On Wednesday 10 October, my Drama class travelled to Harrow Arts Centre, where we will perform “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” as part of the Shakespeare Schools Festival. On arrival, we were ushered into the auditorium and our excitement began to grow as we saw the endless rows of tiered seats and the vast raised stage before us.  We couldn’t wait to perform here, in just a few short weeks. The workshop began; we were partnered with a drama company from a nearby primary school. This was valuable as we reciprocated feedback on performances, learning how others think and react on stage. After a warm up with our partner school, we performed what we had prepared. As co-director of the production, I wasn’t on stage, however, it was magnificent to experience the scenes we had been rehearsing come alive. The workshop leaders gave us tips about utilising the space, making the characters bigger and more dramatic to add to the overall performance. The two schools were then separated to work with a workshop leader – ours was Louis. This was one of the best moments of the day because we were able to rehearse and develop our work whilst doing exercises that helped the actors understand and react to everything on stage. With Louis’ help we were able to refine our scenes, becoming more confident in how to react and involve ourselves with the action. We were given useful tips to use within this production and future performances, these were: landing our lines; always being in character; avoiding a close position as this can mean “kiss or kill” when on stage; and embracing and sharing with the audience.

Overall this experience was fun, beneficial and productive. All these factors will enable us to present a polished production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and aid us with our acting in the future. It was an experience I highly recommend and would love to do again.

Jessica M5