Acting is something I started doing from a very young age. I
signed up to Young Actors Theatre at the age of 11 and later joined the
advanced class on a Tuesday’s. My time there really helped boost my confidence
as a person and it taught me new things I didn’t learn in school at the time.
Unfortunately, I had to stop going because GCSE’s had come up and I had no time
to go to YATi; I had to put all the time I had into revising for my exams. I
took Drama GCSE and I managed to pass with a good level however my writing kind
of let it down because at the time I wasn’t very confident in writing
evaluations on plays I’ve seen. It was all new to me however, after applying to
college and doing lots of written work, I got better at it.
During my time at secondary school I’ve done quite a few
shows and worked with a few productions. A production I worked with for 2 years
was Big Foot Productions, it was like a big drama club and we had to create scenes
for the examiner to them come and grade us. The first performance we did was a
short play inspired by Downtown Abbey but with a murderer. Before we left
class, we were given and envelope to open once we got at home to reveal if you
are the murderer or not and not tell anyone. Throughout the play, characters
died but the murderer was yet to be revealed but in the end, the lights went out
and the murderer stepped into the middle and then revealed. It was a very fun
experience for me because I got to be the murderer and I had never done
anything like that before. Our examiner gave us a Merit which gave us UCAS points
for universities. Moreover, the next year, Big Foot Productions came back and
we had another play to rehearse for and this one was based on 911 – Twin Towers.
After performing to another examiner we got a Distinction which I was really
psyched about because I receive more UCAS points.
A project I worked with was Time 2 Talk who are a mental
health project that created short films for students to see and be educated by.
There were eight students who were interested in being apart of the production
and we each got casted. We didn’t have a script so it was improvised and in our
own words. The story is about a boy who suffers from mental health, his family don’t
care about him but his best friend and sister do. They try to get him to open
up about how he’s feeling but he wears a mask to protect himself. Teachers at
school try and help him but they can’t because he doesn’t want anyone to know. We
named this short film ‘The Boy Behind the Mask’. After filming the short film,
we got to perform it to every year group for assembly and they all enjoyed it
and learned a lot from it. We even had students in the audience come to the stage
and show us how they would change the situation to make it better. I thought we
really reached out to the audience and interacted with them really well. Our
short film was also shown in PSHE classes. Here is a link to the articles:
- http://www.parkview.haringey.sch.uk/168/latest-news/article/249/park-view-time-2-talk-mentors-win-hsj-award-for-the-best-innovation-in-mental-health
- http://www.thetottenhamindependent.co.uk/news/14093687.School_wins_award_for_teaching_about_mental_health/
There was a Winter Showcase that took place at my school
involving drama, music and dance. I performed a duologue with my friend which
was originally a monologue but we made it quite original and managed to mix the
two monologues together and I think it worked really well. I had a lot of
support from the audience.
When I was in Year 10, there was an opportunity for me to be
the understudy of a girl in Year 11 who wasn’t able to make it to her GCSE
Drama exam. I wanted to know what it’s like to perform to an examiner although I
didn’t get marked, I just helped support the group. I was chosen to be the
understudy of this student because my teacher thought I’d do a really good job
at it. I worked with the group everyday, we did dress rehearsals and I also
made new friends. I managed to learn the script off by heart to show them that I
was dedicated to my role. The group had written the script themselves and came
up with the story together.
For my GCSE Drama exam, I performed the play Tusk Tusk by
Polly Stenham; three children are left home alone for a week with no parents at
the new house they just moved into in London. They wait patiently for their
mother who has gone to the shops. Their mother has bi-polar disorder. The eldest,
Elliot expects his mother to be back home for his 16th birthday but
when she doesn’t turn up, questions are being asked. The second eldest, Maggie
has a secret she kept from her brothers about their mother. She reveals that
she made her mother take pills and commit suicide. I played the character
Maggie who is a 14-year-old girl who is hated on by her mother, Maggie would
rather see her mother die and stop suffering than see her ill and alive. I did
a lot of research on bi-polar disorder and I noticed that this play is really
dark with a lot of emotion.
At my time in college, I’ve performed two major performances
which was a drafted script by Heather Speake called Last Summer. I was chosen
to be the main character and this was a challenge for me because I had never
performed a one hour play before especially with a lot of lines but I managed
to do the best I could and give a great show. In addition, playing a main character
in Peter Pan was really fun, I had to experience what it’s like being a 5-year-old
little boy and learn new and deep things I never knew about the play.
Through all those experiences I’ve had, I believe I am a
strong actor and my strengths are having good communication skills as I can
work with anyone. I have confidence as an individual and as a leader of a
group. I have very good projection considering I have a loud and clear voice
and I am very quick at memorising my lines. I feel as if I am good at looking
into a character I am given and make the most out of that character; explore
their strengths, weaknesses and goals. On the other hand, I think that my
weakness is playing a character that is younger than my age for example 10 and
under. I feel as if I can’t relate to that role because of the age difference
however I try my hardest to portray the character and make it believable for
everyone. Unfortunately, I can’t sing however I use to take dance classes when I
was younger and dancing is a technique that is needed in the performing arts
industry.
The main goal in my life that I wish to achieve is gain lots
of experience in the industry of acting and hopefully make my way to the top
and be on television doing a show or a movie. In order for me to achieve these
goals is to catch every opportunity I can to get me to where I want to be.
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