From education packs to eye gouging – all in a day’s work!

20 December 2012

Charlotte Newport, a student in Applied Theatre and Education at Central School of Speech and Drama, spent eight weeks in The Watermill’s Outreach Department as part of her course. While she was with us, she assisted workshops, ran projects, helped judge a schools drama competition, and wrote the Arabian Nights Education Pack. To see the results of her hard work, you can download her pack here. http://www.watermill.org.uk/education_packs.html

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‘What an amazing 8 weeks, please don’t make me go…!  The shows, the rehearsals, the workshops, the meetings, the competition-judging, the driving, the late nights, the cat, the dogs and the ducks! I arrived at The Watermill Theatre unsure what I was letting myself in for. I mean, it is practically in the middle of nowhere, so surely no one knows about it? I couldn’t be more wrong! By the end of my third week I had already been involved with four of the regular drama groups, met the Arabian Nights cast and production team and organised and supervised the Shakespeare festival Scratch Choir. I also perfected my fighting skills by assisting a stage combat workshop. I was punched, kicked, had my neck broken and my eye gouged out. It was such fun, ‘all in a day’s work’ as they say.

My main project was to create the Arabian Nights Education Pack which was used to support many children’s visit to the theatre. My placement at The Watermill Theatre has been absolutely marvellous. I have gained such a range of new skills and found out what excites me, what I am good at and what I need to work on. This is one experience I will never forget and I am now certain I would love a job in this field. Though one thing is for sure, I feel it will be difficult to find any theatre that is so charming, warm and friendly as the wonderfully magical Watermill.’

Charlotte