Workshops

General Drama
Last week we had a huge session about the History of Theatre up to the 20th Century. After opening with a session about files and systems of organisation, we went to the main event. Based around a handout that separated the history into Greek, Medieval, Commedia dell'arte, Shakespearean & Jacobean, Restoration and Victorian, we went through section by section, doing a related activity after each - from exercises in group communication to reflect the work of Greek choruses to Medieval-style morality plays. We even managed to incorporate some well loved drama games, such as 'chaise longue' (The Restoration's version of park bench) to a melodrama edition of the freeze game. Through this we learned through both discussion of the handout and practice.

Musical Theatre
We learned Disney songs from 4 classic Disney films; Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid and High School Musical. After the learning the songs, we staged them in different ways and had a brilliant time performing. Finally, we looked through all the songs we've learned so far and decided what we'd like to put in the sharings. We're all very excited!

Technical Theatre 
This week technical freelancer Sebastian Barnes introduced us to the world of Health as Safety. The base principal that ran throughout the session was that ‘regulations exist and are designed to protect workers safety’. This session not only applied to theatre but every asset of society. We learnt how to break down the mumbo jumbo of official documents to understand certain regulations. We covered some quite preposterous safety proposals like A council wanting to cover lamp posts in protective foam to stop people on their phones whilst walking; from walking in into them! We left this session having a much deeper understanding of safety regulations, how to identify and prevent hazards and how all of this relates to theatre and the many tools we use to create and facilitate performances.

Stage1
This week in Stage2 we have learnt how to waltz! A new skill Chloe has gained since starting at Birmingham School of Acting. The majority of Stage1 managed to pick it up fairly quickly and all looked very impressive when doing it as a whole group. We also begun to discuss what we would like to do in our end of term Sharings and started devising pieces for that. But this is all TOP SECRET and hope any parent, carers, family or friends can make it to the Sharings on the 14th to have the suspense revealed! Among all this we still managed to play several of the games Stage1 know and love and followed an important rule in Stage1: to have fun! “I think today has been really good because I’ve learnt how to ballroom dance and am now an expert at it.” – Zaraé Knox, Stage1 member.

Alexander Earle
Trainee Tutor
Social Networking and Auditions