Unit 10

Skills audit 

Skills which I feel I've had for a long time before doing this UAL course, are improvisation skills , observation skills and body awareness. I feel that these skills were attributed by my professional  experience outside of education with the  Young Actors Theatre agency. 
I feel These skills were all acquired by my training at Young Actors Theatre way before taking this course. However  I've definitely attained new skills and developed skills I always had such as  environmental awareness and using the space instead of being in just one part of the stage.

 I've also developed better Collaborative  skills by working a lot with my class mates and always sharing new ideas, contributing  to the success of our productions.  

My class mates even described me as being a team player when it comes to  contribution and having good analytical skills. I have a good stage presence because I'm environmentally aware of my surroundings as I act react to immerse myself In the world of my characters . My goals are to always have memorable performance with my class  and have a lasting impression on audiences using the skills I've  developed throughout the coarse. 

Pros and cons of going University/Drama school

Aspiring actors going into higher education mainly consist of  two routes which is either a drama school  or university. 

Drama school could be either an independent institution or a drama-based department of a school, college or university. 

 This is where I get into my first con for an aspiring actor going into university which is , unlike drama schools, performing arts degrees from universities that carry the same or a similar degree title , are not seen as valuable in eyes of the industry.

This is because  Drama schools are very prestigious like the Oxford and Cambridge Universities but in the acting world and not many places can officially call themselves drama schools despite offering the same BA(hons) qualification. The qualifications given from a non reputable drama school may even share the same title but its essentially a different grade and not seen as valuable. Only a BA from an accredited drama school holds weight as performing arts training in a reputable drama school like RADA is far more rigorous in terms of training and commitment, requiring students to give their all consistently.  Students are to be dedicated to the course for 3 years and contact time can be up to 40 hours a week, leaving no time to audition for acting jobs or outside work to support yourself  financially.  The work at drama schools is a higher level in comparison to universities  as it exceeds the higher education teachings in performing arts in all fields such as  better teaching for both general acting training like speech, movement, voice, acting itself and also academic training like playwrights and theory. 

Furthermore due to reputable Drama schools being very independent and prestigious  they are very expensive when applying for the very disciplined  auditioning process and are far more difficult to get into. There is a limited number of places and a large amount of people applying,  Receiving most  applications from aspiring actors and declining the majority of them makes  chances of getting a place are very slim. This cause drama schools to have  a lot less students , while on the other hand  Universities are most likely to accept the majority of students that apply  as long as those applicants satisfy most of their general criteria.

As a result of the major differences in the  way actors are chosen to become a student and differences in the  ways Performing Arts is taught . An actor with a degree from a drama school will appear more professional, dedicated and better trained to  people from the industry, especially to  agents or  casting directors who will be the specific type of people looking at their CV to call them for potential work.

Unlike Universities, Drama schools are much better connected in the industry. This means  students may get given opportunities to work with actors and theatres that university students wouldn't. The final year of the three year course attracts high profile agents and casting directors. Whereas for universities the final year showcases for universities are usually small, attracting minimum attention , so as soon as the university students graduate and start to look for work, they will find it much more difficult. In comparison, an actors time at drama school will give them much better connections into the industry  and it will make it easier for a student to make a smooth transition from higher education into the industry , jumping them straight into work afterwards.   

University courses will have less homework and  contact time which means they wont train you as much as a drama school. This gives a student more freedom, allowing them to get a part time job, supporting them finnacially  while learning, or potentially could allow them to have an agent receiving auditions gaining potential work for an acting job.  This is important for people who are unable to afford going to drama schools without working.

 Universities are easier to get accepted into, which can also be vey crucial, as some actors wait years before they can go to an accredited drama school and by the time they get in,  a university student may already be qualified and out working. Some University courses even give training on the business side of acting and the industry, which the drama schools do not, this can help university graduates knowledge on how to manage their money and be independent looking for their own work instead of relying on an agency.  

 Drama school training is more valuable, but more difficult to achieve. University acting training is easier to go through, but is pretty much a total waste of time because  if you want to pursue acting as a career, you need to be seen to agencies and casting directors as valuable. This means that universities offering acting courses hold almost zero value for aspiring actors looking for a career. 

Two monologues 

The reason I chose Caliban monologue  The Islands Mine from the Shakespeare play The Tempest was because I was drawn in on how powerful the first line was and how it relates contextually to real historic events like colonialism.  The first line was "This Islands mine by Sycorax my Mother !" it shows the characters passion for something which he wants and should have but doesn't. Caliban is very primitive and creature like which makes his character very fun to play and immerse myself into his body changing my physicality so I'm more tuned into his world.

I chose to do Daniels  monologue from a very modern, new play called ' Lady and The Trap '. The play is about a wannabe rapper and pop singer  who are from different class backgrounds who get romanticist involved with each other but reality hits them starting the slow deterioration of their  relationship  .  The play was premiered and published on the 26th of October in which I had the pleasure of being casted for the role as Daniel and being the first actor to plat him. I  learnt this monologue over the half term and the character stuck with me heavily because of his roller coaster ride story as well and a decorating down hill, spiral relationship in which I thought I could keep that emotion and tell his story in the monologue.

The feedback I received from Nicholas Khan for my performance as a whole, was that it was great and the two monologues 
were a nice contrast. Most specifically for monologue one I was told it was very naturalistic because I was speaking fast which showed a lot of emotion showing that my character was mentally breaking down emotionally and physically until I snapped with a burst of anger in which I broke out screaming at the mum. That burst of energy and emotion was good because it showed where all that emotion was coming from and who it was directed at so it  gave the audience a revelation. 


The feedback I received for the second monologue was that it was good and I had a lot of passion and anger as well as sadness at differnt point of the monologue showing levels and contrast . However my legs didn't move meaning I should of been more creature like in my physicality and took it into my body more .  I also could of  made a better transition from my first monoluge being very naturalistic into a more hunched back creature with my back turned, facing away from the audience.