Throughout my time at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, several people on my course expressed the wish that they had undertaken the three year BA course rather than the MA in Acting. This was mostly due to the advantage of having three years worth of training and experience rather than "cramming" as much as possible into one year. I, on the other hand, have never once regretted choosing to do a postgraduate course.
Knowing from a fairly early age that I wanted to be an actor, and
taking the decision to pursue this in my teens, I knew that I would be
looking to audition for drama schools following my A-Levels. I chose
courses which would support my passion for theatre as well as computer
courses, another interest of mine, which I knew would stand me in good
stead when I wanted to temp in between jobs as an actor (one tutor at
drama school told me that if I had a backup plan, I would use it and
would never be an actor. Personally, I have no desire to be an
out-of-work actor living on the streets because I never had the sense
to equip myself with the skills to undertake work in between jobs). I
sought singing lessons, and joined a good local amateur dramatics
group, "TipTop Productions", based in Chester. TipTop has a fantastic
reputation for producing shows of a professional standard and many
local aspiring actors start out here. If acting is your dream, choose
your amateur dramatics group carefully - many are far more focused on
the social aspect, whereas groups like TipTop focus on producing
quality performances and performers can learn a lot from working with
professionals and ex-professionals who are also involved with the group.
After A-Levels, I applied to numerous drama schools for two years. One highly respected and well-known school gave me a recall - I was thrilled, as the impression given at my initial audition had quickly made it a favourite of mine. However, the recall was an entirely different experience. I was expected to attend classes at the school over a period of a few days, during which the tutors would assess our abilities/suitability/potential... (After having attended drama school, exactly what the panels are looking for during auditions still remains a mystery!)
At my recall, there were at least 30 auditionees, mostly female. We were informed that there would be 12 recalls in total, for 9 places - 5 boys and 4 girls. With this in mind, I followed my group to the first class. Each class began in the same way - announcing your name, your current occupation, and your age. And in nearly every class I got the same response: "You're seventeen? Why are you here?" ...I felt like throttling them but sweetly replied to each one, "Because you gave me a recall". After this, most tutors paid me no attention. At that recall, myself and one other were the only auditionees under the age of twenty. Most, although not all, drama schools seemed to adopt a similar attitude (as far as I am aware, LIPA tends to take more students at a young age than any other drama school).
After failing to get into drama school the following year, I had to decide what my next step would be. Due to moving from school to college halfway through my A-Levels, I had spent the last year completing my courses. I decided that, knowing I wanted to be an actor, going out into the world of menial work simply to bide my time until the drama schools deemed me to have gained enough "life experience" would be a waste of time and completely unfulfilling. Instead, I decided to investigate university courses, with a view to attending drama school following graduation. I knew that to dedicate three (or more) years to a course, I would need to have a real interest in the subject. However, I saw little point in doing a BA in Drama or Theatre Studies (and still do, having had friends who gained these degrees but then found it difficult to find work, and certainly none of whom went into any drama-related work). Drama as a subject has its advantages in the world of work, but you can provide an employer with the same advantage having undertaken simply an A-Level or other drama course. Of course, it provides you with a background knowledge of theatre - but this can be achieved through simply having a vested interest in theatre. One girl on my course had a degree in Ancient History, and clearly it did not stop her from getting onto the course.
So, bearing all this in mind, I started trying to find courses that were more than just a "straight" drama degree. I was applying quite late in the year, having done the drama school audition rounds, but managed to find courses such as "Theatre Arts, Education and Deaf Studies" at Reading University. Eventually, I chose to go to Bishop Grosseteste College (now Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln) to undertake a BA in Drama in the Community. At the time, this was one of the only courses of its type (I believe the only other courses were the BA at Bretton Hall, which if my memory serves me right, was entitled "Arts Education" and the BA Community Drama course at LIPA).
This course, unlike other drama degrees, taught students the fundamentals of drama, which we then learnt to apply to community settings. It allowed students to develop and facilitate drama programmes for nurseries, schools, youth groups, Entry to Education participants, special needs groups, residential homes, prisons, libraries, churches, or any other community group. The course also studied professional practice and each student was to carry out a case study on a professional theatre company. This armed students with the knowledge and ability to set up their own business upon graduation and seek work as a freelance drama facilitator. As an actor, the experiences I gained from this course have often landed me auditions where experience in workshop facilitation is required. I remain convinced that this is the best course of its type, and would strongly urge people not to apply for a course simply because the university, college or institution has a "name". It is important that the course you choose is the right one for you - similarly, this rule applies when auditioning for drama schools.
It is easy for many reasons not to ask questions at your drama school auditions; You may not want to appear naive; or feel foolish for asking in case the panel are secretly thinking how awful you were; you may be thinking (especially if you are female!) that questions are irrelevant, as you would be so grateful to be offered a place that there is no question of you turning down an offer. But it is important not to fall into this trap; relevant questions will prove that you have prepared carefully; they make you appear interested in the school; and you may be offered more than one place, so you will need all the information you can get!
I applied for postgraduate courses while in my last year at university. Throughout my three years at Bishop Grosseteste, I had come into contact with working professionals and worked with a professional theatre company. I continued to gain experience singing, and took tap lessons (my dancing skills were, and still are, abominable!). I had seized every opportunity that presented itself, including setting up and running events, volunteering, and becoming involved with numerous societies; all contributing to that all-important "life experience". More important than proving my "life experience" at the drama school rounds was the complete belief I now had that I was capable of undertaking the challenge of life that potentially lay ahead of me as an actor. I generally had a better understanding of the real world, largely due to my experiences at university, and was able to appreciate why so many drama schools advocated the university experience prior to seeking training (an experience which, since gaining government funding for a second degree is no longer possible, is not a realistic option for most.)
Having applied to LIPA twice in the past, it was a firm favourite and I was thrilled when I was offered a place on the MA in Acting (having applied to most CDS schools in the past, other favourites at this point included the Birmingham School of Acting, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, and the Oxford School of Drama... I got the impression that the latter thought I was a bit strange, but so was their audition).
I was lucky enough to be offered a place on another course at another favourite of mine, and this is where the importance of asking questions comes in! Despite the inevitable snorts of disbelief that always escape when tutors announce that auditionees should remember that as well as being auditioned, they are also auditioning the school, this really is true. The best auditions allow you to experience classes or workshops similar to the work you would be undertaking at the school, allowing you to get a 'feel' for the kind of work you will be doing. If you can, try to find students who are on the course you are applying for - they tend to give honest responses to your queries from a student's viewpoint (if it is a postgraduate course, try to find a postgraduate student on your course rather than the BA equivalent, as the course content and intensity will vary).
I eventually decided to go to LIPA largely on instinct, but also based on the fact that during the audition for the other school, I spent 45 minutes crawling around the floor pretending to be various animals. Although I would in no way argue that there is not worth in this, and have few qualms about making an utter prat of myself, this just was not for me, (not that I escaped this form of humiliation at LIPA entirely, but the let's-pretend-to-be-animals-with-absolutely-no-former-research-on-the-way-they-move-or-behave was minimal).
At no point during or after my training did I consider that I may have chosen the wrong course or the wrong school. My experiences at university were vital to making me who I am today, and without them I may not have been accepted to drama school. LIPA requires that those auditioning present a devised piece; mine was a piece which I wrote for a short play as part of my undergraduate degree. For other auditions, I used a piece which was written by a local writer from Lincoln which I also encountered during my degree (this is usually fine unless the school states that it must be a piece from a published play). At no point was I in any doubt that the training at LIPA was for me; on the other hand, it perhaps was not suited to others, some of whom felt they would have benefitted from a different approach to training. In hindsight, if unsure at the audition stage, it may be better to continue auditioning at other schools rather than accepting the one offer you are given and investing a lot of time and money in a training that, ultimately, may not benefit you (although as someone who auditioned for drama schools repeatedly, I understand how insane a notion it can seem to even consider turning down an offer!).
At the end of the practical training, I am at the same stage as the BA graduates; while those on the BA course may have had more opportunity to practice their acting technique, in terms of "real-life" acting experience, with the exception of those who worked as actors prior to their formal training, both BA and MA graduates are starting from the same place. All graduates still have a lot to learn about the real world of work, and will never stop learning about acting. But choosing the right course is different for each individual: After a year's intensive training, I felt equipped and eager to start seeking work as a professional actor.
In terms of preparing for auditions, I would be reluctant to offer advice, as each drama school is unique, but I will go so far as to say this: at LIPA, final-year students are given the opportunity to sit with the audition panel. Do not admit that you learnt the piece you recited on the train that morning... Better yet, DON'T learn it on the train that morning! Prepare thoroughly and remember that it is an ACTING audition (if it's an acting course you have applied for). And finally: PATIENCE IS NOT "SCOTTISH".
After A-Levels, I applied to numerous drama schools for two years. One highly respected and well-known school gave me a recall - I was thrilled, as the impression given at my initial audition had quickly made it a favourite of mine. However, the recall was an entirely different experience. I was expected to attend classes at the school over a period of a few days, during which the tutors would assess our abilities/suitability/potential... (After having attended drama school, exactly what the panels are looking for during auditions still remains a mystery!)
At my recall, there were at least 30 auditionees, mostly female. We were informed that there would be 12 recalls in total, for 9 places - 5 boys and 4 girls. With this in mind, I followed my group to the first class. Each class began in the same way - announcing your name, your current occupation, and your age. And in nearly every class I got the same response: "You're seventeen? Why are you here?" ...I felt like throttling them but sweetly replied to each one, "Because you gave me a recall". After this, most tutors paid me no attention. At that recall, myself and one other were the only auditionees under the age of twenty. Most, although not all, drama schools seemed to adopt a similar attitude (as far as I am aware, LIPA tends to take more students at a young age than any other drama school).
After failing to get into drama school the following year, I had to decide what my next step would be. Due to moving from school to college halfway through my A-Levels, I had spent the last year completing my courses. I decided that, knowing I wanted to be an actor, going out into the world of menial work simply to bide my time until the drama schools deemed me to have gained enough "life experience" would be a waste of time and completely unfulfilling. Instead, I decided to investigate university courses, with a view to attending drama school following graduation. I knew that to dedicate three (or more) years to a course, I would need to have a real interest in the subject. However, I saw little point in doing a BA in Drama or Theatre Studies (and still do, having had friends who gained these degrees but then found it difficult to find work, and certainly none of whom went into any drama-related work). Drama as a subject has its advantages in the world of work, but you can provide an employer with the same advantage having undertaken simply an A-Level or other drama course. Of course, it provides you with a background knowledge of theatre - but this can be achieved through simply having a vested interest in theatre. One girl on my course had a degree in Ancient History, and clearly it did not stop her from getting onto the course.
So, bearing all this in mind, I started trying to find courses that were more than just a "straight" drama degree. I was applying quite late in the year, having done the drama school audition rounds, but managed to find courses such as "Theatre Arts, Education and Deaf Studies" at Reading University. Eventually, I chose to go to Bishop Grosseteste College (now Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln) to undertake a BA in Drama in the Community. At the time, this was one of the only courses of its type (I believe the only other courses were the BA at Bretton Hall, which if my memory serves me right, was entitled "Arts Education" and the BA Community Drama course at LIPA).
This course, unlike other drama degrees, taught students the fundamentals of drama, which we then learnt to apply to community settings. It allowed students to develop and facilitate drama programmes for nurseries, schools, youth groups, Entry to Education participants, special needs groups, residential homes, prisons, libraries, churches, or any other community group. The course also studied professional practice and each student was to carry out a case study on a professional theatre company. This armed students with the knowledge and ability to set up their own business upon graduation and seek work as a freelance drama facilitator. As an actor, the experiences I gained from this course have often landed me auditions where experience in workshop facilitation is required. I remain convinced that this is the best course of its type, and would strongly urge people not to apply for a course simply because the university, college or institution has a "name". It is important that the course you choose is the right one for you - similarly, this rule applies when auditioning for drama schools.
It is easy for many reasons not to ask questions at your drama school auditions; You may not want to appear naive; or feel foolish for asking in case the panel are secretly thinking how awful you were; you may be thinking (especially if you are female!) that questions are irrelevant, as you would be so grateful to be offered a place that there is no question of you turning down an offer. But it is important not to fall into this trap; relevant questions will prove that you have prepared carefully; they make you appear interested in the school; and you may be offered more than one place, so you will need all the information you can get!
I applied for postgraduate courses while in my last year at university. Throughout my three years at Bishop Grosseteste, I had come into contact with working professionals and worked with a professional theatre company. I continued to gain experience singing, and took tap lessons (my dancing skills were, and still are, abominable!). I had seized every opportunity that presented itself, including setting up and running events, volunteering, and becoming involved with numerous societies; all contributing to that all-important "life experience". More important than proving my "life experience" at the drama school rounds was the complete belief I now had that I was capable of undertaking the challenge of life that potentially lay ahead of me as an actor. I generally had a better understanding of the real world, largely due to my experiences at university, and was able to appreciate why so many drama schools advocated the university experience prior to seeking training (an experience which, since gaining government funding for a second degree is no longer possible, is not a realistic option for most.)
Having applied to LIPA twice in the past, it was a firm favourite and I was thrilled when I was offered a place on the MA in Acting (having applied to most CDS schools in the past, other favourites at this point included the Birmingham School of Acting, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, and the Oxford School of Drama... I got the impression that the latter thought I was a bit strange, but so was their audition).
I was lucky enough to be offered a place on another course at another favourite of mine, and this is where the importance of asking questions comes in! Despite the inevitable snorts of disbelief that always escape when tutors announce that auditionees should remember that as well as being auditioned, they are also auditioning the school, this really is true. The best auditions allow you to experience classes or workshops similar to the work you would be undertaking at the school, allowing you to get a 'feel' for the kind of work you will be doing. If you can, try to find students who are on the course you are applying for - they tend to give honest responses to your queries from a student's viewpoint (if it is a postgraduate course, try to find a postgraduate student on your course rather than the BA equivalent, as the course content and intensity will vary).
I eventually decided to go to LIPA largely on instinct, but also based on the fact that during the audition for the other school, I spent 45 minutes crawling around the floor pretending to be various animals. Although I would in no way argue that there is not worth in this, and have few qualms about making an utter prat of myself, this just was not for me, (not that I escaped this form of humiliation at LIPA entirely, but the let's-pretend-to-be-animals-with-absolutely-no-former-research-on-the-way-they-move-or-behave was minimal).
At no point during or after my training did I consider that I may have chosen the wrong course or the wrong school. My experiences at university were vital to making me who I am today, and without them I may not have been accepted to drama school. LIPA requires that those auditioning present a devised piece; mine was a piece which I wrote for a short play as part of my undergraduate degree. For other auditions, I used a piece which was written by a local writer from Lincoln which I also encountered during my degree (this is usually fine unless the school states that it must be a piece from a published play). At no point was I in any doubt that the training at LIPA was for me; on the other hand, it perhaps was not suited to others, some of whom felt they would have benefitted from a different approach to training. In hindsight, if unsure at the audition stage, it may be better to continue auditioning at other schools rather than accepting the one offer you are given and investing a lot of time and money in a training that, ultimately, may not benefit you (although as someone who auditioned for drama schools repeatedly, I understand how insane a notion it can seem to even consider turning down an offer!).
At the end of the practical training, I am at the same stage as the BA graduates; while those on the BA course may have had more opportunity to practice their acting technique, in terms of "real-life" acting experience, with the exception of those who worked as actors prior to their formal training, both BA and MA graduates are starting from the same place. All graduates still have a lot to learn about the real world of work, and will never stop learning about acting. But choosing the right course is different for each individual: After a year's intensive training, I felt equipped and eager to start seeking work as a professional actor.
In terms of preparing for auditions, I would be reluctant to offer advice, as each drama school is unique, but I will go so far as to say this: at LIPA, final-year students are given the opportunity to sit with the audition panel. Do not admit that you learnt the piece you recited on the train that morning... Better yet, DON'T learn it on the train that morning! Prepare thoroughly and remember that it is an ACTING audition (if it's an acting course you have applied for). And finally: PATIENCE IS NOT "SCOTTISH".
Is the 'patience is not Scottish' something someone said to you at an audition?
Many Cleopatras at the audition announced that "patience is scottish" ... which it is not. Some missed the meaning entirely and effected a Scottish accent especially for the occasion. And the moral of the story... if you don't understand what you're saying, the likelihood is that the audience won't either.
I disagree with some little things you say regarding university courses... but I won't quibble on that here.
What I will say is that it's great to have insight from someone who did a post grad rather than a BA.
And also, I had a very strange audition at Oxford too. What really got me however was how different it was from the perceptions I had based on their prospectus, website, graduate list. I felt, so deeply, that that was the school for me. I just *knew*. And then I went for my audition, and pretty much from getting on the bus in Oxford, as we travelled further out, observing the current students sitting alongside, and then looking around the school upon arrival, I realised it was not right for me at all.
I also had an animal studies exercise in my audition. We had to be chickens. It was embarrassing, humiliating, and current students were sitting outside looking in at us, through the big floor to ceiling windows. There was no prep, no study. Just, "be a chicken". The most absurd thing I've ever been called upon to do in an audition. It transpired animal studies was a big block of the training for the post grad. I couldn't get out of that school quick enough, it was just weird. And it was so obvious the "type" of student they went for. *shudder* Never seen such a gulf between the projected image of a school and the actual experience of it in my life.
And also, while university is a valuable amazing experience, it is not "the real world". People used to tell me uni was a holiday, and to make the most of it. I did make the most of it, but I would object to the 'holiday' comment and say look at all the essays and exams I had to do, the pressure. This was work.
It was not "work" in the sense of real life. Not the grind, the 9-5, the office, the commute, the suit, the waitressing, whatever. It's a world of its own, but one of great worth.
'Hey all you BG fans, let me hear you clap your hands...'
BGUCL does indeed do a fantastic Drama in the Community course. Having classed myself as an honourary DinC in the past, and having lived with one for 3 years, I know how enjoyable, exhausting and worthwhile the course is.
Having auditioned for a few music colleges myself, I agree that you need to prepare yourself as MUCH as you possibly can, in terms of learning music (or text), doing research about the college, thinking of questions to ask...
Having my own questions is always my particular downfall, as I can never remember what I wanted to ask during an interview, until after it has finished. The same was said for my job interview (I'm a music teacher - for now).
The college also needs to feel right - women's intuition (or whatever the male's version is). No matter what the course is like, you need to know that it is the right place for you.