Unit 10
Unit 10- Preparing for Progression
Skills Audit
Over the past year, I feel as if I have developed the following skills:
-Good spacial awareness- I am aware of the other actors on stage with me and in rehearsals, I will always fix mine or somebody else's position if they are blocking someone else on stage.
-Good listener- This doesn't just mean I listen well when a teacher is talking in a lesson, it also means that I have improved on reacting to another actor in the stage space while in character.
-Confidence- My confidence has definitely grown over the past year and I feel a lot more at ease on stage with other actors than I did last year. I can work with my peers and present ideas willingly without feeling anxious about it.
Audition Monologues
For our Unit 10 assessment, we had to prepare two monologues to perform, one contemporary and one classical monologue. They had to be contrasting in emotion and show off a range of my skills. For my contemporary monologue, I picked a scene from Welcome to Arroyos' by Kristoffer Diaz. The play follows to Arroyo family around NYC, mainly Alejandro who owns a new bar in East Side New York. My character is called Lelly who is a college student, returning back to New York after a long time away. She is quite socially awkward which makes the monologue quite comedic and fun to perform. I knew that my classical would have to be a direct opposite to this so, for example, a serious monologue would show off my range and show I am capable of performing many styles. At first, my classical monologue was going to be Clarence's Dream from Richard III. The scene is Clarence, Richard III's brother who is currently imprisoned for treason against his sibling, speaking of his dream that he had had the night before where he had escaped the tower and visited France with his brother, Richard, however, they both began to drown overboard the ship. He speaks of how painful it was to drown and the awful sights he saw as he died. I liked this scene as it contrasted well with my contemporary monologue, however, when performing it to my peers I realised that it didn't land well or work with the way I was performing it. When receiving feedback, my teacher, Sharron, told me that it might be better if I showcased a monologue that was spoken by a female character as it could be easier for me to perform and I could find areas of relatability within the piece that may help me understand the character more and connect with the piece. So, I researched some female monologues and decided on Portia's Act 3 Scene 2 speech from Merchant of Venice.
We had the chance to perform our monologues at the Young Actor's Theatre near Angel. We performed them to our peers and also guest, David Schaal. I decided to perform my contemporary monologue out of the two I had as I felt as if I connected with that one most strongly and felt confident when performing it. My performance went really well. As that certain speech is my character talking to a bartender (whom the audience can't see), I had to use my reaction skills to show how Lelly talks to and bounces off of the other character without the audience even seeing them. I had to be confident in my portrayal as I need the people watching to believe in what I'm saying and how I'm feeling otherwise they won't connect with my character. Once I had performed, I received feedback from David. One thing he mentioned to me was that I had decided to sit down when performing as Lelly is at a bar, however, he thought that next time, he'd like to see it done standing up. He believed that as my monologue is very high energy and interesting, by standing up it would elevate the piece more and give me the freedom to move around more. I thought that this was very helpful and I will definitely take it into account when I next perform the monologue. Another piece of feedback he gave was that I should really elevate and compare moments of flirting between Lelly and the bartender and moments where Lelly is rambling to herself. As she is quite a socially awkward person, Lelly tends to veer from a topic and start to think out loud about something else. Lelly's motive is to successfully win over and flirt with the bartender but this trait ultimately makes it difficult for her to do so. David suggested that I should really elevate moments of flirting to moments of rambling as so to show the struggle to successfully win over the bartender to the audience. I agreed and thought that this was very useful advice as it would help me to bring many more comedic elements into the piece and would be useful in showing off Lelly as a realistically flawed character whom the audience may start to feel sorry for.
The Pros and Cons of Higher Education
There are many routes you can take after college to further your education. However, choosing the right option is difficult with all choices having their pros and cons. Some possible routes are drama school, university, agency work, and many others.
Some of the pros of attending drama school are that you receive extensive professional training from industry professionals. At drama school, the standard is exceptionally high and so you can expect to receive beneficial lessons and workshops from teachers and guests who have worked in the industry before. This stands out on your CV when going to auditions and casting directors and potential employers will be impressed by your training. Having a high profile drama school on your CV makes a panel at an audition interested in your talents and what you have to offer. Another pro is that you can gain some very important industry links from attending. When shows are put on or actors come in for workshops for the students, usually agents are invited to scout and book new talent. You have quite a high chance of meeting an agent at drama school if you're not booked with one already and increases your chances of getting work.
Some of the cons of attending drama school are the costs. Although going to drama school creates some great opportunities, it ultimately costs quite a lot of money. For example, at RADA, one year of training on their BA (Hons) in Acting course is £9000. This course lasts for 3 years, totalling the cost of £27,000. It's quite a heavy sum to pay, especially at only 18/19 years old. Typically, costs like these can land students in quite a lot of debt so, despite the immaculate training, it can sometimes turn actors away from their passion and put them off. Another con of attending drama school is that there's rarely any time for auditions or acting jobs. Despite being in a performing arts environment, some drama schools can be quite strict on letting students leave for acting work. This is as they want the student's full attention to be on the course. If you go to drama school expecting to be allowed permission to leave for an audition, it can come as a surprise to some that they are often not allowed to. This means you have to put your acting career on hold for a while while you train. Not only that but the intense workload means that even if permission could be given, you'd often be too busy to go.
Some of the pros of attending university are that you can surround yourself with diverse groups of people from everywhere. Unlike drama school which only teaches subjects from the performing arts sector, universities are home to so many different courses and people. You are still able to take an acting course, however, the environment you're in is surrounded by so many other subjects, making you feel more at ease and less restricted to who you meet. Also, drama schools can often sometimes feel quite competitive so being in a space where you are not encompassed by just performing arts students can feel refreshing and less daunting. Another pro of attending university as opposed to another option is that a university can make you feel more independent and allows you to grow and learn independently a lot more than any other area of higher education. You may live in rented/student accommodation for some of the years you are there. It gives you a taste of adult life without throwing you completely into the deep end and helps you gain basic life skills such as cooking and laundry while you also do your degree. Many choose university over drama school for this reason as they want to feel independent and free while still in the education system.
Some of the cons of attending university are that, alike to drama school, you can be left in a lot of debt. For example, the cost of the Drama BA course at the University of Exeter is £9250 a year. It is a three-year course so that would leave you paying around £27,750 in total. Despite this being around only half the average debt of a university student in 2015, £44,000, it's still quite a lot of money to pay off, especially being in a business like performing arts where the work isn't always guaranteed. Another one of the cons of attending university is that the contact time isn't as long as a drama school. In drama school, you spend five, possibly even, six days a week studying for long hours, whereas, at university, the lesson hours are usually much shorter and less time is spent with tutors. For people wanting a more prolonged experience, they are more likely to choose a drama school to get the most out of their money. This is mainly due to funding within the performing arts sector being short and so time has to be cut to save as much money as possible. Tuition fees especially are heightened to the maximum amount possible to fund as much money back into performing arts as they can.
My Circullum Vitae (CV)
Skills Audit
Over the past year, I feel as if I have developed the following skills:
-Good spacial awareness- I am aware of the other actors on stage with me and in rehearsals, I will always fix mine or somebody else's position if they are blocking someone else on stage.
-Good listener- This doesn't just mean I listen well when a teacher is talking in a lesson, it also means that I have improved on reacting to another actor in the stage space while in character.
-Confidence- My confidence has definitely grown over the past year and I feel a lot more at ease on stage with other actors than I did last year. I can work with my peers and present ideas willingly without feeling anxious about it.
Audition Monologues
For our Unit 10 assessment, we had to prepare two monologues to perform, one contemporary and one classical monologue. They had to be contrasting in emotion and show off a range of my skills. For my contemporary monologue, I picked a scene from Welcome to Arroyos' by Kristoffer Diaz. The play follows to Arroyo family around NYC, mainly Alejandro who owns a new bar in East Side New York. My character is called Lelly who is a college student, returning back to New York after a long time away. She is quite socially awkward which makes the monologue quite comedic and fun to perform. I knew that my classical would have to be a direct opposite to this so, for example, a serious monologue would show off my range and show I am capable of performing many styles. At first, my classical monologue was going to be Clarence's Dream from Richard III. The scene is Clarence, Richard III's brother who is currently imprisoned for treason against his sibling, speaking of his dream that he had had the night before where he had escaped the tower and visited France with his brother, Richard, however, they both began to drown overboard the ship. He speaks of how painful it was to drown and the awful sights he saw as he died. I liked this scene as it contrasted well with my contemporary monologue, however, when performing it to my peers I realised that it didn't land well or work with the way I was performing it. When receiving feedback, my teacher, Sharron, told me that it might be better if I showcased a monologue that was spoken by a female character as it could be easier for me to perform and I could find areas of relatability within the piece that may help me understand the character more and connect with the piece. So, I researched some female monologues and decided on Portia's Act 3 Scene 2 speech from Merchant of Venice.
We had the chance to perform our monologues at the Young Actor's Theatre near Angel. We performed them to our peers and also guest, David Schaal. I decided to perform my contemporary monologue out of the two I had as I felt as if I connected with that one most strongly and felt confident when performing it. My performance went really well. As that certain speech is my character talking to a bartender (whom the audience can't see), I had to use my reaction skills to show how Lelly talks to and bounces off of the other character without the audience even seeing them. I had to be confident in my portrayal as I need the people watching to believe in what I'm saying and how I'm feeling otherwise they won't connect with my character. Once I had performed, I received feedback from David. One thing he mentioned to me was that I had decided to sit down when performing as Lelly is at a bar, however, he thought that next time, he'd like to see it done standing up. He believed that as my monologue is very high energy and interesting, by standing up it would elevate the piece more and give me the freedom to move around more. I thought that this was very helpful and I will definitely take it into account when I next perform the monologue. Another piece of feedback he gave was that I should really elevate and compare moments of flirting between Lelly and the bartender and moments where Lelly is rambling to herself. As she is quite a socially awkward person, Lelly tends to veer from a topic and start to think out loud about something else. Lelly's motive is to successfully win over and flirt with the bartender but this trait ultimately makes it difficult for her to do so. David suggested that I should really elevate moments of flirting to moments of rambling as so to show the struggle to successfully win over the bartender to the audience. I agreed and thought that this was very useful advice as it would help me to bring many more comedic elements into the piece and would be useful in showing off Lelly as a realistically flawed character whom the audience may start to feel sorry for.
The Pros and Cons of Higher Education
There are many routes you can take after college to further your education. However, choosing the right option is difficult with all choices having their pros and cons. Some possible routes are drama school, university, agency work, and many others.
Some of the pros of attending drama school are that you receive extensive professional training from industry professionals. At drama school, the standard is exceptionally high and so you can expect to receive beneficial lessons and workshops from teachers and guests who have worked in the industry before. This stands out on your CV when going to auditions and casting directors and potential employers will be impressed by your training. Having a high profile drama school on your CV makes a panel at an audition interested in your talents and what you have to offer. Another pro is that you can gain some very important industry links from attending. When shows are put on or actors come in for workshops for the students, usually agents are invited to scout and book new talent. You have quite a high chance of meeting an agent at drama school if you're not booked with one already and increases your chances of getting work.
Some of the cons of attending drama school are the costs. Although going to drama school creates some great opportunities, it ultimately costs quite a lot of money. For example, at RADA, one year of training on their BA (Hons) in Acting course is £9000. This course lasts for 3 years, totalling the cost of £27,000. It's quite a heavy sum to pay, especially at only 18/19 years old. Typically, costs like these can land students in quite a lot of debt so, despite the immaculate training, it can sometimes turn actors away from their passion and put them off. Another con of attending drama school is that there's rarely any time for auditions or acting jobs. Despite being in a performing arts environment, some drama schools can be quite strict on letting students leave for acting work. This is as they want the student's full attention to be on the course. If you go to drama school expecting to be allowed permission to leave for an audition, it can come as a surprise to some that they are often not allowed to. This means you have to put your acting career on hold for a while while you train. Not only that but the intense workload means that even if permission could be given, you'd often be too busy to go.
Some of the pros of attending university are that you can surround yourself with diverse groups of people from everywhere. Unlike drama school which only teaches subjects from the performing arts sector, universities are home to so many different courses and people. You are still able to take an acting course, however, the environment you're in is surrounded by so many other subjects, making you feel more at ease and less restricted to who you meet. Also, drama schools can often sometimes feel quite competitive so being in a space where you are not encompassed by just performing arts students can feel refreshing and less daunting. Another pro of attending university as opposed to another option is that a university can make you feel more independent and allows you to grow and learn independently a lot more than any other area of higher education. You may live in rented/student accommodation for some of the years you are there. It gives you a taste of adult life without throwing you completely into the deep end and helps you gain basic life skills such as cooking and laundry while you also do your degree. Many choose university over drama school for this reason as they want to feel independent and free while still in the education system.
Some of the cons of attending university are that, alike to drama school, you can be left in a lot of debt. For example, the cost of the Drama BA course at the University of Exeter is £9250 a year. It is a three-year course so that would leave you paying around £27,750 in total. Despite this being around only half the average debt of a university student in 2015, £44,000, it's still quite a lot of money to pay off, especially being in a business like performing arts where the work isn't always guaranteed. Another one of the cons of attending university is that the contact time isn't as long as a drama school. In drama school, you spend five, possibly even, six days a week studying for long hours, whereas, at university, the lesson hours are usually much shorter and less time is spent with tutors. For people wanting a more prolonged experience, they are more likely to choose a drama school to get the most out of their money. This is mainly due to funding within the performing arts sector being short and so time has to be cut to save as much money as possible. Tuition fees especially are heightened to the maximum amount possible to fund as much money back into performing arts as they can.
My Circullum Vitae (CV)
Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1shdyJn2w4eA0uzpw0oo88fNuJy1jWtNWMiEfNktTxho/edit?usp=sharing
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