Ok, so here's the bit about the last three days of term I promised.
Wednesday was fine. Not great, not bad, but fine. An agent came in to speak to us about what she looks for and all that but to be honest it wasn't all that useful since I'm going back to America. I will say though that had she been an American agent, I would have totally found a way to get signed by her. I liked her bluntness and she seemed to have a good handle on the balance between relationship with the client and the business end.
We were also supposed to have a mock audition with a different casting person but they had to cancel at the last minute. So we were sent an actor to workshop some of our monologues. He was very nice and had good instincts, but he didn't really do much with me. Some people worked theirs for 35minutes. I had about ten minutes and mostly he just said, "Good focus. I believed you. Think of a good moment before. You know what you're doing." Which was a bit of a bummer. I rarely get the opportunity to workshop my monologues. Mostly because I'm chickenshit and can't stand the thought of performing them before I've really worked as far as I personally can push them.
Thursday and Friday, we had our two day film/tv workshop. AKA A waste of my time. I don't know. I guess I just thought that at a master's level, we would have a higher calibur of teaching. I thought that we'd have advanced classes. I don't know enough about film but that's why I took a separate class in NY before I got here. And I truly believe that to get better at being on camera, you have to, in fact, BE on camera. At the end of the two days, there were even a couple of people who NEVER got to be on camera. I, myself, had about a minute of camera time where I "auditioned" for a crap commercial. The teachers also seemed more focused on showing us their reels and resumes and repeating the same information over and over, and then telling the most terrifying stories about failures. I know they meant well. But it was two of the most aggrivating days. I totally understand that there are a few people in the class who've never had any camera time ever, and that this was a good intro for them. But truthfully, there's a lot you can cover in 16 hours. And instead of "dipping a toe in the water" we could have waded up to our waist in experience. Alas, efficiency is NOT the RCS' middle name.
Thursday night was when I saw the one man show of Macbeth with Alan Cumming. I cannot tell you enough of how much I truly enjoyed it. Ok, yes, it took place in an asylum just like the Hamlet I saw in London. But this was an entirely different beast. Alan played all the parts, differentiating between characters by either simple props that were laying around the room, by use of mirrors, tv surveillance screens, and accents. It was schizophrenic, electric, and exhausting. One hour and forty-five minutes without intermission, this man maintained your attention. There were two other people who occasionally came in as doctors, but other than that, it was just him. And it was like there were two storylines going on at once. The Macbeth story he told, and also his reality of being a patient in the asylum. The lines would flip back and forth, mirrow each other, and intertwine. So so worth it.
And afterwards he came out to meet and greet. Apparently this is not commonplace here in the UK. As many of you know, after shows in the US, the stars often sign autographs as they leave the theatre. I find that it's so important to do so nowadays. It's part of the job. Because these people chose the theatre over any other kind of cheap entertainment. And also, they lived the experience with you. And because it means the WORLD to some who were moved by what you performed. So despite the exhausting show, he came out and took a photo with us, signed our programmes, and was even a bit cheeky with his comments. Leave it to the Scots to be beautifully charming and sharply sarcastic at the same time. They're really a fascinating lot.
So that pretty much covers it. Leaving for vacation in less than 48 hours and I cannot wait. Will write again in a couple weeks. Happy summer!
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