Drama Pupil Participates in National Youth Theatre Course
I embarked on my adventure to London on 3rd August 2015. I was extremely nervous as I was introduced to my accommodation and the people I would be working with for two weeks. The 4th August marked the start of the course in the Laban rehearsal studios and the day went by in a blur of dramatic ensemble techniques. Our group of 30 gelled almost instantly and I can still remember their names to this day! The weeks turned out to be much harder but also much more fulfilling than I had expected. Days began at 9am and ended at 6pm, sometimes later if the course demanded it. We learnt a wide range of things: how to capture Shakespeare’s meaning in his text through pauses and inflections; how to bring to life a simple cloth in our puppeteering workshop; and how to come together as a unified team, moving across the rehearsal studios.
During the second week we were set the task of devising a piece of theatre to be shown to the other course students. The work became harder but my passion grew and soon I became involved in working out a dreamlike sequence to tie into our ‘Alice in Wonderland’ theme. Our final devised piece was fantastic, filled with lifts and sequences with our own music weaved throughout. Despite how much I loved the course, one of my fondest memories was going out for dinner with my course mates and exploring Greenwich and London.
National Youth Theatre was an experience I will never forget and an experience that increased my passion for theatre. I am eternally grateful to everyone who supported my endeavour and made it possible to materialise this dream.
Jule Michelo
Year 14
