Acting
One of my strongest and most passionate interests within the theatre world is acting. I enjoy discovering new characters and getting to know them throughout the rehearsal process; as I am intrigued by stepping into the perspective of someone who I had never met. A keen interest of mine is finding my identity within already existing characters and creating my own interpretation of their story.
Some notable characters I have played are:
- Louise from Road (Jim Cartwright)
- Alonso from The Tempest (William Shakespeare)
- Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (William Shakespeare)
The character of Louise was a favourite of mine to play. From the moment I was cast as her, I was able to emotionally connect to her character and portray her story through my own depiction.
Devising
On the Theatre course, I have had many opportunities to create devised work. Ranging from various different styles such as naturalistic and narrative driven pieces, to post-dramatic socio-political performances. Throughout my time at University, my skill at devising has broadened as I have learned different practices in relation to creating theatre work.
A production I devised was adapted from 1950’s B-Movies, where my collective analysed various different films and switched them up to reflect the modern politics of the world we live in today. For example, we adapted the film “The Invasion of the Body Snatchers” to create a narrative on the closure of borders in the US. We played with parody as we comedically poked fun at various issues in today’s society.
Another devised production that I was involved in was called “The Hope of A People”. This piece was adapted from the film “The Death of Stalin” (Dir. Armando Iannucci), as well as the play “Two” (Jim Cartwright), and also inspired by various qualities within Les Miserables (Victor Hugo). In this production, we looked at various rebellions throughout history, and created our own nation where we planned an uprising against the totalitarian government that we created. This piece followed a group of old school friends who met up in a pub to plot a revolution.
We took inspiration from historic events such as the Spanish Revolution and the July Rebellion in France (1830). While creating my character, I looked at various different Anarchists throughout history; my main inspirations were: Pierre-Joseph Proudon, Louise Michel, Errrico Malatesta, Patrick Laurence Doherty and Roisin McAkiskey. All of these people took part in various different ‘rebellions’ throughout history.
I took the inspirations from these historical figures and created the character which I called “Lux” (An abbreviation of the name Rosa Luxemburg). Through my characterisation, I was also inspired by the punk scene in England during the 1970s, which kick-started the movement as they protested against the government in the UK. I took a leading role within this production, as my character was the main instigator of our rebellion. I spoke through a balance of prose and verse; where I switched between the dialogue within scenes and the narration which broke out towards the audience.
I also created a solo performance, where I tackled the discussion of the effects that anxiety has on the mind and body. I situated the piece within a nameless location, in order to create a sense of loss of control; while also making it a universal experience to the audience. I drew chalk squares which I moved within, which symbolised the personal bubble which restrains people who suffer from social anxiety, as I played with one’s self-imprisonment. I incorporated methods from Gecko Theatre, as well as Bauerhouse; to create a movement piece which told the story of a person losing control over their body.
Directing
As a developing director, I have opened my horizons to broaden my skill. On the BA (Hons) Theatre course, I have been given the opportunity to direct a piece of work. In this module, I adapted from the books 1984 (George Orwell), The Road (Cormac McCarthy), as well as the TV show adaptation of The Last Of Us, and Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright). With these adaptations, I centred my piece on the human instinct and how people can easily revert back to their primitive ways when a sense of order is taken away. I set the world of the play in a totalitarian society, similar to 1984; where I had a figure named The Leader, which parodied “Big Brother” from 1984. When an apocalypse hits, people are no longer being fed information by the government, so no one knows what is going on and what the danger is.
When creating this work, I played with the trope of the people you don’t expect to survive an apocalypse, actually survive; as I make fun of stereotypes that are often written in serious survival texts. The play takes place in an abandoned cabin in the woods, where everyone finds refuge and tries to work out what is going on in a panicked manner; inspired by the scenes in The Winchester pub from Shaun of the Dead.
When this piece was performed, I received a lot of positive feedback; and applied for it to be shown at a theatre festival called InterAct. In this festival, we as students, work alongside the production company known as Pests Productions; as we showcase some chosen works from the year in an end of year celebration.
After my undergraduate course; I plan to travel to London and further my knowledge and practice in directing as I am due to study the Postgraduate course of Directing for Stage and Screen at the University of East London.
