Behind the Iron Curtain

I've recently been employed as a part time Personal Assistant for a woman who is blind. My mother works with her every week but I will cover her if she needs me too, if and when. For my first day of work, I was asked to take Laura on a tour of the New Theatre, Cardiff, as part of her bonus for being a member of their 'Friends of the New Theatre' scheme.

I was a bit nervous at first, you know, being someone else's eyes and guide when quite often I've tripped over literally nothing. However, Laura told me how my mother walked her into a trolley and a lamp post... so I figured, if I don't do that... I'm good. It just makes you so much more self-aware of things you take for granted every day, like knowing when the it's safe to cross a road if the 'Green Man' doesn't go beep because you can't just run into traffic and avoid the cars. It was a great experience, and the actual theatre tour was brilliant. Bonus points to me for not accidentally throwing Laura down the many steps we had to go up and down during the tour. She didn't break a leg, so, you know...

If I had to describe a theatre, I would without a doubt, describe the New Theatre. It's just the image of what I would call a traditional theatre. It really is beautiful. During the tour, we were learning more about the things you see framed on the walls - from a programme from the first ever show, to the discovery of the foundation stone, to what spade was used to lay it. These are things that you may not notice in a busy foyer when you're waiting to see a show. They are things I will now be pointing out to people who I take to this theatre, as it's always nice to have someone with a bit of knowledge about the things on the wall... at least, I think it is. They may find me incredibly annoying, but alas, I couldn't care less.

The man leading the tour had so much knowledge about the theatre, it was wonderful. It was great hearing about the theatre from someone who was so passionate about it. Learning about everything that goes on backstage at a bigger theatre was incredible, you really realise how much hard work that the backstage crew have to do on a regular show. Some people were worried that seeing how it all worked would ruin the 'magic of theatre', where in fact, it just made it more magical. Theatre and magic go hand in hand to create one perfect illusion that everything runs like clockwork. You forget about the people who are waving across the top of the theatre, to make sure the flats and scenery go in the right place, that the lighting and sound cues are on time, it's honestly amazing thinking about all the stuff that goes on behind the scenes, that as an audience member, you never see. It's quite easy to forget that a show doesn't magically put itself together.



Oh, and my goodness, the stage looks a hell of a lot bigger when it's empty and you're actually standing on it. Looking out into the auditorium was amazing. It just too me back to all the shows I've been in, looking out and seeing the people, or in most of the cases, just the lights. It was amazing, nonetheless. Maybe one day, I'll be lucky enough to perform on that stage. A girl can dream.









I also loved seeing the theatre from the orchestra pit. Looking up at the amazing theatre from an entirely different angle was something else. It's all about perspective, seeing a sight you've seen many different times from a different view-point, is like seeing it for the first time all over again.





Fun fact but not a fact (I hope): The boards under the rails of the orchestra pit are there so the musicians don't see up ladies skirts in the front row. Musicians must have a terrible reputation! A fun little nugget from our tour guide. He made the tour really interesting and fun! All in all, it was a great day, finished off with a Greggs.

What more could you want?

Choosing the Arts is NOT the Easy Option

This post sort of came about from my last post, coming from the idea that people need to give theatre and the arts a chance. Throughout my life, people have said to me that doing drama is stupid, and it's the easy way out if you don't want to work hard and do something 'academic'. If I had a £1 for every time someone has said that to me, or something similar to that... Well, let's just say, I could have got through University without needing to budget. Yet, every time someone has said it to me, I found myself laughing and saying 'Alright. You think what you want.' It's only recently, throughout my time at University, that I've started to ask why. Why do people think it's an easy option? Why do people think that drama students are stupid? Why do people think that a qualification in the arts is any less than a qualification in Science, Maths, or History?

When I told someone once about what my course entailed, they ignored everything I said about working every single day, sometimes 12 hours a day in busy periods, coming home and having research tasks to do by the next day, learning lines, remembering blocking etc. The one thing that always stands out is 'no written exams.' People always misunderstand this, and think that we are lucky. Your typical degree will have lectures, coursework handed in as a dissertation, and a final examination (obviously not the exact format, but this is an example). So this means, that your grade is reflected on the work you put in outside of class alone, writing your coursework and preparing for your exams. In my BA Acting degree, I was assessed every day. Every. Single. Day. We work in small groups so it's easy for our lecturers and directors to see who is pulling their weight, and who is slacking. They feed back to the moderator and tell them how we do in rehearsals, which is reflected in our grade. And because of the nature of our course, you can't take a day off whenever you like. I mean, you technically can, but it would be detrimental. You miss one day, you miss (approx.) 6 hours of rehearsals, which is pretty damn hard to catch up on. There isn't going to be a PowerPoint. You really learn the importance of team work, and you can't let your team down. You are a vital cog which keeps the process ticking over smoothly. People don't want to spend the next day's rehearsal repeating everything from the day before, because you couldn't be bothered to show up.

I missed one 3 hour lecture of improvising and devising in first year because I physically couldn't move out of bed. That's the only lecture/rehearsal I missed in my 3 years of university. You had to show up if you wanted to learn. You learn through exploration, and if you're not present to do that, what are you going to learn? If you're having a bad day, leave it at the door. You can't sulk in the corner, you have to give it your all no matter how bad you're feeling. One persons bad vibe can bring down the entire class, and it affects your productivity. This is something that you don't tend to get with any other degree. I've been there, I've had bad days. However, as soon as I let it affect me in class, that's where I started letting people down, and that's not ok.

Through studying Acting, I have learnt more about politics, and current world affairs than I ever did in school. I truly understood the importance of it, rather than just be given a text book and told to memorise it for the exam. From researching plays, to how other people have lived, though a lot of them are fictional characters, they are based on real people, and real things. Through this I learnt empathy. Empathy is something that not all people have, and I think everyone should have. Studying the arts has definitely made me a more empathetic person. When you work so closely with people, you learn things about people's views, their beliefs - something you wouldn't necessarily know if they were just in your class of 300 in a lecture hall... you may not even speak to them. I have made friends from all over the world during my time at Trinity which opens up great discussions about how things are done in their country, or even a certain part of the UK. To be honest, before coming to University, I didn't really have any political views. I was very unaware of how things worked, and that's down to me not putting in the time and research I needed to do to understand it. During my second year, I worked with an amazing director, who shone light on the importance of having our say, and doing our own research. Since then, I've tried to be as active as I can politically, keeping up to date with everything that is going on in this world, and most importantly, I vote!

The people I have met are also so diverse, not only in terms of politically and where they're from, but who they are as a person. I have met people who are transgender, non-binary, LGBTQIA, you name it. Some of these terms I have never had never heard of before, and talking with people openly about who they are, and what defines them or doesn't define them as a person was eye-opening. So maybe I would have learnt about all this in life eventually, but I believe studying my degree was the best choice I could have made. It made me feel more connected with people, and I've said it before, and I'll say it again... I've made friends for life.

People have also said to me... what's the point? You just prance about on stage for a bit, learn a few lines. Surely that's not a degree? No. That's not the degree. If that's what you think drama is, you are wrong. So very wrong. How anyone can be that closed minded, and not see how much hard work goes into what we do, is beyond me. People have said 'Drama is stupid!' - well, alright. If you think it's so stupid and you don't appreciate it... Do me a favour, and how about you never watch your favourite Netflix programme, the next big blockbuster at the cinema... because I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but the people involved in those projects live and breathe the arts. Not just the actors you see on screen, but every single person behind the scenes who work tirelessly to make sure that everything runs smoothly.

I have heard many discussions where people have had nothing but bad things to say about University in general, and I'm not just speaking about drama any more. Personally, I believe that everyone should experience University if there's something you're passionate about, or you want to expand your horizons/knowledge.

And yes. University/College isn't essential, but education is.

"I'm a BAGEL, on a plate full of Onion Rolls."

I've decided to do something a little different for this blog post...

For anyone who knows me, they know that I see a lot of theatre, mainly musical theatre, but I do go and see plays as often as I can, too. After every show, people always ask me, "Was it good?" and "Did you enjoy?", and the answer is always "DUH!"... and then I proceed to tell them every fantastic thing about it, giving them chapter and verse of why they need to see it too or why I need to see it again. After all, you can't just see a show once, can you?

Anyway, this month, I went to see Funny Girl for a second time, this time, with the one and only Sheridan Smith. I went to see Funny Girl last year, but we saw Sheridan's understudy Natasha Barnes. I mean, obviously she was fantastic, her name says it all, really. Seriously though, she was amazing, she's now the lead for the second half of the tour, I believe! Even though we had booked expecting Sheridan Smith, as soon as the show began, all our disappointment flew out the window. Barnes gave a phenomenal performance and I was completely blown away. Never under-estimate the understudy, because DAMN. They are talented! Of course they are! They wouldn't give just anyone that role.

However, since seeing Sheridan in Legally Blonde a few years before, I was dying to see her in Funny Girl because I think she's just wonderful... I mean, seriously, is there anything that she can't do? I've been a fan of her since her role in Gavin and Stacey, and she's always been one of my favourite actresses. So let's just say I was a tad excited to finally see her in the Wales Millennium Centre... so much so, that I started talking with a complete stranger in our row about how amazing Sheridan was and how she wouldn't be disappointed by the show, and to be prepared to be blown away. Then we started chatting about musicals in general and all the one's we had seen, and it was too much for my tiny little mind. I was going to explode. So I rambled on until the lights went down, and then I almost cried at the overture. Then I did. I was an emotional mess. Musicals just have this way of getting you to feel everything down to your very core. I cried a lot during the show, the cast was flawless, the songs were flawless, the dances were flawless. My face at the end... not so flawless. That finale had me in BITS. I was sobbing from the last song, and all the way through the bows, and even when the lights came up. My new friend I made before the show started? The stranger? Laughing at me with my mother. But I didn't care. My heart was happy and broken at the same time. Being truly moved by a show like that, is something that I will never tire of. Oh, to live and breathe theatre is one hell of an adventure. An emotional adventure.

And for people who tell me that they don't like theatre, I shall refer you to one of musical theatre's greatest lessons from Fanny Brice - "I'm a bagel, on a plate full of onion rolls." The point is that (loosely quoting) if all you ever had for breakfast was onion rolls, then in walks a bagel... you'd be like 'Err, what is that?!'... Until you TRIED it. And that's what people need to do. Give theatre and the arts a chance. There's so much you can learn about yourself, and the world through the arts. Truly, you're missing out if you just eat onion rolls for the rest of your life. Bagels are delicious.