On entering the Gold Dust project at the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter, students at Birmingham School of Acting we were unsure how much freedom and responsibility we would be given. Throughout the devising however we were given complete freedom to input ideas and work on the piece. This gave me a very professional experience as I was, for one of the first times, trusted with the work and what I and we as a team of teacher/actors could creatively achieve for professional performance. Working with Rochi and Paul was equally fantastic, they treated us as any other colleague and we all got along throughout the project, team building at lunchtime over the daily horoscopes!
Going into the first week of the performance I was quite intimidated at the prospect of having to perform professionally and improvise so freely in role, but the amount of research we had done into the roles in the two weeks of rehearsal gave us a great grounding and I think this is something we all achieved well as a team.
What I loved the most about Gold Dust and working with Language Alive! was it’s ability to confirm my future plans. As we began the project I had strongly considered going into TIE when I left university and working with the children so creatively and seeing their pure enjoyment throughout the project has sparked a real desire to embark upon this element of applied theatre and I am now thoroughly grateful for the experience. I think the only bit I didn’t enjoy about the project was the early mornings, but I think this is something that will come with time and the absence of being a student!
Before my first board meeting I had the opportunity to see Out of the Box, a Language Alive! programme, in a school, which gave me a good idea of Play House work in action. This experience demonstrated just how much fun the children can have, with the whole class eager to contribute and join in, and also how the work brings out different sides of every child, appealing to learning styles perhaps not catered for in a classroom environment. Just a brief chat to the class teacher was enough to tell that such a visit can open up doors to a whole range of follow on learning opportunities and projects when fully exploited.
