Behind the scenes at The Watermill Academy

17 August 2010

When I was younger I was in the Junior Youth Theatre at The Watermill, then the Senior Youth Theatre, then the Young Company. Now I’m just about to enter my second year at RADA, so I hoped to be able to offer at least some useful advice to the students on The Academy in my role as Assistant. But the Academy was absolutely bursting with brand new ideas and techniques that I’d never come across! I hope I didn’t get too distracted from assisting by making notes of my own!

The mix of 6 girls and 5 boys were aged 16 to 22. The Academy aims to give them skills, tips and techniques for those hoping to audition for drama school or thinking about acting as a career. During the week, all of the 11 participants had to prepare and learn a monologue to present on the final day.
Beth Flintoff (the course leader) systematically went through all eleven students and worked on their individual speeches. On top of Beth’s experience, the Academy had a myriad of guest teachers throughout the week, working on stage combat, movement, and singing. On Tuesday, for instance, Luanna Priestman, an actress and movement teacher, ran us through a number of exercises such as choreographing whole dances from natural everyday movements. It was absolutely fascinating and so much fun!

After a group evening trip to Copacabana on Tuesday, the Academy students were lucky enough to meet up with a few of the cast for a Q&A session the following day. The actors talked about how they were first drawn into acting and a little about the drama school audition process— which I know from experience is not only brutal but nerve-wracking one. But it was immensely useful, particularly for those interested in musical theatre. And I found it really interesting just hearing about their launches into their careers. (For the record, I would really like to be Basienka Blake.) Listening to the students afterwards, though still daunted by the huge prospect of auditions and all the unexpected pitfalls that an acting career offers, I think everyone was buzzing. Sort of like an electrical brush with the real thing.

By far the biggest challenge for the Academy group was the audition panel. One by one, they went in to perform their speeches to a small panel. I was privileged enough to sit in on the auditions and it was amazing to see how much everyone had progressed. On the final day, they presented their speeches in front of an audience in the Watermill Theatre itself. They have all achieved something absolutely brilliant— I really hope they feel the same. I know I’ve learned so much from this week; I look forward to introducing the new games to RADA! I’m so excited to see where they go in the future.

Ailsa Joy