as her understudy I was going to have to take over and play a part, I had yet to rehearse, in front of 3,000 Germans! And herein lays the thrill, exhilaration and downright show-pant sullying fear of being an understudy. David Nicholls, author of the novel titled The Understudy sourced from his own experiences, likens understudies to “fire-extinguishers: you’ve got to have them, but God forbid you should have to use them.” An understudy can save a show, but is there a feeling that the audience would rather see the original? As an understudy you have a vital function within in a company, you are almost like an insurance policy. You can be called upon at any time before or even during a performance to play another role allowing the show to go ahead despite the original actor being poorly or on holiday. You will normally have spent some weeks rehearsing and relish the chance to stretch your performing legs and prove to yourself, the audience and your director that you can do it! In my Mamma Mia! experience we had only been open a fortnight so we had yet to start understudy rehearsals, but the audience wouldn’t

have cared about that, they wanted to watch the ABBA extravaganza. My mum recalls receiving a phone-call from me saying: “I think I have just played Sophie,” think was the right word because it was all a haze. I was put in a costume and led around by the Resident Director who fed me the lines for each scene before I ran on stage to repeat them; a deer in headlights doesn’t come close! I think I have been fairly unlucky (or perhaps lucky depending on whether I’m in a glass half-full or half-empty mood!) because I had a similar experience in Les Miserables. This time I was a second-cover which means two people had to be sick for me to get on. And they were. In the fourth week of the contract before second-cover rehearsals were even thought about, how selfish!! So once again I was thrust on stage, this time in a black dress and curly wig not entirely sure of my capabilities of reaching a Top C. That performance it looked like Cosette had Parkinson’s because I shook with nerves the whole time! But it was my first experience of singing on my own in front of a West End audience, so ultimately it was thrilling. In these particular musicals it could be argued that it doesn’t matter much to an audience if an understudy goes on because there weren’t any “stars” in the show. However it can be a very different situation if you are an understudy to a famous name and people are paying and expecting to see them. Shamefully, I have faint memories of being gutted eighteen years ago on hearing an announcement that Sonia (remember her, 80s pop icon?) wouldn’t be playing Sandy in Grease and not sparing

intotheprofession a thought for the probably more talented understudy waiting in the wings that I would later become. So not only do you have the normal pressure of the expectations of being brilliant straight away for one night without the chance to work a role into your body daily, but there is the added pressure of going on stage knowing that the audience may already be disappointed before you have even opened your mouth. This situation is even more prevalent now with the introduction of certain TV talent shows where the nation searches for a Joseph, Nancy or Dorothy. I won’t start a rant of my opinions but I will say these shows have definitely altered the role of an understudy. A famous name adds extra pressure for an understudy who can almost hear the audience groan as their name is read out and start drafting their refund request letters. It also appears to be lessening the amount of opportunities available to actors because runner-ups from these programmes are often brought in to be the understudy as a more popular alternative. So it seems we now need to battle even harder for the role of understudy let alone the role itself. Understudies are described as “Cinderella’s waiting in the wings for a shot at their dream.” This paints quite a depressing image of a part actor/part vulture waiting to push someone down the stairs in order to get their chance! In reality the situation is often frustrating because you just want that chance, but ultimately I have found there is real support from other actors all wanting you to get on and do well. I recently went to a master class with Adrian Noble and the role of the understudy was discussed. He said that the “old-school” idea was that the job of an understudy was to copy exactly how the person plays the role. To stand in the wings night after night literally “studying” their technique; how that person gets the laughs, works the audience or makes the text work etc. It certainly is a valid idea and in the days of John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier and Edith Evans, it would be foolish not to rigorously study their talent if you had the opportunity. However, in my experience I have rarely seen understudies religiously watching in the wings although I must stress this experience comes purely from musical theatre. We seem to want to do a part from our own angle with our own thought processes which again is a valid point especially in terms of personal creativity. But have we lost that desire to perfect our skills and continue honing our art form? And what better way to do this than to study the people around us who perhaps have had a longer career or own those coveted roles. Perhaps we as young actors have lost that humility that drives actors to study our role models because I don’t believe for a moment that we have a lesser calibre of actors working today. You only have to see Dame Judi Dench in Peter Hall’s version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Elena Rodger in Piaf or Simon Russel Beale in anything to know we have an abundance of talent to aspire to, but to literally study and copy someone’s performance? It certainly is something to ponder on! Understudying can be a thankless job. You rehearse and rehearse to never get on or perhaps for one performance where you go through the motions like a stunned rabbit. It is Murphy’s Law that your family and twenty friends all come to watch you play fourth villager from the left on Monday and it will be on Tuesday night that you get to play the lead. Only the most supportive family will come again, just ask my sister’s fiancé who was a “musicals virgin” and after dating for a short time came to “watch her sister in Les Mis” only to be dragged back two days later with the entire family to see it again when I got to play Cosette; poor guy, talk about a baptism of fire! Despite it sometimes being thankless, understudying can be a truly wonderful experience. Seeing your friends and family beaming in the audience or your cast mates crammed into the wings supporting you makes you feel a million dollars and makes it all worthwhile. A current cast mate of mine is third understudy Jean Valjean and discovered at 17.30 that he was going on, phoned his mum who dropped everything back home in Dublin and flew over and was in the auditorium by 21.30 to hear him sing the famous Prayer – that was just wonderful. So we may be the fire extinguishers of a company, but not only do we keep the show going night after night, we also get to gain experience and confidence in the learning curves of our career. As a closing thought please remember that Shirley MacLaine was merely the understudy to Carol Haney in The Pajama Game on Broadway. When she twisted her ankle Shirley went on for the role and that night Hal B Wallis from MGM happened to be in the audience and she left for Hollywood 10 days later with a movie contract! So study, practise, learn and enjoy, and you never know when fate is going to step in! ●

pullingfocus Sam Heughan trained at the Royal Scottish Academy and has since carved a smart career. He was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award before he had even graduated. Phil Matthews talks to one bright young thing. How did you become an actor? I finished school and I was going to do film studies and English. It was something I really wanted to do. I used to go to the Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh and watch their shows. I was really interested in it but I wasn’t sure if you could really make a career out of it. Then I went travelling, had time to think and came back and thought I’d give it a go for a couple of years. I joined the Lyceum Youth Theatre which is quite integrated with the main theatre with Kenny Ireland as Artistic Director. I was quite fortunate he cast me in a couple of their shows just as spear carrier in the background. So I got to learn from watching other actors. It really inspired me to apply for drama school.

How did Academy?

you

find

your

time

the

Royal Scottish

Oh I loved it. I think what is quite important for drama students to go where you feel comfortable. It felt right, a good atmosphere. It’s a well supported network and well integrated with the Scottish theatre scene. So we did a lot of productions in relation to the Citizens Theatre or the Tron. I was quite lucky in my second year, I got cast in Outlying Islands at the Traverse Theatre. So fortunately I didn’t actually have to do much in my second and third year because I was away doing this play at the festival.

Outlying Islands then transferred to London to the Royal Court. It was the first play I saw at the Court actually. Oh was it? Wow. I was quite lucky we got to go to Canada with the show and toured Salisbury Playhouse, and then back to Scotland to do a highlands tour.

How

did the play come about for you half way through training. That’s pretty unusual.

The director Philip Howard came to see us in Romeo and Juliet, our first production for the public. I was playing Romeo and he got me to audition for it. At first I think he was quite weary of casting a student. But the Academy were very supportive.

Did you finish your training? I did go back to the Academy to do one last show there. I managed to get an agent from doing Outlying Islands in London. I then did a drama series for ITV called Island At War which was brilliant, filming in the Isle of Man. It was my first bit of television and it with great actors. It was a really good place to learn and watch actors and just to discover what it’s like to be on set. It’s such a different affair, just learning about the etiquette and how it works.

How did time?

you find working out of sequence for the first

I think we kind of filmed it pretty much chronologically. It did jump around a little bit. I guess you look at a script enough, you plan your journey. It’s just like doing a stage play, you plan it and you can jump in anywhere really. But it is a different experience obviously as you only get to do it once.

Now we have to talk about you playing Young Alexander. That must have been an important milestone. It was a really really really fun time. It was my first film and I was playing

the lead in it, filming out in Egypt and Greece. It was a lot of hard work and long hours, very hot and a lot to contend with. But it was just absolutely wonderful to have such a great character. Then there’s the American side of it, so went out there, got to experience LA. But I haven’t actually seen the film! It was brilliant, doing horse-riding through masses of Egyptian extras. It was like ‘how did I get here?’ Again it was all about the people, like doing a theatre play, you create great relationships.

How did you find America? I fell in love with America. I fell out of love. And now she’s like a… like a good friend (Laughs). I was out there in December actually, testing for a movie, it was quite nice to go back. The first time I went out there, I was wooed by the whole thing and thought how it was an amazing place and anything can happen out there. But it’s also a hard place to go to if you’re not working, but I’ll definitely go back, it’s very exciting. I’m very happy in London at the moment.

Tell me a little bit about the docu-drama A Very British Sex Scandal which you were in. Yeah, that was interesting because it was quite low budget and it was the director’s first bit of writing for drama. He had done a lot of documentary. We weren’t quite sure how it was going to look, but I was really pleased with it. It was to do with the Lord Montagu trail. Himself, Pitt Rivers and Peter Wildeblood were tried for having some sort of clandestine affair with boys coming around to their beach hut in Lord Montagu’s grounds. They denied it and eventually Peter Wildeblood came out and admitted he was gay, and that was the first time anyone of high status.. I mean he was the Royal Correspondent of the Daily Mail, so it was quite shocking at that time when people were being locked up for being homosexual. It’s kind of related to the play I’m doing now.

Plague Over England in the west end. Yeah, it revolves around John Gielgud being arrested for soliciting in a public lavatory. It has changed a little bit from the Finbrough production, obviously a new cast, we’ve got Michael Feast who is brilliant as Gielgud. We’ve all had to rediscover it, with some of the cast that were in it originally. It changed in the first few weeks, it’s different place being in the west end to being in a smaller, almost fringe venue, but it’s been an interesting piece to do.

is Nicholas De in rehearsals?

Jongh’s

first play.

How

involved was he

Nick was in pretty much the first two weeks and maybe the last week of rehearsals. He was obviously very proud, I’m not saying precious, but definitely it’s something that’s very close to him. I certainly think some of the characters are taken from his life or from people he knew. So he wanted it to be right. Like with David Greig, he was in rehearsals for Outlying Islands, and was making huge rewrites every day, almost adjusted the character to suit you. Bits of things you said, end up in the play, which was amazing. But yeah, Nick was in, but he sat back and if we needed him for clarification, it was more about the period or the etiquette, trying to find the authenticity of the piece. I think he’s trying to get it made into a movie as well. Michael Sheen for John Gielgud!!

Yes! Another impression… (Laughing) Exactly. ● Plague Over England and Outlying Islands

Pohto: Vanessa Valentine

pullingfocus

Spicer

Paul

BLOGS www.thedramastudent.co.uk

online

How many times have you been to the theatre and had to deal with an extra ‘performance’ coming from the auditorium? What are the audience habits that annoy you? Writes Phil Matthews. That feeling when performing on stage is like nothing else you will ever experience. Especially when you’re in a hit show and you’ve got a meaty role to challenge you. But what is the experience like for members of the audience in a packed auditorium? I’ve lost count of the number of productions I’ve seen over the years. Some of them frankly dismal and some quite astounding. Being surrounded by hundreds of other eager theatregoers can be as thrilling as the production itself. Yet, if I’m honest, at times the audience does infuriate me. Look, I’m not talking about a particular type of audience member such as the predictable HooHa Henry found at the Nash. Well, maybe I am but not directly. No, I really do believe audiences are becoming much more diverse on the whole and as an actor I do genuinely want everyone to get something from a production. I’m talking about silly, sometimes irrational ticks that just send me completely nuts. The annoying audience habit that gets me every time is the larger than life character sat behind – or worse still, beside me – with a bellowing roar that threatens to pierce the very depths of my ear drum. Not only that, he seems to find everything funny. Not just the key hilarious moments, that I could perhaps deal with. No, I’m talking the lot. I feel guilty for being cross. Who am I to impede that “passion”? But after the twentieth holler in my lug hole that minute, I find myself glancing aside to see the jolly gentleman has absolutely no idea how exasperating he actually is. He’s engrossed in the world before him, and I become increasingly frustrated that he is preventing me from having the same experience. But at what stage is it acceptable to make your irritation known? Is it acceptable at all? I have friends who would have no qualms at nipping

it in the bud in an instant. Embarrassingly, I’ve been with them when they’ve done it. I opt for the more subtle approach at a rather obvious and penetrating high point. Placing my finger to my ear, I glance aside and smile so he is well aware his presence is dominating the space. My face says it all: ‘Even though I loathe your very existence right now, even though you’re actually injuring me, I’m smiling. This is my polite warning. Now you know.’ No sooner do I turn back to the actors, but the blast beside me goes off again. How?!!! No, seriously how?! He didn’t even see what happened on stage!!! Yes, I know, I’m sure he’s a lovely bloke, but how can’t his wife see (and hear!) that her beloved husband is a charged-up Brian Blessed on speed? And then tell him to reign it in thank you very much? Is that too much to ask? So – am I alone in this illogical debate? Well, I’m not actually. Discussing this with a good friend, he spoke of a similar anguish. He regularly goes to the theatre with a Producer friend of his, now in his seventies, who without fail promptly falls asleep thirty seconds in. Not only that, he isn’t even discreet about it – he snores. Loudly. I remind my friend that going to the theatre can sometimes do that to the best of us, but he affirms that its indeed every time they go. Ah. The upside though, my friend does enjoy having a full on discussion about the production afterwards and is always intrigued as to how his older chum manages to hold his own. I love going to the theatre and I think that is why it has touched a nerve. Although we absolutely need an audience for the overall exciting experience that the theatre can bring, I can’t help but feel some individuals really should show some self-control. After all, we’re not interested in their performance.●

ACTOR DAN: My main gripe is audience members who show how much they hate a production. Tuts and eyes rolling. Infuriating. No need for that! ANDY: I’m a steward. My gripe is with people who think it is acceptable to stand up and walk out to buy themselves a drink. If your dying for a wee fair enough (just), but if you want a beer, or a bag of crips OR WANT TO KNOW HOW LONG UNTIL THE INTERVAL can you really not wait? GEORGIA: Mobile phones! People don’t take responsibility for them. Come on! If you know you have booked yourself out to go to the theatre or watch a movie, doesn’t it stand to reason that you WILL NOT be available to talk on your mobile during this time?!? Switch it off or put it on vibrate. Not being on call for that 1.5 or 3 hours will not kill you and the world won’t end because you didn’t pick up a call immediately. Even worse, a mobile phone that rings and rings and rings…. Just man up, admit you forgot to switch it off and just switch it off immediately! Don’t let it keep ringing until voicemail picks it up and then it rings you back to say you have voicemail! Grrrr!!!! While I’m ranting, how about candy wrappers. Opening it s-l-o-w-l-y will not make it less noisy! If anything, it prolongs the irritation. So like a band-aid, just get it done and over with quickly! JOHN WISE: Those who seem unable to sit through a play without bringing alcohol in with them, made worse with ice cubes which they rattle around.

ARE YOU A BLOGGER? 22

If you enjoy writing a blog, you can get yours published on The Drama Student Online. It will be read by thousands of fellow performers and can be about anything related to training or the industry. We want to get a wide range of opinions and you can send us as many as you want, as often as you want! The best blogs will also be published in the magazine! Send us your blog to editor@thedramastudent.co.uk

London’s Best Kept Secret! The chances are, if you’re reading this magazine, you’re pretty passionate about theatre right? You’re going to enjoy the buzz of seeing new shows, yes? You seize every opportunity to take in as much entertainment as possible, correct? After all, watching as much as possible is an essential part a successful performer’s journey. Well, that’s all very well and good, but for most drama students and young actors the budget might not permit regular visits to the theatre, but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible. The London theatre scene is positively thriving and this past year has seen shows come from the Fringe to the West End such as The Mountaintop, which recently won Best New Play at the Laurence Olivier Awards. In order to get the full breadth of performances taking place throughout London, look no further than your computer. The Audience Club is on a mission to fill seats for new shows in preview all over London that need an audience boost. The Club offers you tickets to shows and concerts in their first week, with producers giving a discreet allocation to fill the house to help spread the word of the show. For just a £2.00 booking fee per complimentary ticket you too can attend previews across the capital. Join up to the website and you’ll discover that you save hundreds of pounds in entertainment value and see shows before the critics do and we encourage you to give the cast feedback after the show. There is a small membership fee, but grab tickets for one West End show and you will see a return on your investment instantly. Company director, Angela Hyde-Courtney, was an actress in the 1960’s. She studied at Mountview and with Joan Littlewood at Stratford E15. She booked rock bands, organised gigs and emigrated to Vancouver in the 1970’s to manage a night club! She ran Entertainment Services for EXPO 86 with over 50,000 performances during a six month run, so she knows only too well the importance of experiencing all sorts of theatrical shows. Now her online ticket office is her passion and she is happy to know that the work that she does enriches many people’s lives and makes entertainment available to a large cross section of the public that would not normally be able to afford to go to the theatre. If you want get out there and see what London has to offer, then join The Audience Club today!

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Classic Membership: £25.00 a year to book 2 tickets at a time. Prestige Membership: £50.00 a year to book 4 tickets at a time. SPECIAL OFFER: All The Drama Student Magazine readers should ensure that they enter the publication title into the “How did you hear about The Audience Club” to get a bonus of £5 put into your PrePay Show Fund. ● Visit www.theaudienceclub.com and email to enquiries@theaudienceclub.com with any questions

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Up and coming star Luke Brady is gearing up to play the romantic lead in the new London production of The Fantasticks, opening in the West End in May.

pulling focus Luke, congratulations on your latest role in the fantasticks. tell us a bit about your character. Matt is the son of Hucklebee. At 19 years old he believes he knows the way the world works by now, but to be honest he is clueless, from being constantly called “An Idiot, immature and callow”, we start to see he’s not all he thinks he is!

The

fantasticks has become the longest running musical in the states. why do you think the show is so popular with audiences?

I believe that the show goes to the next level, not only through the songs, but by stripping it all back to basics. It’s raw, fresh and so intimate with a cast of eleven. It’s truly a captivating experience. Songs like Try to Remember are timeless and the issues bought up in the story are definitely ones we can all relate too.

Tell us about your audition. was it a drawn out and daunting process? My audition process was spaced out for four months. I’m not going to lie, auditions always get me going, and the further you get, the more you feel you have to lose. But what I find the hardest thing is how you have to distance yourself from the piece as not to be disappointed if it doesn’t work out, but when you read the script and start learning the songs it draws you in and you find yourself getting so attached to it! So I’m still on a cloud at the moment and really blessed that after the knock backs, a chance of a lifetime has paid off.

You’ll be making your west end debut in the show. although you must be feeling the pressure, you must also be enormously excited? Pressure of course, but more excitement! Words are never enough when it comes to moments like this! Let’s just say I was very lucky to be alone in the house when they told me the news. I went crazy, shouting, screaming, crying, you name it. I’m surprised the neighbours didn’t call 999!

You recently did nightfall at the edinburgh festival. scores of successful actors have started their careers there.

Would you like to go back to perform one day? Absolutely. The atmosphere there is electric, there is so much talent there and always so much to see and in one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever been too! Plus I have family up there so for me the experience summed up – great food, warm bed and the exhilaration of performing – I was sorted! Even if you aren’t performing up there, it is a ‘fantastick’ experience for performers and enthusiasts alike!

You

went to a performing and creative arts school. how was your training there?

Some of my greatest memories in such a short time were at Hurtwood House. I was so lucky to work with some truly incredible teachers there! In my drama class I had six other students which was an incredible teacher student ratio. I never felt alone or lost, I was always pushed and really bonded with everyone I worked with, and to me chemistry is everything so my time there was very much well spent!

Did you always want to be an actor? I’ve had many dreams, from being a pro-athlete in Taekwondo to being a blacksmith. At heart I’m a really simple guy, but the first time I went on the stage and felt the drug of ‘performance’, that was it for me, I just knew where I wanted to be and felt at home.

Oh yes, you’re a black belt in taekwondo, aren’t you? we’re guessing you can look after yourself then?! I hope so! It’s always been a huge part of my life, to be honest. A part of me is just gutted I can’t continue it with my career path and all, I would be no use to anyone on stage with a broken leg, so it was a sacrifice but some disciplines never leave you.

Best

of luck with the show luke, we’ll be there cheering you on!

Thank you very much! See you there! The Fantasticks runs from 24th May at the Duchess Theatre. www.thefantasticks.co.uk

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actors toolbox

So You Want To Go To

Drama School?

Why do you want to be an actor? What is acting? What do you have to offer? What is the profession like? You’ve decided on becoming an actor and you’ve also decided on going to drama school. Now is the time to prepare for your audition, writes Helen Freeman. Ask yourself: ‘Where do I see myself in five years’ time? How do I want my qualifications and training to work for me?’ While you are still at school is the time to take singing lessons that help all actors support the voice and develop a system that will translate into a strong, good technique. I would also strongly advise all potential students to find some way of incorporating dance training into their weekly schedule and outside your school term-time there are holiday courses in acting and musical theatre, often at the drama schools you will be considering later. This can be a good way to judge the feel of a drama school prior to attending an audition or to see the facilities they have and the approach they favour. Your goal is that after three years of training, you will leave drama school proficient and confident, an actor at home in him/herself, a force to be reckoned with. So visit the websites and find out about any open days your shortlisted drama schools run. Another very useful way in which you can learn about a school is by seeing their graduates in their final productions, about to enter the profession. See if there are any student curriculum vitae which will give you a good idea of work during their training. A photograph may also be included so you can see what you should be thinking about when considering your own headshots. See how many of them actually have pink hair or multiple body piercings, for example! When applying to drama school always check that you have included all the right documentation and are applying in good time. Keep referring to the school’s application guidelines - it can be easy to muddle requirements if you are applying to several schools in the same audition season. Prepare exactly what you are asked to prepare with regards to numbers and types of speeches. Do not exceed the time limits on the pieces or the panel may well stop you in mid-flow. Ideally, by the time you are applying to drama schools, you will have a choice of speeches (and songs for musical-theatre applicants), and will have enough knowledge to be able to choose which is the right combination to perform for each audition. Put together a programme of

good pieces and songs which you are strongly connected to. Select your material with regard to what is appropriate for you – would you be cast as that character? Now you can really begin to work on your pieces, to prepare in depth, to familiarise yourself with your own voice and speech patterns and work on the areas that need development. The day has finally dawned and you have arrived at the audition. You should not try to make a strong connection between fashion and your personality – it’s you they want to see not a department store. For the same reason, leave any rattling and distracting jewellery at home and avoid teetering in on skyscraper heels. These are all weapons of mass distraction and will not help you in the audition room. You are being auditioned from the moment you set foot into the room, making the impression of a focused, professional person who takes the audition seriously. You are at home here. Listen carefully to what is being said to you. This is your audition. Arrive early, enter assuredly, interview intelligently and perform professionally. No one who knows anything at all about acting or the profession would tell you it’s easy. But if you do your preparation work, you can vastly enhance your chances of success. If it’s not such good news at a preliminary audition, keep your eyes and ears open – and work, work, work on your skills base. Aim for the best, be tough and honest when you have to be, but also patient and caring towards yourself as you would be with a good friend. Then next year…..? It’s all to play for. ● Edited extract from Helen Freeman’s book, So You Want To Go To Drama School?, published by Nick Hern Books. Helen is an audition panellist and a student-performance assessor at the Guildford School of Acting. www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

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I want to plan my speeches well in advance for auditioning next year. I have been looking around for appropriate speeches and hoped to get some advice on the general structure. What is the panel looking for? I want to find speeches that are unique and which obviously go on a journey, but should I be choosing something highly emotional? What are preferred, monologues to the audience or with two characters talking to each other? It would be great if you could give me as much advice on the dos and don’ts. - Alfie, 21

student support

Simon Dunmore answers... Nobody can be guaranteed a drama school place, but planning well in advance will certainly enhance your chances. Too many prepare too close to their actual auditions — and only the occasional few succeed in this. You ask an awful lot of questions in a mere 92 words, so I’ve broken my response up into the following sections....

“What is the panel looking for?” Some schools try to define this on their websites. In my opinion many of these are quite dry and uninspiring. Amongst the more evocative are: “how connected you are”, “ability to create and sustain a character within an imagined world” and “evidence of thought and feeling behind the actions and words”. There’s also: “spontaneity and immediacy” and “openness and responsiveness to others”. In my experience of watching tens of thousands of audition speeches, I think the most vital qualities are spontaneous communication of (your) truth throughout each of your characters’ journeys and your openness to change — that is, find a new truth at the slightest suggestion. Perhaps a simpler way of expressing this is: ‘always be in the moment’ — never get stuck on ‘railways lines’. Each speech should be subtly different each time you do it — depending upon the immediate circumstances.

“Speeches that are unique...” Obviously you can never guarantee uniqueness. It is better to think ‘sufficiently different’. How can you get close to this? Find a good library or bookshop and spend several hours at a time (over months) getting a taste of lots of plays. Use audition speech books to find writers whose work grabs you and then explore other plays that they’ve written. I find

a book entitled, The Theatre Guide by Trevor R. Griffiths (A&C Black, 2003) extremely useful as it not only lists individual playwright’s plays, but also gives you references to others worth exploring. There’s also the wonderful www.doollee.com which lists around 100,000 plays and there’s a list of writers worth exploring for audition material on my website. Also, see productions — especially those of brand new plays! You never know what you might stumble across.

“Speeches that.... go on a journey” Journey is very important. You should think of an audition speech as a mini-play in its own right. And a good play takes its audience on a journey — although, sometimes the characters seem to end up where they started. Perhaps, ‘voyage of discovery’ is a better way of thinking. Your character may think they know where they’re going at the start — but that ‘journey’ isn’t along a well-signposted, but featureless, motorway of words; it’s along a series of winding country roads with lots of variety en route. And, like the early explorers, you don’t always end up where you intended. Tip Don’t just look for whole speeches in plays, look at sections of dialogue where one character is obviously ‘in the driving seat’. However, in editing this together ensure that nothing requires a verbal input from someone else. Such editing isn’t necessarily simply a matter of deleting the other person’s lines. If your edit feels like a complete speech in its own right, it’s almost unheard of for an auditioner to complain.

studentsupport “Should i be choosing something highly emotional?” Emotion for emotion’s sake is possibly the worst road that any auditionee can take and will lead down that cul-de-sac of rejection. Unfortunately, too many people fall into this trap by screaming and wailing through speeches with highly emotional content — hoping to impress through being deeply shocking. Remember, most panellists have seen most human misery lots of times before. And, in extreme circumstances real people often try to be very calm — with occasional cracks. If you do choose to do such a speech — it is essential to be truthful and not demonstrate emotion.

“What

are preferred, monologues to the audience or with two characters talking to each other?”

A few schools advise against speeches directed to an audience — but none to my knowledge prohibit this. I suspect that such advice stems from the fact that too many auditionees address everything to the panel alone — who are trying to write notes at the same time. I see no problem with audience speeches, but it is wise to think of your auditioners as members of a larger audience. Some of this type of speech are quite intimate and personal and don’t feel right addressed to lots of people. In this context, imagine just one person — placed slightly behind your auditioners — as the person you’re talking to.

“The dos and don’ts” There are zillions of these — some are more important than others, so I’ll just list the principle ones: • Do be sceptical about stories you hear about individual schools (and their auditions) as you travel round the audition circuit. It’s a world full of subjective reactions and unsubstantiated halftruths. Only the auditioners really know. • Don’t let rejection get you down. This is normal for even those who get places at the most prestigious schools. • Do spend a good amount of time considering where you’re going to apply. • Don’t rush into responding to anything you’re asked in audition — for instance, before starting a speech or responding to a question. You won’t be penalised if you consider for a moment before doing either. • Do incorporate a sense of the place each of your characters is in and of the person/people you’re talking to (the immediate circumstances) — and remember that they will be reacting at points as you progress. • Don’t finish lamely. Have a positive reason for stopping to speak — after all, you have been rattling on for around two-minutes. • Do enjoy yourself and be open and honest in reacting to anything that’s thrown at you! • Finally, don’t think of it as a speech. Think of it as a spontaneous series of separate thoughts and ideas that are a consequence of the journey that your character has travelled beforehand — and which spontaneously develop as you respond to those ‘immediate circumstances’. Of course you should know what you’re aiming for at the beginning, but we never quite know what we’re actually going to say next... and next... and next...

A suggested action plan: Start the summer prior to submitting applications — that’s over a year before taking up your place. Once you have at least 6 speeches you could do well at a moment’s notice (plus any required by those schools who ask you to select from lists) send off your applications. The gap between sending off an application and being called to audition is largely unpredictable and can vary from a few days to several months. Good luck! To view the full version of Simon’s suggested Action Plan – visit www.thedramastudent.co.uk

Simon Dunmore has been directing productions for over 30 years — nearly 20 years as a resident director in regional theatres and, more recently, working freelance. He also teaches acting and audition technique and has worked (and continues to do so) in many drama schools and other training establishments around the country. He has written several books: An Actor’s Guide to Getting Work (now in its fourth edition), the Alternative Shakespeare Auditions series and is the Consultant Editor for Actors’ Yearbook. He’s also been very involved with the work of Equity and the National Council for Drama Training. www.simon.dunmore.btinternet.co.uk

justask@thedramastudent.co.uk

Funding Crisis I have recently been accepted to the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York after a couple of years of unsuccessful applications to RADA and various other actor training programmes. I have some savings and my family cannot really afford to help. I have searched for funding and every source I make contact with pretty much hangs up the phone when I say that the studies are outside the UK. I am desperate to go, but things are not looking good and time is running out as I have to prove I can support myself for the time of studies in New York. Also the VISA I will have will not allow me to work. Mark R. Congratulations on being accepted Mark. I am not a funding expert. However, I spoke to two people who know far more than me, my colleague Angela Wharton and Emma Kershaw from LSC. Unfortunately they confirmed what I thought – there is no government funding for students who wish to study overseas. So all we can suggest is that you try to find other sources: Try local firms; Are there any well-known actors from your area you could approach? Does your local council offer any support? Could you organise a fund-raising event and get your local paper to publicise it? Can friends and family help you raise money? It is possible, but you need to work hard and push yourself. The Careers Advice Service have a funding directory on their website which might be useful - http://careersadvice. adviceresources-fundingdirectory.co.uk Emma also checked with the Professional and Career Development Loan (PCDL) team and Stella Adler is not registered so you won’t be able to apply for the loan. If you wanted to try for a PCDL the school must register beforehand. Have you spoken to the Stella Adler Studio and asked their advice? I don’t want to put a dampener on this, but have you looked in to every course opportunity in the UK? How many drama schools did you apply to? Have you applied to British universities? I think what I am trying to say is that I want you to feel confident that the money you are spending is going to give you the best possible start.

Drama School Qualifications School drama seems very different to the drama sessions attended at weekends. To apply for drama college do you need to have studied drama at GCSE and A Level? Lynne, South Gloucestershire Drama schools differ in their admission requirements so please check with them to see if you need to have studied drama at GCSE and A Level. Personally I think if you are considering an acting career then it would be an advantage to study drama at school. Yes, school drama classes and weekend classes can be different, but nevertheless offer you a great opportunity to learn and develop skills. If you are thinking of pursuing an acting career then why not enrol on a Summer School programme offered by many leading drama schools – as well as learning, you get a real feel for the environment. Yvonne I’Anson is Head of Marketing at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts.

Can Yvonne Help?

If you have a question, no matter what stage in your journey, email justask@thedramastudent.co.uk *Please note that Yvonne is unable to respond to your questions personally.

Photos: Steve Porter and David Galloway

training

GSA Change. It’s always a tricky one. Yet there comes a time when it’s necessary for an organisation to properly evolve. There’s certainly a lot of it going on at GSA at the moment, writes Phil Matthews. Anyone who spent any time in Guildford School of Acting’s former working men’s club premises, knew change would come at some point. There are many drama schools like it. Limited rooms that are cramped, worn-out buildings spread around the city, a constant battle for funding to keep things together. Yes, those things can almost be what gives a school its charm, but what is charm without practicality? The focus should always be on giving the students the best possible training and the support of state-of-the-art facilities certainly goes a long way to securing a first class grounding for this fast paced business we call ‘Show’. GSA is beginning to settle into its brand spanking new home at the ‘gateway’ to the University of Surrey’s Stag Hill campus, following its decision to work with them as an independent company inside it. The leading drama school was granted £3 million from the Higher Education Funding Council for England and in 2008 work commenced on the £5.4 million spacious and bright building. It’s worlds apart from its former dwellings in the centre of Guildford. A total of 15 vast dance and drama studios occupy the innovative three storey building. All are sound-proofed and are environmentally

controlled. There’s neat little tutorial rooms on every floor, throw in shower and changing facilities and you’re beginning to get an idea of its appeal. Students study and warm up in the breakout zones, others relax in the coffee bar (a Starbucks can you believe?) – there’s a real buzz in the building and even on one of the coldest days of the year, everyone smiles. GSA students can also take benefit from the University’s facilities. There’s a gym, swimming pool, fully equipped library and the option for first year students to be housed in the Hall of Residence on the campus, an opportunity unheard of before the change. The next stage of the move will be the conversion of the existing sports centre opposite the new GSA building into a specialist Performing Arts Centre. This will house the GSA technical courses and a new 200 seat studio theatre plus further dance studios. GSA seem to have it all. But what of the GSA training? Is that still up to scratch? Well we were treated to a performance of I Sing by third year students, directed by Katie Beard. One word: Electrifying. The future of Musical Theatre is in safe hands folks. I guess some things don’t change. ●

Photo: Oliver Lanford

training

Perhaps it has been the recent success of US comedy Glee that has inspired graduating students from GSA to write and produce their own musical centred around an American high school. A gripping storyline, mixed with catchy tunes is becoming a real winner with audiences the world over, so why not Surrey? The students of Malibu High are adding the final touches to their glamorous outfits for the evening’s Valentine’s Ball – but their lives are far more complicated than just deciding whether their tiaras match their knickers. Take the high school jock, the dweeb, the bitch and the token queen, and you are presented with every-day life at Palm Springs, where anything and everything can happen. Toss a heady cocktail of lies, gossip and lots of booze into the mix, and you’ve got yourself an exciting evening of entertainment in the form of Kiss and Tell. The show will be presented at The Mill Studio at the prestigious Yvonne Arnaud Theatre this summer by Pagoni Theatre, an organisation which seeks to give drama students and graduates fresh out of college the opportunity to put their knowledge and performance skills to use. In doing so, Pagoni aims to raise funds to help students in financial need, as well as to produce quality theatre. The group of creatives behind the project are GSA students Jean-Marc Cafà (Producer), Adam Rood (Book) and PJ McEvoy (Art and Design), who have drafted in a talented director Dawn Kalani Cowle from the MFA Theatre Directing programme at East 15 Acting School. Jean-Marc explains how the project came about: “It all happened over Christmas, I was working at The Yvonne Arnaud during the Panto season. While grabbing a coffee before what seemed to be the gazillionth run of Cinderella, I noticed there was a weekend slot available in the Mill’s programming schedule and that was it. “I wanted to leave GSA with a bang. What followed was more coffee and a couple of sleepless nights and within a week we had Kiss and Tell,” he says. “I couldn’t ask for a better way to bring our student body together before venturing out into the big wide world,” explains Jean-Marc. “Furthermore, this project poses many a challenge, all of which we are very determined to meet. While aiming to showcase students to the max, I want a script and a show that is not compromised to suit the performers, and we are therefore working very hard to strike a delicate balance.” Jean-Marc goes on to explain that the process of finding a suitable director for the piece, took some time. “We wrote to directors and CDS schools which offered courses in Direction, and we received a lot of interest,” he says. “We then had to start the elimination process, and Dawn made that quite easy for us. We needed a person who knows what lies at the heart of American teen drama, what makes it so special and what makes it sell. We also need someone who knows the US and how it functions. In this respect, Dawn is definitely the person for the job – a US native herself, she has brought our Malibu to life.” Dawn is equally excited about working with fellow drama students on the piece. “Kiss and Tell is wonderful because it allows me to draw from my adolescence spent in front of a television watching teen dramas, and work with a group of talented young performers who want to tell this story.” Why should everyone come along and see the show? Jean-Marc answers with confidence: “After six months of creative fund-raising, lots of hunting and many crazy rehearsals, we are positive you are all in for a treat,” he says passionately. “The show, the songs, the team are all so much fun, that there is simply no way that Kiss and Tell can fail to entertain! You’re in for one hell of an American night out!” Wild horses wouldn’t keep us away! Kiss and Tell runs at The Mill Studio at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre from Thursday 10 to Saturday 12 June. To book tickets call 01483 44 00 00 or online www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk

training A sizzling summer is on its way and now is the time to be planning your programme to develop your skills and expand on existing talents. There are many reasons to enrol on a summer course, whatever your age, experience and field of study. There’s an array of courses out there, so if you’re looking to experience something new, or brush up on a skill in a refresher course, you’ll find a class suited to you in our special Summer School report. If you’re serious about a career in the industry and are planning on auditioning for drama school in the future, then a short course is the perfect way of sampling the experience. You may be looking to get help with audition technique or perhaps you’re interested in sampling a specific area of study at your preferred drama school. Most drama schools now offer summer programmes with courses that either generally scratch the surface, or others that are focused intensively on a specific branch of learning. You will be working with experienced theatre professionals and

course tutors who are enormously skilled, who will require a commitment to the intensive course as though you were a full time student. In return they will hone your existing abilities and guide you in areas that need attention. It’s also the perfect opportunity for you to determine whether the course is something you want to pursue or not. You may be an experienced performer already, but feel there’s a certain area of skill you need to brush up on, such as acting for camera or Shakespeare. There may even be a particular technique or practitioner you wish to learn more about. Or you may well just be looking to have a fun and exciting summer to let off some steam, whatever your taste you’ll find all types here. Enrol on a course with passion and bags of energy, be brave and be open to everything that is thrown at you, and you’re sure to have an incredible summer break.

Get ready for

Summer Schools

Image courtesy: ArtsEd

2010

training THE SATURDAY ACADEMY Location: London

Edustage Location: Croydon and Exmouth

The Saturday Academy Intensive Summer Course is a one week programme in Shakespeare, Contemporary Text and Acting for Television and Film. Based in Kentish Town, North West London, the Academy seeks to nurture anyone with an interest in exceptional drama tuition. It is for anyone from 17 to 80. The training is led by two acclaimed Directors – Tom Daley and Richard Twyman. Tom and Richard have both been assistant directors at the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, and taught at drama schools including RADA and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Richard directed Henry IV Part 2 in the award-winning RSC History Cycle, presented by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Tom has recently directed After Miss Julie for Salisbury Playhouse. The Intensive Summer School runs from Monday 19th July until Friday 23rd July and is a unique

opportunity for anyone to benefit from the very best tuition from teachers from RADA, Guildhall, the RSC and the National Theatre. The week includes outstanding classes on voice, movement, singing and stage combat with the very best teachers in each field. The Summer School culminates in a forum with the Casting Director from the RSC. The Academy takes place in a haven away from the bustle of London with world-class rehearsal rooms, a theatre, a garden and space for students to relax. The Saturday Academy, whose patron is Sir Antony Sher, seeks to nurture anyone with an interest in exceptional drama tuition. Treat yourself this summer to one week that could change your life!

EduStage has been running non residential five day Summer Schools since 2006 at a number of venues throughout the UK. These include The Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, the Winter Garden, Eastbourne, The Arts Theatre, Darlington, The Exmouth Pavilion and The Fairfield Halls, Croydon. Two summer schools are offered: for children aged 8 to 12 and teenagers aged 13 to 18. There is no preaudition process and places are offered on a first come first served basis. On the first day all participants are given the opportunity to show any skills they have in acting, singing and dancing and are helped by professional directors to develop these throughout the week. Original musicals are always used, which are specially written for the Summer Schools to ensure that all participants are fully involved.

The musicals being used for children this year are The Forest about a Princess who cannot dance and The Fortune Teller about a young man who pretends to predict the future. Their teenage musical is Just Wanna Be Heard about a gang of teenagers, one of whom is arrested for doing graffiti but with very strange consequences! On the final afternoon of the summer school the participants perform the musical fully costumed in the theatre in front of an invited audience. In 2009 at The Fairfield Halls, Croydon, CBBC watched the participants rehearse and interviewed them with the view to giving them the opportunity to appear on children’s television.

More info: www.thesaturdayacademy.co.uk or telephone: 07500 878300

More info: www.edustage.co.uk or contact Jeffrey Whitton on 020 8673 1864 or jeffreyw@tiscali.co.uk

GUILDFORD SCHOOL OF ACTING July/August 2010

Photo: David Galloway

• Musical Theatre • Intensive Acting • Intensive Singing • Intensive Dance • Acting for Camera • Directing Musicals • Audition Techniques • Youth Theatre

Summer Schools

2010

[12 – 16 years]

For an application form/further details contact:Guildford School of Acting, Stag Hill Campus, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH UK Tel: (01483) 684052 Fax: (01483) 684070 Email: gsasummerschool@gsa.surrey.ac.uk Web: www.gsauk.org

Image courtesy: ArtsEd

Image courtesy: Central

training

THE Actor Works

The London Drama School

Rose Bruford College

The Actor Works was initially created as a ‘rescue package’ for students of Whitechapel’s Academy Drama School, which had closed suddenly following the death of its head, Tim Reynolds. The new school’s founder, Daniel Brennan, soon decided to establish The Actor Works in its own right, developing a system of training based on the work of American theatre practitioner, Viola Spolin. Spolin was regarded as ‘the grandmother of American theatre’, having founded – with her son, Paul Sills - Second City in Chicago and Story Theatre in Los Angeles, as well as formulating her Theatre Games theory. Daniel trained in the US with her family and former colleagues and aims to bring her commonsense approach to actor training to prominence in the UK. Of paramount importance is the establishing a true sense of company: a trust in oneself and other players, which creates a safe, non-competitive space in which to be free of the fear of disapproval and, indeed, the desire for approval. It is in this environment that students go beyond intellectual knowing, towards involving the entire body and being into the processes of actor training. Aside from the Spolin training, classes include Text Study, Improvisation, Voice, Speech, Movement, Dance, Singing, Screen Acting and Stage Combat, as well as rehearsals for end of term productions, which are held either in the school’s studio, or at The Brockley Jack and Old Red Lion Theatres. Following the success of last year’s summer programme, The Actor Works will again be running its FREE three-evening course in July. It offers a comprehensive sample of the school’s syllabus, whilst giving participants a true taste of its ‘company’ ethos. The course is also used as an audition for those who may wish to commence full time training, as places on our courses may be offered at the end of the course.

The London Drama School, together with “Incisor”, London Fringe Theatre & Film Company, have created unique Summer Intensive Drama Courses. Students are taught by actors, directors, dancers, and singers who are currently working in the entertainment business and, therefore, get a true impression of what being an actor is really like. It is a small friendly school where students are taught skills in Voice, Movement, Singing, Dance, Theatre Sports, Physical Theatre, and Acting. Acting & Improvisation - students will be encouraged to explore various methods of working and will discover different forms of expression. Improvisation encourages the actor to be free and think on their feet. Acting & Comedy gives students an insight into what it takes to be a comic actor and stand-up comedian. Students write and perform their own stand-up routines in class as well as learning about comic timing and physicality through scripts. Acting & Screen Acting gives students the tools to act for both stage and screen looking at the difference between stage and screen techniques. From “Hitting your mark” to performing a scene from a soap opera or film. Students will be encouraged to explore various methods of drama and will discover many different forms of expression. The London Drama School is situated in the green residential area close to Willesden Green tube station.

The Rose Bruford College Summer School Programme is now in its 9th year and has enjoyed great success with participants from both the UK and abroad. The programme is open to all above the age of 16 and will suit both the novice actor as well as those with considerably more experience. Feedback from previous participants tells us that the programme provides an excellent preparation for students intending to apply to UK drama schools, Further Education Colleges and Universities as well as giving exposure to the discipline for those participants interested in pursuing a career in acting. The programme is a highly enjoyable, very intensive, two week course, during which two adapted plays, one classical, one contemporary are studied, rehearsed and then performed in front of an invited audience. Furthermore, participants take part in Voice, Movement, and Group Song workshops, giving an in-house devised performance of each of these disciplines in the final week of the Summer School. All classes are taught and directed by professional practitioners who have very wide and proven experience in their individual fields. Upon completion, participants are issued with a Certificate of Attendance and a detailed report highlighting their successes and areas in which further study could be undertaken. Many participants have progressed onto drama schools throughout the UK, including Rose Bruford College. The College has produced many graduates who have highly successful, professional stage careers (including Edward Bennett who understudied for David Tennant in his role of Hamlet at the RSC), working in such theatres as The Crucible, Sheffield and the Royal National Theatre Studios.

Location: London

For full details on the Summer Course, please visit www.theactorworks.co.uk or telephone 020 7702 0909

Location: London

More info: www.startek-uk.com or telephone 020 8830 4992

Location: Kent

More info: www.bruford.ac.uk or telephone Gail Ellis on 020 8308 2613 or gail.ellis@bruford.ac.uk

training

Image courtesy: Central

training

Summer CourSeS 2010

ACTING

9 AUGUST FOR 2 WEEKS

MUSICAL THEATRE

26 JULY FOR 2 WEEKS SOLD OUT DATES ADDED: 9 AUGUST FOR 2 WEEKS

AUDITION TECHNIQUE 26 JULY FOR 1 WEEK

LIGHTING DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY 2 AUGUST FOR 1 WEEK

(adults 17+)

020 8826 9217 copd@mountview.org.uk www.mountview.org.uk Mountview is committed to equal opportunities

training London Academy of media, film and TV

London Academy operates a community programme on the island. The title of the project is called ‘Bali Visual’ and the teachers come from London Academy and staff from the BBC. The story ends with the film shot in Bali being chosen as one of the 25 finalists in this year’s London International Sci-Fi Film Festival. The winner will be announced in early May and the film, Erase Love, can be seen in London between April 28 and May 5. At London Academy this year, Summer Courses are available in many subjects including: Acting, Filmmaking, Make up, TV Presenting, Photography, Screenwriting and many more. Tutors will help you discover new skills and many have won awards for their own professional work. Let’s hope Javier wins at the film festival in London, to join the many award winning tutors who teach there.

The studio’s aim is simple - acting excellence. This requires the actor to be highly skilled, both artistically and from a business perspective. Brian Timoney Actors’ Studio specialise in the acting technique used by the world’s top actors – Method Acting. Over 75% of Best Actor Oscars have been received by Method Actors since the year 2000. Brian Timoney, Principal of the studio, is a leading UK Method Acting expert who has appeared in the media, including The Evening Standard, The Sunday Express, The Metro, BBC TV, movieScope Magazine and The Stage. The Studios’ goal is to take your ability to an excellent level and launch your career. The studio runs two courses. The first is a three day ‘Introduction to Method Acting Boot Camp’. This course is a taster of what they do and will provide you with vital tools and techniques used by the world’s leading actors. The second is the Ultimate Acting Programme. This is a unique one year, part-time, comprehensive actor training and career launch. During the year, you work

with Brian Timoney and his specialist coaches on all aspects of developing your acting craft. You visit LA for a week to work with a top acting and success coach in Hollywood. They teach you the business of acting - vital to any actor’s success. You get to shoot your showreel on location with a professional crew and sessions are held with Casting Directors and Agents. And finally, the Studio holds an Exclusive Showcase at the end of the year at The Groucho Club, Soho, where Casting Directors and Agents see your work. Brian Timoney Actors’ Studio takes pride in aligning themselves with the industry, and providing Casting Directors and Agents with the type of actors they are looking for. The Studio is very selective about who they work with. Students who apply must be positive, passionate and hardworking with raw ability, which they can shape and mould. Like anything in life where excellence is achieved, the Studios’ training is extremely challenging and only for the ultra dedicated. This is no Drama Club.

More info: www.media-courses.com

Image courtesy: Rose Bruford

Location: London

Past student Javier Ideami ventured to Bali last summer to make a short Sci-Fi film. Javier who is now a Tutor at London Academy, enroled the help of local talent to assist him. He wanted to enter it into the London International Film Festival as a foreign film. Hidden in a remote area of Bali was a new film studio and Javier happened to be their first ever customer. Good deals were available using the Red One HD camera and so the production went ahead. An estimated 600 films were in production last year according to local Location Manager ‘Marcel’. She went on to say that many ‘’films are kept low profile, to allow film production companies to do their job without much local distraction and media coverage.” Julia Roberts was soon to be on the island filming the best selling book Eat Love Pray which was a surprise to the Javier, the film crew and students. After almost 24 hours of non stop acting and take-after-take, the shoot day had drawn to a close. Exhausted, Javier headed back to London Academy office and accommodation complex to sleep and to dream of the wonders of Bali.

BRIAN TIMONEY ACTORS’ STUDIO Location: London

More info: www.briantimoneyacting.co.uk

Image courtesy: ArtsEd

training

MOUNTVIEW ACADEMY OF THEATRE ARTS Location: London

The popular summer programme at Mountview is a rich and diverse range of short courses designed for young people and adults. With two-week adult intensive courses, to oneweek high-energy courses for children and young people, there really is something for everyone. Adult performers can study Acting or Musical Theatre and as the dates do not clash, you could do both options. The two-week programmes for those aged 17+ provide intensive training, focus on techniques employed by the professional actor and used in full-time drama training. Courses are structured with skills based training in the mornings, followed by afternoon rehearsals with course directors working towards informal, end of course presentations. During the different skills based sessions, students work with a selection of invited professionals and practitioners in their specialist areas. Both of these courses also include a theatre trip. If you are planning to audition for a full-time performance course then check out the Audition Technique programme, with Musical Theatre or Acting options. Working with experienced practitioners who know exactly what is required to make your mark, this course will increase your chances of success and guide you in the selection and preparation of suitable modern and classical texts and songs. Each option is geared towards its own specific discipline, culminating in a mock audition, with feedback and guidance. Mountview has introduced an exciting Lighting Design and Technology course. In a busy but fun-packed week you will gain an understanding of the lighting design process from model box to plan drafting together with the basic practical skills required to rig, power, patch, focus and use the latest lighting kit including moving lights, LED equipment and state of the art consoles. Working with professional lighting designers, your week will end with a spectacular sound to light show. There is always a big demand for the one-week courses for young people aged 8 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 16 years in either Acting or Musical Theatre. Benefit by learning new skills, developing confidence and one to one and group interpersonal skills. This fun-filled week culminates in a performance for friends and family. Summer at Mountview is an experience you will never forget - and a wonderful opportunity to experience life at one of the busiest and friendliest leading UK drama schools. More info: www.mountview.org.uk or telephone 020 8881 2201.

training GSA Guildford school of acting

ARTS EDUCATIONAL SCHOOLS

The GSA Summer School is recognised as one of the most popular and inspiring available for those wishing to gain further skills or who want to go on to full-time training. Led by Gerry Tebbutt, Head of Performance, students have the opportunity to work with professionals from the full-time faculty. The School attracts international students, with courses at a reasonable cost providing either a stimulating refresher course or an introduction to basic theatre training. There is no audition procedure, everyone is welcome! Do you want to go to drama school? Are your skills limited and hindering your chances? Do you need professional advice? Take a look their Intensive Courses which cover Acting, Singing and Dance and are intended to progress the student’s ability of each discipline and how to improve audition preparation. Each course ends with a mock audition which points out what is successful and what work still needs to be done in order to achieve a place at drama school level. The Musical Theatre Summer School course is aimed at students who wish to top up their performance skills or learn new ones, exploring further the art of performance. GSA takes musical theatre training very seriously and although this course is fun, it is also hard work. There are classes in all three disciplines, acting, singing and dancing and you will work on a mini-production. If you are determined to pursue a career in performing arts and want to gain a place at drama school, either on an acting or musical theatre programme, then Audition Techniques is for you. Experience mock auditions, classes and audition technique everything you need to prepare for drama school auditions. GSA Summer Schools are for students 17 years and over. However, GSA offers a Youth Theatre for 12 - 16 year olds offering the chance to work with like-minded students on a given theme, and to produce your own piece of theatre.

Arts Educational Schools is offering a number of intensive courses this Summer. Courses are available at three different levels; Infant Courses (4-6 years old), Youth Courses (7-16 years old), and Adult Courses (17 years and above). All courses take place between the 19th – 30th July. Adult Courses: Arts Educational Schools have five courses on offer at this level. The Musical Theatre School and Acting School have been designed specifically to give those wishing to pursue professional training at undergraduate level an idea of the intensive nature of this training. The West-End Week is an opportunity to learn from current West-End performers some of the great musical numbers, including Chicago, We Will Rock You, Hairspray and others. The Fosse Week is an intense training course in this “master” of musical theatre choreography. Some jazz or dance training is recommended before applying for this course. The Acting for Film & Television is an opportunity to learn about the craft of screen acting. Participants will be able to review their performance from recordings taken throughout the week, and will also receive a DVD of their work. Youth Courses: All the youth courses on offer are divided into two categories; Musical Theatre and Acting. The one week course is a devising course, where participants devise either a musical or play in one week, with the help of their director. As part of the two week course, students create a Youth Theatre Company, where they select which play/musical they wish to perform, then under the direction of their director, work together to create a final performance of their chosen play/ musical. Friends and family will be invited to watch the students perform at the end of the course. Infant Courses: This year we’re offering the Children’s Magical Storytime – a short course taking place every morning, over 5 days. It’s a perfect chance for young children to discover their creativity at an early age, and parents will be invited to see their achievements at the end of the week.

More info: www.gsauk.org or telephone 01483 684052.

More info: www.artsed.co.uk or telephone 020 8987 6652

Location: Surrey

Location: London

HOT Ideas Record your classes Ensure that you get the most out of your Summer School course by investing in this nifty little Dictaphone from Sony. With this easy to use high quality voice recorder, you’ll guarantee that you never miss any of the vital information that is passed on through your tutors, or to record your musical notes. This high-quality, digital, battery-powered dictation device with simple slide switch operation, allows you to store 340 folders for up to 1,012 individual messages. You can also covert the files to WAVE or MP3, so you can store them on your PC or MAC as a resource you can go back to time and time again. Professional performers and drama students have been using voice recorders since they were invented, make sure you don’t get left behind with this exciting model! Visit www.sony.co.uk for your nearest Sony Centre

SONY ICD-BM1 Voice Recorder

visual feedback Most Casting Directors recommend that actors should purchase their own video recorder so that they can practice before an audition. The same goes if you’re preparing a speech for a class. Seeing yourself back performing a speech will instantly allow you to see the director or audience’s viewpoint, including any out of character habits you portray without wanting to. At drama school, you’ll be filmed a lot so that you’re self-aware, so get a head start at home! This beautifully designed pocket camcorder is sleek, tiny and ultra-functional. It’s also High Definition, so the picture quality is amazing. Small enough to slide into your pocket, it means you’re ready to film whenever you like. www.iwantoneofthose.com

VEHO HD Ultra Slim Pocket Camcorder

Image courtesy: Central

Have some YOU Time

You’re going to have some intensive days on your Summer Course, so it’s important to look after your muscles! After a long day in class, there is nothing better than closing the bathroom door, lighting a few candles and submerging yourself completely in a hot tub of luxurious bubbles. Choose from 9 bath soaks for different occasions and let the stresses of RADOX the day wash away. Muscle Soak is one of our Muscle favourites, ensuring you get a good night sleep Soak and are ready to fight another day! www.be-selfish.co.uk

training

ATTENTION: ALL ASPIRING ACTORS! Britain’s most controversial and outspoken acting coach says “most people who try to become actors fail because they don’t have what it takes... would you like to ﬁnd out if YOU have what it takes?” “If you have that burning desire to succeed as an actor, then join the club. There are millions more like you. The question is, do you have what it takes and what have you got to oﬀer the industry?” Brian Timoney

Dear Aspiring Actor, Many who set out to become professional actors are completely deluded. They believe that it’s easy to become an actor or they have deluded notions about who they are and what their ability is. My job is identifying the people who have the potential to succeed. I hold an intense and unbelievably challenging three day Introduction to Method Acting Boot Camp designed to identify those who have ‘it’.

DSM_Brian_Timoney-130x185.indd 1

I will put you through your paces, and at the end of the course you will know if you have what it takes. Not only that, but you will experience an acting training in those three days which is used by many top Hollywood actors, which you cannot get anywhere else in the UK. I need to warn you though, I am completely honest and will tell you the absolute truth about you and your ability. I am regarded as one of the country’s top acting coaches. I have appeared on the BBC and been featured in The Sunday Express, movieScope Magazine, The Metro and The Evening Standard, to name a few. This course is not for the faint hearted, and you must be willing to use your own experiences to create emotional content. You also have to be optimistic, passionate and easy to work with - key ingredients from the outset in becoming a successful actor. I can assure you that you will not see the world in the same way by the end of the course.

Recently Melinda Messenger attended my Boot Camp, and here is what she said: “I’ve just done the Acting Course weekend and I’ve got to say, it absolutely blows your mind. I don’t know what I was expecting, but this was nothing like what I was expecting. It was hugely intense, hugely demanding and challenging but, because of that, completely rewarding, you go to places that you didn’t actually think it was possible to get to. It’s been a phenomenal weekend. I’d go as far as to say that it’s life-changing.’’ Melinda Messenger If you would like to nd out if you have what it takes, I dare you to apply at:

www.MethodActingBootcamp.co.uk Best wishes

Brian Timoney

23/3/10 11:36:18

Actor Entrepreneur? Are you an

Do you have more acting work than you know what to do with? Are you getting seen for all the projects you would like to? I thought not. I’m not either, writes Knight Hooson. We all know that this is an over-subscribed industry, and sometimes not only is it frustrating, but it’s just unfair. There are some actors who work all the time, whether talented or not, while there are others with far superior talents rotting away making lattés at Starbucks. Some say it just comes down to luck. But I say you can nudge luck in your direction. Actor Entrepreneurs is about inspiring actors to look at this industry from another angle. Instead of chasing after them (casting directors, agents, directors) to give us work, we let them come to us. Actor Entrepreneurs encourages you to start thinking of yourself as a shop owner. Of course you could stand in front of your shop door and desperately chase anyone who comes near your shop down the street, thrusting your goods in their face and offering them ‘special deals,’ or you could set up the best shop window you can possibly create, lay your wares out in an attractive manner, fill your shop with interesting products and activities, and allow word of mouth to bring people into your shop to buy from you. Which do you think is a better sales strategy? There are two main ideas behind Actor Entrepreneurs. The first is to get you to think about creating your own acting work - work that is fulfilling to you, that showcases your talents and abilities, and that someone else might want to view. Basically, the first strand is about inspiration. The second strand is about practical information that you can take and use to

put yourself in the Spotlight is the UK’s most popular professional casting directory. Only performers with recognised training or experience can join Spotlight. Spotlight appreciates that everyone has to start somewhere, so they offer a number of opportunities to help you get going, whichever part of the industry you have begun to specialise in. Spotlight Graduates is the directory of final-year students from the UK’s top drama schools and courses, promoting you to agents and casting professionals as you begin your career. Membership is open to graduates from all schools accredited by the Conference of Drama Schools (CDS). Members of Spotlight Graduates appear for one year in the printed directory, distributed free of charge to thousands of industry professionals and agents every February. This means the people that count have your photograph and school contact details to hand in time for the all-important showcase season, and they will use the book as a reference tool. Your full CV, including your photos, showreel and voice clips, will also feature on the Spotlight website, where it can be viewed by casting professionals. Your CV will also be available via the Spotlight Performance Calendar: the online timetable of drama school showcases, which lists upcoming performances and their respective performers. Agents and casting professionals use this daily to schedule their diaries. From Easter onwards, your CV will become part of The Spotlight Link, our job information service for performers and their agents. You or your agent will receive information about the latest castings and auditions: perfect for lining up jobs after graduation! In addition, every year each CDS drama school nominates their best actor from their graduating year, for entry into the Spotlight Prize.

create your own work. How do you create a budget? How do you build an audience? How do you publicise your event? How do you use the success of one event to build an audience who are interested in your next production / film / concert / book / event / recording? We are going to be speaking to people who are making their own work, and doing it well - Actors who are succeeding in connecting with an audience, who are gaining experience and exposure, and hopefully making some money! So far we have talked with Simon Greiff, whose company SimG Productions have released two albums and produced several live concerts to date. We interviewed Chris New who took Prick Up Your Ears from just a seed of an idea and developed it into a starring role opposite Matt Lucas in the West End. We also got the inside scoop from a Canadian actor who was compelled to tell an important environmental story in a 40 minute documentary film – which she managed to shoot in 2 days and complete for only £5000 and which is now getting plenty of attention online. This is just the beginning. Your acting career really does depend on you. Follow us at www.actorentrepreneurs.co.uk and take a positive step towards creating your own future. ●

spotlight

They will be invited to perform at the Spotlight Showcase in July, to an exclusive VIP audience of agents and casting professionals. The two best students will be awarded Best Actor and Highly Commended Actor (winning £2,000 and £1,500 respectively). The 22 nominees also receive a free year’s membership of Spotlight. Spotlight doesn’t just support drama school graduates trying to get a head start within the industry. Spotlight Dancers is the best place for dancers who have trained or have experience to promote themselves to a variety of industry professionals. If you are a final year CDET student you are entitled to half-price membership. You will feature in the printed directory, and your full CV will also appear on the Spotlight website. Both are accessible to thousands of potential employers. Just started out in your presenting career? Spotlight Presenters offers members a way to become visible to casting professionals. Do you have limited broadcast experience or training? You can now join the Spotlight Presenters database in the ‘Emerging Talent’ pages. Emerging Talent Presenters are offered a full page in the Presenters directory and a full CV which features online, plus as part of your Emerging Talent membership, Spotlight will record a free 2-3 minute video clip to enhance your presence on the Spotlight website. ● For more information please visit www.spotlight.com/join

postcard from scarborough I am writing this at the end of NSDF 10. The National Student Drama Festival has been taking place for more than 50 years and I am always suprised that not every drama student knows about it. The NSDF runs for a week in Scaborough and gives immense opportunities to students who are either studying or seeking to work in theatre, including performers, writers, directors, stage management, designers, choreographers, technicians and critics. As well as workshops, discussions, the late night bar and special events, there are 12 student shows. These are selected from the hundred or so entries each year and they come to Scarborough to perform to an audience of some 700 student peers and 100 industry professionals. The shows are selected by a group of professional directors, performers and producers who travel the country looking at the entered work and choosing the final 12. NSDF 10 saw a range of productions encompassing text-based, devised work, promenade, musical theatre and others and resulted in wide-ranging exploration and discussion of theatre. Apart from the shows, which all participants get to see, there are 180 workshops. These are lead by visiting artists who are all industry professionals and organisations and this year included: ATG; John Caird; Paddy Cuneen; Femi Elufowoju Jr; Filter Theatre; Stephen Jeffreys; Damian Kell; Robert Hewison; Kristine Landon-Smith; Dom Leclerc; Mike Leigh; the National Theatre Studio; Cyril Nri; Punchdrunk; Mark Ravenhill; Ferdy Roberts; RSC; Joanna Scanlon; Spotlight; Stage Electrics, TMA and a host of others including Equity’s Masterclass Q&A with Thelma Holt and Christopher Ecclestone. NSDF also run an emerging artists competition during the Edinburgh Festival and have created the NSDF Ensemble which gives talented student performers and creative team the chance to work on a specially commissioned piece which will go to the Latitude Festival later this year. Equity has been supporting the NSDF for a number of years, with workshops, cast visits, the Masterclass and networking sessions and although we always meet student members at the festival, our experience of visiting drama students in their schools and colleges is that they don’t know much about the NSDF - so now is your chance to find out more. www.nsdf.org.uk. We look forward to seeing you there in 2011.

Dudley by Michael Culkin

I’m sorry! I joined Equity in 1970 but have done very little by way of participation. Recently I have been a silent witness to the erosion of the ‘creative’ in favour of the administrative, for my part in this madness, I apologise! I intend to make amends by fighting for the creative! You may have read of Equity’ Manifesto for Theatre. Whilst this focuses on subsidised theatre, it has implications for all theatre, for all media. While grant funding has increased in subsidised theatre, the actor’s share has declined. Clearly our subsidised theatres are doing something other than producing and paying actors with our money. You would have to be living on the moon to not know the answer to that one. A ‘theatre’ is now home to an array of departments, to put a quango to shame. Education and Outreach departments, H&S departments, Marketing departments and HR officers, it’s acronym heaven and hardly creative! Oddly, I have always thought that theatre was education. Whilst there may be a need to encourage ‘access’, it is clear that the Travelex solution wins hands down. It has been hugely successful, by making access/tickets cheaper, and by implication supporting a producing ethos at the National Theatre. Simples! How can all this concern you? Because if you are who you should be, you are first of all in this business, in all it’s forms, because you are a creative person. You want to create, to make ‘work’, to illuminate. Three things accountants are not good at. Theatre now appears in myriad forms and locations and is often more exciting off piste as it were, but at heart, what these new adventures all have in common, is a search for the creative work and its impact. But all theatre should be free to embrace these new energies and not be bound up in the red tape of atrophy! It’s a question of balance... A few years ago I played one of the leading Reps. It was hugely challenging and enjoyable BUT while there were six employees in the Education Department upstairs, the sink in my dressing room remained blocked for the seven week run. A question of balance… On arrival at another Rep for rehearsals I was given a very thick envelope with forms for completion and enough reading to last a fortnight, my only enquiry was for the latest draft of the play, this was not yet printed and would be ready tomorrow. A question of balance… Education experts agree that experience is one of the greatest tools in teaching. If we can experience we learn so much more. Let educational theatre be about cheap seats, even free seats, but let it be about performance and the revelation that experience brings. And for those who see Uncle Dudley as one of the oldies, make no mistake, my experience and wisdom gained, is informed by you and by what you are up to. And if one of the reasons you feel Equity irrelevant, is that it’s full of old luvies droning on, well that’s my fault, but if you don’t participate, it’s also yours! Go to: www.equity.org.uk and say so! I’m changing, are you…?

www.equity.org.uk

Rising Stars

agent

Cole Kitchenn’s

Stephen Carlile

Having carved a successful career as a leading man in musical theatre (Freddy in Cameron Mackintosh’s My Fair Lady, original cast member of The Producers), Stephen has successfully made the transition from musical to straight actor having made his film debut in Brideshead Revisited and he is to play the lead role in an as yet untitled project written by leading playwright Samuel Adamson.

Stuart Piper congratulations on becoming a you feel all grown up now?

Dad! Do

Not really, I still feel like a big kid, although the bags under my eyes after all the sleepless nights remind me I’m getting older! It is a miraculous thing though, and we’re loving every minute of it.

You’ve

swiftly become a bit of a mover and shaker in this town..

I’m passionate about what I do. An agent is in part a salesman, and you have to believe in what you’re selling.

What

was your inspiration for establishing Cole Kitchenn Personal Management?

I was general managing the Brian Dennehy/ Clare Higgins production of Death of a Salesman with Guy Kitchenn (of Cole Kitchenn Ltd), who told me that he’d often thought about taking on a select list of actors to manage. It seemed to me a potentially exciting and unique opportunity to represent actors and creatives, while affiliated to a production company that could potentially produce projects for those clients. What began as a sideline grew into a stand-alone separate entity and now after 5 years we are a team of four (I am joined by my co-agent Olivier Thomson, Jo Fell & Lucy Marriott) representing some of the best known TV & film regulars, and finest Tony & Olivier Award winning stage talent.

You’ve

got clients working in all areas of the industry…

I’m glad you recognise that, because one of our main aims as a company has been not to specialise in any one area. We represent some of the most instantly recognisable TV & Film stars. In straight theatre we have clients currently working at the National, Globe, Old Vic, Manchester Royal Exchange, including Enron, War Horse and Jerusalem, and some of the biggest names in West-End musicals including Frances Ruffelle, Caroline O’Connor, Graham Bickley, Siobhan McCarthy, Kim Criswell & Paul Baker. We also specialise in creatives which includes Olivier Award Winning lighting designer Mike Robertson, choreographer Javier De Frutos who’s evocative and controversial work has won him an Olivier and South Bank Show Award, and Set & Costume Designer Christopher Woods, who designs for the Peter Hall Company.

You’re

no stranger to treading the boards yourself, with an acting CV a seasoned pro would be envious of!

I started very young, so by the time I was in my early twenties I had the fatigue of a 40 year old actor! I’ve truly never looked back since I gave up performing, as I love every minute of what I do now.

Any chance you’d get back on stage? No. I don’t think anyone could afford me.

Now

there’s no end to your talents as you’re also a very successful producer.

While I head up the agency, our production company is a quite separate entity – we’ve always felt it’s important to keep the two separate. But I’m able to use my experience as a producer to realise projects that advance our client’s careers. For example Lifecoach that starred Phill Jupitus was designed as a showcase for actress Amy Darcy (who went on to play GP Poppy Merriott in Eastenders) and was directed & written by client Nick Reed, who was subsequently commissioned by Sam Mendes’ Neal Street Productions to adapt the screenplay, and it is now set for production later this year. And New Boy was written & directed by our client Russell Labey, who is now directing the play all over the world. Inadvertently both projects became two of the most successful productions ever produced at the Trafalgar Studios, and I was dead chuffed to receive Whatsonstage Award nominations for Best New Comedy for each as producer.

What advice would you give to an actor about to enter the industry? Know where your strengths lie. You have to believe you have something about you that no one else does. Work out what that is, and then play to that strength. If you go to a well respected drama school or musical theatre college, agents will see you at your showcase, and if you shine, they will approach you. If you write to agents direct thereafter, it’s always best for them to be able to see you in action, so either invite them to something you’re doing on stage, or include a showreel.

www.colekitchenn.com.

Dani Harmer The biggest children’s TV star in Britain, Dani is best known as TV’s Tracey Beaker for which she was nominated for a Welsh BAFTA Award for Best Actress, currently filming the third series of sequel Tracey Beaker Returns, before filming a fourth series of her own show Dani’s House. After releasing her debut album this year, Dani has her sights set on establishing herself as an adult actress.

Victoria Yeates RADA graduate Victoria recently won rave reviews in Rookery Nook, with Dominic Maxwell in The Times writing: ‘Victoria Yeates could carry a show on her own’; and The Sunday Times writing: ‘Yeates is a delight playing a village girl with a lubricious toothy smirk, who lights up from the inside at the prospect of nookie!’. Vicky is now set to appear in the new BBC3 flagship drama Lip Service screening later this year.

Sam Holland Sam was plucked from a local theatre group Stage 84 to star in a critically acclaimed short Wish 143 starring alongside Jim Carter & Lizzie Roper, directed by Ian Barnes. His incredible performance immediately brought him to the industry’s attention. Leading casting directors mark him as one to watch.

Leila Benn Harris Having received two Whatsonstage. com Award nominations (for leading roles in Phantom of the Opera and Imagine This), she continues her affiliation with the Chichester Festival Theatre, having played Laurey in Oklahoma! for John Doyle last Summer and by joining the London cast of the Chichester/Headlong/Royal Court production of Enron directed by Olivier Award winner Rupert Goold

Amy Lennox Amy is currently playing Margot in Legally Blonde in the West-End, in which she also understudies Sheridan Smith as Elle. When going on to perform, she was reviewed by chance by The Guardian who wrote, ‘Amy Lennox was a triumph – a star is born’. She has also filmed a small role in the new Kiera Knightley feature Never Let Me Go.

ONE YEAR INTENSIVE MUSICAL THEATRE DIPLOMA COURSE Apply Now for September 2010

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Photo: Joan Marcus

curtaincall

Hair New York’s acclaimed Public Theater, in association with Cameron Mackintosh, will present the 2009 Tony awardwinning musical, Hair, at the Gielgud. The whole Broadway cast are signed up, which marks the first time an entire Broadway cast has opened a musical in the West End. In 1967, Hair was the show that officially opened the Public Theater’s long time home on Lafayette Street and has the distinction of being the first off-Broadway show to transfer to Broadway. The musical ran for almost two thousand performances at London’s Shaftesbury Theatre in 1968 and only closed because the venue’s roof collapsed. A celebration of life, a love letter to freedom, and a passionate cry for hope and change, Hair features some of the greatest songs ever written for the stage including Aquarius, Good Morning Starshine, Let the Sunshine In and the title number. Cameron Mackintosh said: “Little did I think when I was the production runner on the original London production of Hair in 1968, that 41 years later I would be bringing the Public Theatre’s acclaimed new production back to London complete with its extraordinary Broadway cast.” Insiders have warned us that the energy of the Broadway cast is truly infectious, so beg, borrow or steal a ticket at all costs! Opens 14 April. GIELGUD THEATRE 39-45 Shaftesbury Avenue London, W1D 6AR Box Office: 020 7812 7498 www.hairthemusical.co.uk

Photo: John Tramper

SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE THEATRE 21 New Globe Walk, Bankside London, SE1 9DT Box Office: 020 7401 9919 www.shakespeares-globe.org

theatre DEATH OF A SALESMAN

Arthur Miller’s unflinching examination of the American Dream. At sixty-one years old, Willy Loman has been a travelling salesman for thirty-four years. Now, he’s been taken off salary and is forced to confront a future on commission. As memories and dreams of the past, ebb and flow, Willy’s family struggle to engage him in the present. Death of a Salesman won the Pulitzer Prize in 1945. It is considered to be Miller’s greatest work and one of the most important plays of the 20th century, still startlingly relevant over sixty years after its premiere. ‘Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He’s not the finest character that ever lived. But he’s a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid.’ Runs from 1 May 2010 to 29 May.

WEST YORKSHIRE PLAYHOUSE Quarry Theatre Playhouse Square, Quarry Hill Leeds, LS2 7UP Box Office: 0113 213 7700 www.wyplayhouse.com

MACBETH One of Shakespeare’s most famous and chilling plays comes to the Southbank’s Globe this spring. When three witches tell the General Macbeth that he is destined to occupy the throne of Scotland, he and his wife choose to become the instruments of their fate and to kill the first man to stand in their path, the virtuous King Duncan. But to maintain his position, Macbeth must keep on killing – at first Banquo, his old comrade-in-arms; and later, as the atmosphere of guilt and paranoia thickens, anyone who seems a threat to the tyrant and his fear. From its first moments to the last fulfilment of the witches’ prophecy, Shakespeare’s gripping account of the psychological experience of murder enthrals the imagination. In scenes of nightmarish vividness and language of haunting power, Macbeth represents the profoundest engagement with the forces of evil in all drama. The production is experimenting with an element of audience participation for those in the yard. Bear in mind on the day that the closer you stand to the stage, the more likely you are to be involved in the action/elements of the set! Runs from 23 April until 27 June.

culturefocus

Photo: Justin Nicolas

culture

IDFB

The UK’s original inner-city and first festival of the year will set up camp across Camden Town’s two mile stretch of high street for the 6th consecutive year. The festival features fresh new talent over its forty venues for one very long weekend. The daytime programme includes open air stages, comedy, spoken word, visual arts, freestyle, sports, BBQ’s, theatre, karaoke, pop quizzes, bingo, live music performances, DJs and bags of fun and games! ‘Crawlers’ are granted unlimited access to all official festival venues featuring more than 200 live artists, extensive daytime activities & arts programme and after show parties capacity permitting. In keeping with Crawl tradition and the spirit of discovery, the full line-ups and stage times remain a closely guarded secret until each day and surprise guests may appear at any time and at any venue. The evening line-ups are selected by a committee of music industry tastemakers, including radio DJs, club promoters, journalists and record labels. The most hotly tipped acts will appear on the bill both days, alternating venues on Friday and Saturday to allow die-hard Crawlers two opportunities to see their most coveted artists. 1 and 2 May Bank Holiday weekend. CAMDEN North West London www.thecamdencrawl.com

The International Dance Festival Birmingham is back bigger and better than before, proving the city is a diverse and vibrant international dance destination. IDFB 2010 will bring great dance to venues and public spaces across the West Midlands, enabling audiences to see a vast array of stimulating international work that would otherwise be out of reach, and introducing people of all ages to healthy dance activity through exciting participatory events. With headline collaborators, star turns, and breathtaking events throughout its four weeks, IDFB is the region’s biggest festival, and already one of the largest dance festivals in the world. Through the outstanding quality of its work and the partnerships that support it, IDFB is the perfect showcase for the rich dance infrastructure of Birmingham and the West Midlands, supporting the West Midlands’ Culture Programme for 2012, and presenting an incredible opportunity to celebrate Birmingham as a world destination for dance. There is a real diverse mix of dance on offer. One of the highlights this year is the CIRCA company which wowed audiences at the Edinburgh Festival last year. Go on a thrilling and moving journey with CIRCA’s exceptional circus acts, combined with movement, dance, light, sound and video. Blending intricate acrobatic sequences, complex tumbling, and powerful solos, Brisbane-based CIRCA’s work is utterly refreshing, making circus a place of renewed wonder. Runs from 19 April until 16 May. IDFB 2010 www.idfb.co.uk

Museums at night Visit museums and galleries across the capital with a difference this spring. Museums at Night is a popular project that will see venues across London opening their doors for a weekend-long marathon of cultural events. From candlelit tours to underground sleepovers, Museums at Night is a unique opportunity to explore London’s museums and galleries after dark. More than 50 events will be included in the venture, including exhibitions, tours, talks and late night spooky happenings! You could join other adults for a sleep over at Winston Churchill’s underground shelter at the Churchill War Rooms; test your fright levels at the Museum of London Docklands for London Horror, which includes a free screening of American Werewolf in London; or for the more sophisticated spectator, join opera singers from the Saltzberg Festival at the National Gallery. There’s so many different events happening at night this spring, so why not get engaged with something unique. Runs from 14 May until 16 May.

CULTURE 24 Various venues www.culture24.org.uk

Photo: Gavin Brown - London Transport Museum

Photo: Andy Wilsher

Camden Crawl 2010

summerfestival

if you go this summer... Wellingtons. Thunderstorms. Fields. Tents. If this doesn’t scream “Theatre Event of The Year” to you, then you’re simply not in the know. Not yet, anyway, writes Josh Boyd-Rochford. You might think that “serious theatre” doesn’t equate with camping in a field in Suffolk. Well, I think you’re wrong. And the RSC agree with me. And so does the Liverpool Everyman Playhouse. And did I mention Sadler’s Wells? The Bush? The Lyric? Paines Plough? Or how about nabokov, Theatre 503, English Touring Theatre? And that is just some of the theatre line up. BAFTA, the writer Sebastian Faulks, the club legends Duckie, comedienne Josie Long, singer Corrine Bailey Rae, comic Mark Lamarr, and wistful Glaswegians Belle & Sebastian. Those are just some of the others who’ll be donning wellies and pitching tents. Eclectic doesn’t even begin to cover it. Now in its fifth year, The Latitude Festival is held every July in the beautiful Henham Park, Southwold. Despite its short progeny, Latitude has swiftly become the festival destination for the UK theatre industry. While many UK festivals are more about music than anything else, Latitude has a distinctly European feel to it, the emphasis on poetry, comedy, politics, dance, classical music, cabaret, art, literature and of course theatre has made it a glorious weekend away for anyone who cares about the performing arts. The expression ‘something for everyone’ could have been invented for Latitude. Across four main stages a dizzying plethora of the current top musicians provide an incredibly diverse soundtrack to the weekend. The Obelisk Arena is the main stage, the focus for the music. It’s where you’ll catch BRIT award winning Florence and the Machine, American Indie rockers Vampire Weekend, and reformed 90’s Manchester lads James. The Sunrise Arena hosts the stars of tomorrow like the beautiful sound of Brit-Folk band Kurran and the Wolfnotes. Then there is The Uncut Arena, and the Lake Stage where hundreds more bands will cater to your every musical need. Yet, surprisingly perhaps, the same people found thrashing around, glued

to the front of the stage at The Obelisk Arena, can also be found quietly basking in exquisite wordplay in the Poetry Tent or listening intently in The Literary Arena, where this year, iconic American author Brett Easton Ellis will be holding court. It is the genius of Latitude that the cast of hit American musical Hair will share the same stage as the Royal Opera House, and no-one will think it strange. But it is the theatrical element of Latitude that has drama students, theatre practitioners and the best and brightest of our industry flocking to Suffolk. While the RSC and the National Theatre were the heavy hitters at the 2009 festival, performances from nabokov, Paines Plough, Fledgling and the Young Vic more than held their own. It is the presence of these companies that gives Latitude its youthful flavour. Their energy electrified the theatre tent last year, ensuring a thrillingly diverse audience. No doubt they’ll repeat this achievement this year. These are the theatre makers of the future; their tastes, experiences, and passions will inform and shape the future of our industry over the next few years. That is precisely why Latitude is so successful – it ignores cultural barriers, gender or age, and creates a community. It is exceptionally family friendly, with a dedicated family camping section and, with the park hosting a multitude of food and drink stalls and a supermarket, as well as hot showers, it appeals to a demographic who might ordinarily baulk at the idea of camping for a weekend. With just 250,000 tickets available, it feels small, and indeed the entire site is easily navigable. In fact, wandering around the site alone is probably the best way to discover the many hidden gems like the puppet shows, the hidden stages in the woods, the impromptu workshops and performances. But beyond all this, the draw of Latitude is the way it taps into the current creative zeitgeist and attracts the most dynamic, exciting talents and companies. The acclaimed director Michael Elliott said “Theatre is a place where people come to dream in public” Perhaps he had Latitude in mind. ●

NEVER FORGET

Yvonne I’Anson remembers the actors who have shaped our rich theatrical and cinematic history. Jessie Matthews 1907 - 1981 When I was a young girl visiting my Grandmother, I would sit with her and listen to a BBC radio drama series called Mrs Dale’s Diary (later renamed The Dales). In 1963 the lead role of Mrs Dale was taken over by Jessie Matthews, a name which meant nothing to me at the time. Ten years later I found myself, as a young publicity officer, working with this remarkable lady when she came to York Theatre Royal to play Mrs Bramson in Night Must Fall and later Lady Kitty in The Circle. To me she was a well-known radio celebrity but forty years earlier she had enjoy international fame as an extraordinarily beautiful, graceful, vibrant star, with a gorgeous innocent face and enormous sex appeal. Jessie Matthews was born in Soho, London. She was one of eleven children born to a market costermonger. She started dancing at an early age, and later had elocution lessons creating a distinctive plummy accent. She made her stage debut, as a child dancer in 1919, at the age of 12 in Bluebell in Fairyland. Jessie’s big break came when she was appearing in the chorus in Charlot’s Review in London. When the show transferred to New York, Jessie went too and was understudy to the star Gertrude Lawrence. When Miss Lawrence fell ill, Jessie took over the role and received rave reviews. Her popularity continued to grow and not only was she an acclaimed dancer but also an international singing star. However Jessie’s personal life was to have a big impact on her reputation. She had married her first husband Henry Lytton Jr in 1926. She met her second husband Sonnie Hale when they worked together in a Cochran revue, and the following year in Noel Coward’s This Year of Grace. However Hale was married to another popular West End star Evelyn (Boo) Laye (featured in a previous edition). Miss Laye found intimate love letters and in 1930 filed for divorce – in summing up the Judge said “the woman Matthews writes letters which show her to be a person of an odious mind” – shameful and potentially career damaging remarks. Jessie’s third husband was Brian Lewis. All of her marriages ended in divorce. She also had several other relationships including dalliances with royalty. One of her most famous productions was the Rodgers and Hart musicals Ever Green in 1932 – at the time it was the most expensive musical ever produced on a London stage. She also starred in Over My Shoulder which became Jessie’s personal theme song. Other film credits include Susie Dean in The Good Companions (1933) and the gender-swapping musical comedy First a Girl (1935). When the film The Good Companions was released King George V and Queen Mary attended the premiere, but Jessie as the central figure in a scandalous divorce, was not allowed to shake hands with them. She starred in theatre and variety shows during the 50s and 60s, and also made guest star appearances on TV including playing Aunt Bessie in the TV series Edward and Mrs Simpson (1978). The Jessie Matthews I worked with was a matronly, rotund figure but she still had the most enormous sparkling eyes and enchanting smile and she would wander down the corridor singing Over My Shoulder with great gusto. She had real star quality and immense charm. Jessie Matthews was awarded an OBE in 1970. She died of cancer in 1981. ●

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CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Josh Boyd-Rochford BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Matthew Bannerman IT CONSULTANT Dominic Fallows DISTRIBUTION Paul McGuire CONTRIBUTORS Yvonne I’Anson, Eddie Gower, Francesca Waite, Benjamin Potter, Russell Labey, Richard Evans, Daniella Gibb, Helen Freeman, Knight Hooson, Michael Culkin, Simon Dunmore, Louise Grainger, COVER IMAGE Neerja Naik by Shalina Published by MarcoMatt Media LLP Top Floor, 66 Wansey Street London SE17 1JP Tel: 020 7701 4536 Fax: 070 9284 6523 www.thedramastudent.co.uk editor@thedramastudent.co.uk SUBSCRIPTION 12 months subscription 4 issues - £12.90 ISSN 2041-7330 © Copyright MarcoMatt Media LLP 2009 all rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in whole or part without the written permission of the publishers. The views and opinions expressed by contributors may not necessarily represent the views of the Editor and the publishers. MarcoMatt Media LLP take no responsibility for claims made in advertisements featured in this magazine. Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but its accuracy and the opinions based thereon are not guaranteed.

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Summer School 2010 Central’s Summer School gives an excellent opportunity to train in one of the world’s most prestigious drama conservatoires. With access to specialised facilities, with teaching by expert staff, you will become part of the Central community. You can experience the excitement of being in one of the world’s most creative and dynamic capital cities – London – home to some of the most inspiring, innovative theatre and numerous free museums and galleries.

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