In order to successfully get into a drama school, a lot of practise is required. There are many opportunities to gain experience in acting such as volunteering in work experience, helping out schools with their after-school Drama societies, go to open calls or attend classes.
I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to do some work experience in Theatre at the Mill in Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland in 2016 shadowing a production of the Christmas comedy ‘Last Orders at the Rough Diamond’ by Julie Maxwell and Caroline Curran. Through this experience I got the chance to sit through their table read-throughs, keep up-to-date with their rehearsal process of figuring everything out, rig the lighting and help build their set along with qualified professionals. This entire experience taught me how the production process works behind the scenes and what roles are needed to make it work, from sitting in a small room with a few chairs and no props to filling a stage with an entirely built from scratch set in the form of a pub. It gave me an insight to how a professional actor observes and deals with issues presented to him/her whilst trying to keep everything under control.
In hindsight, any form of experience in theatre is useful. After investigating Pegasus Theatre, I came to notice they offer a wide range of opportunities to acquire knowledge within the arts to young people. First founded in East Oxford in 1963, this well-known theatre accommodates minor touring companies ranging from all ages. They also have two of their very own young companies whom are split into two categories: 11-15 and 16-25. They also offer work experience weeks at Pegasus based around working within an arts venue such as front of house, fundraising, marketing etc. They do not hold auditions and just simply want to give determined young people the freedom to create a piece of theatre. The project the Pegasus young company 16-25 are currently working on is a collaborative process with touring company that goes by the name of Complicité to put on a professional production at the end of the year. The term time runs the entire year as they lead up to their final production. It goes by spring (15th of January to 1st of April), summer (29th of April to 15th of July) and autumn (9th of September to 5th of December). The entire term cost ranges from £350-£288. The reason I looked at this specific institution is because I feel they strive to give young people, no matter what their background is, a chance in the arts even if they don’t have a lot experience to begin with. The entire process allows young eager theatre-makers to take control and even decide what career path they would like to go down in the future. They give the opportunity for any young aspiring theatre maker to join their company and as I have great interest in working alongside young theatre-makers in the future, I will be sure to keep this particular theatre in mind. I am someone who is struggling to decide what career route to go down and I feel working within this company gives me access to contribute in all areas of theatre.