by Bel | Apr 10, 2014 | acting classes, acting classes london, audition classes, audition doctor, auditions, tilly blackwood
Even the most respected institutions are beset by flaws. The criticism levelled at drama schools is varied and contradictory. It’s been argued that drama schools are out of touch, blindly forging on with teaching Elizabethan playwrights for which there is no commercial market. Conversely, there have been complaints that today’s young actors don’t possess the know-how to speak verse properly.
Last week’s Sam Wanamaker festival at the Globe – a theatre which is commercially successful solely by staging Shakespeare – disproved both arguments. Susan Elkin from The Stage wrote: “[It] is a very valuable event. The focus is entirely on Shakespeare. A pair of students from each of 21 drama schools – and I know how carefully selected and nurtured those individuals are so it’s an honour to take part – perform a duologue from Shakespeare on the Globe’s stage. The final, and public, performance took place yesterday. And as the Globe’s Director of Education Patrick Spottiswoode told me recently “It’s a celebration not a competition. There is no adjudication or winners”. So it’s a fine way of giving 16th and 17th century drama some close attention – and helping to refute all those critics.”
The idea that drama school is a waste of time because of its focus on Shakespearean texts is a dangerous one. The most celebrated TV and film actors have been known to turn down screen roles in favour of the stage, as evidenced by the recent announcement that a large contingent of the Sherlock cast will be focusing on Shakespeare in the near future. (Martin Freeman will play Richard III, Benedict Cumberbatch will take on the role of Hamlet and Mark Gatiss was recently in Coriolanus at the Donmar.)
It isn’t just verse speaking that drama school affords you either. As Olivier winner Aneurin Barnard mentioned in Ideastap: “Drama school gives you an amazing amount of theatre knowledge. If you want to be a stage actor I don’t think you can without training; some do, but it’s a very low percentage. I knew from 14 that I wanted to go – mainly to get an agent, because I had already been acting for a few years, though I was very rough.”
Drama school auditions are incredibly demanding and sessions with Audition Doctor take some of the pressure off your shoulders. Although all the work must, ultimately, be done by you, Audition Doctor provides an encouraging environment to explore possibilities and experiment with different intentions. Essentially, this is what a drama school audition is.
Drama schools may be flawed, however, it seems like everyone still wants to go. The number of applications shows no sign of decreasing which is why – despite being at the tail-end stage of drama school auditions – Audition Doctor is still oversubscribed.
by Bel | Apr 3, 2014 | acting classes, acting classes london, audition classes, audition doctor, auditions, classes for acting, tilly blackwood
This week, Lyn Gardner asked readers: “Who has commissioned or co-produced some of the potentially most interesting new theatre that is taking place over the next couple of weeks?” The answer was drama schools. Increasingly, drama schools such as the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and East 15 are commissioning new writing to develop with their students.
Many cite the primary reason for going to drama school as being seen and subsequently signed by an agent. However, as Dave Bond of the RWCMD points out…”It [also] gets theatre and theatre writers and directors to connect with graduates, and sometimes they take those graduates with them as their careers progress.”
As Stephen Jameson of Mountview argues: “It’s a virtuous circle of creativity.” And as Christopher Haydon, artistic director of the Gate which is hosting the RWCMD shows, says: “It’s an exciting way of scoring lots of goals with less risk.”
Some prospective applicants to drama school worry about what Jameson calls “the certain marionette aspect to a traditional drama-school education for actors”. However, partnerships between drama schools and new writing proves that drama schools “recognise that [their students] are creative people and foster a progressive programme of work for graduating students that reflects the current developments in theatre in this country and gives them a real understanding of the devising and creative process”.
Many students who come out of drama school form their own theatre companies to ensure that they have a sense of creative autonomy in an industry beleaguered by cuts. Consequently, work – if offered at all – can be safe and devoid of risk. Only when the element of risk is involved can the work potentially be interesting. The devising process that drama schools now offer alongside new writing means that students are knowledgeable in how to create a successful piece of theatre outside the confines of drama school.
As Gardner says: “It’s all to the good, particularly at a time when drama schools seem to be increasingly turning out graduates whose eyes are fixed firmly upon TV and movies rather than the theatre. By putting significant amounts of money and time into new theatre work they are indicating to their graduates that theatre still matters and helping playwrights, theatres and companies to create challenging new work.”
When interviewed about the upcoming production of “A View from the Bridge”, Mark Strong commented on why he has decided to return to the theatre: ‘I wanted to get back into a room with a group of people – all bright, all committed – and talk about why we do this stuff, and how we do it,’ he says enthusiastically. ‘Because film doesn’t really demand that. You tend to learn your lines in isolation, you might go in and have a quick chat with the director, then you’re on camera. And you’re disconnected from the process, really. Whereas in a rehearsal room, you’re going over a text again and again – especially a text like this, which has survived for so long because it’s so good. And if our job is to shine a light on human nature, then you really get a chance over a number of weeks to do that, and then over a number of performances to show it. It’s such a privilege.’
Audition Doctor sessions are similar to the rehearsal room that Strong describes. The text is mined and relentlessly explored. This makes the entire process of auditioning feel organic – invaluable when in the midst of drama school auditions which can make students feel like just another number. The time usually spent at Audition Doctor is spread over a number of months. The interpretation that you present to the panel will by no means be the only one you will have explored with Tilly. Ultimately, this means that when you are redirected, you will have the confidence to present a whole range of interpretations that are rooted in truth.
by Bel | Mar 27, 2014 | acting classes, acting classes london, audition classes, audition doctor, auditions, tilly blackwood
For all drama school candidates currently in the throes of auditions, it might be marginally reassuring to note that Anne Marie Duff once said that “The hardest thing of all is getting into drama school. You’ll never have that level of competition ever again. I mean thousands of people apply for 30 places; you never have that when you audition for a job.”
In many auditions, applicants are sometimes surprised that they are asked to perform their monologues in front of their fellow candidates. Although one hopes that candidates are aware that getting into character in front of an audience is the point of it all, it can be daunting to unexpectedly have to get into character in front of 20 other people.
Anne Marie Duff explains that it’s because “you’re frightened of making a fool of yourself. But you just have to find the truth in it. Instead of just putting on a fuzzy nose and going “ta daaa!” Many people mistakenly think that the “ta daa” element is a precondition to being remembered by the panel. It is – but for all the wrong reasons.
Her advice, whether you are auditioning for drama school or for a feature film, is to remember that “you’re having a conversation with an audience and the audience is either out there, a thousand people, or here, down a lens. It’s the same creative process.”
The initial stages of auditions are focused on the individual and it is usually only when you get further that you are required to participate in group workshops.
When asked about drama school, Michelle Dockery commented that the thing she learnt above all was “to be gracious. And by that I mean to work well with others and to be generous. There is nothing worse than working with an actor who thinks it’s all about them: there’s more than one person creating whatever you’re working on.” Although drama schools want to see you, it’s also as much about how you respond to fellow actors.
When asked about her experience auditioning for drama school, Sally Hawkins said: “I didn’t get in to RADA first time but I knew that was where I wanted to go. I was very single-minded. The only other option was art school and I didn’t have much confidence in that.”
“I did Juliet. I also did Road by Jim Cartwright – talking about “gargantuan men”. It was a very sexual, big Northern woman I was playing. It was totally against type but the writing’s so fantastic that I loved saying it. I also did a very inappropriate Shakespeare: Margaret from Richard III, an old wench. I came with a prop – this was the year I didn’t get in – I had a stick. I’m always drawn to people who are a challenge: it’s interesting to unlock who they are, but you have to be careful of not picking Queen Margaret! Probably better to pick someone closer to your age and your own experience.”
Aside from guidance on audition speeches, Audition Doctor also offers what Anne Marie Duff mentioned – a conversation. It’s important to discuss your choices and it’s helpful to know your strengths and weaknesses before you step into the audition room. In the audition, the panel ask questions that range from your personal ambitions to what theatre you have seen recently. It’s useful to have articulated your thoughts at Audition Doctor prior to the audition. Understandably, when confronted with three staring faces, drawing a blank is common.
Furthermore, in Audition Doctor sessions, actors are confronted with their unconscious habits which are duly discussed and addressed. Nothing elicits a more confident audition than knowing you have prepared in advance with Audition Doctor. This is why booking ahead with Tilly is crucial as places are filled especially quickly during the final recall stages in May.
by Bel | Mar 20, 2014 | acting classes, acting classes london, audition classes, audition doctor, auditions, classes for acting, tilly blackwood
The chief reason why people come to Audition Doctor early on in the audition process is preparation. Advice on picking monologues and direction on the speeches themselves can only be assimilated and played with if you give yourself enough time before an audition.
The Stage warned against hurried interpretations: “Once you’ve selected your speech, experiment. See what it could be, rather than stamping a panicked performance upon it. You must deliver the text audibly, truthfully and connectedly – with intention. That is the actor’s job: to convey the words without false acting voices or daft, uncontrolled head and body-wobbles. The panel will be excited by a clear, clean performance that delivers the words with connection and conviction. Heaped emotion is less interesting.”
In the same article, Andy Johnson explained how “an audition is a two-minute show”. Many candidates comment on how much quicker they perform their speeches. Usually, these are applicants whose first “public” showing of their speeches have been in front of the panel. The combination of nerves and under-preparation is a detrimental cocktail in auditions. Audition Doctor sessions ensure that you don’t throw away your audition by rushing. They give you the reassurance that it’s okay to not throw yourself unthinkingly into your speech, but to do what the Stage recommends: ” To take a moment to imagine the audition space as the location of the monologue. The best auditions are those in which the actor successfully transports the panel from wherever they are to an urban street, a clearing in the woods, a vast hall in a medieval palace etc.”
Audition Doctor is also beneficial for advice in the interview part of the audition; running through possible questions and answers can make all the difference. Ben Caplan recently lamented: “I’ve known actors come into class and have not properly read the play or don’t know basic things like who is running the Royal Court. That is not good enough. But if you do prepare yourself you can have a successful career.”
As almost every actor has said, they key to a good performance is preparation and this is what Audition Doctor gives you. Tilly doesn’t give out answers but something much more powerful – the ability to ask more questions. The curiosity and willingness to engage in trial and error that is fostered in her lessons prepares all her students for drama school auditions.
by Bel | Mar 6, 2014 | acting classes, acting classes london, audition classes, audition doctor, auditions, classes for acting, tilly blackwood
Insanity was once defined by Einstein as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. One of the many reasons why students come to Audition Doctor is the fact that they find that they are not getting the recalls they so desperately want. They perform the same two speeches over and over again at every drama school audition without success.
Audition Doctor has always stressed that the most important decision you make is your choice of speeches. However, many candidates continue to pick speeches that they perhaps think will show their range, yet which are ostensibly not suitable for where they are in their development.
Steve Winter, head of Old Vic New Voices, advised in Ideastap: “Don’t play a pensioner when you’re 21. Play to your strengths and embrace whatever age you are.” There are hundreds of great monologues for people in their twenties and thirties out there – so don’t just reach for the grandparent role.”
Furthermore, Winter commented on casting sessions where students failed to read the actual play from which the speech was chosen. Reading the play multiple times is a must. It’s essential that you have as thorough an understanding of your character as possible. Additionally, showing that you have a lack of knowledge of the play reveals a lack of interest and preparation. Drama schools are renowned for their insistence on total commitment, not bothering to do something so basic as read the play will guarantee no recall.
“You need to know the playwright, story and character arc of the monologue you are performing,” says Steve. For all you know, this might be the monologue delivered just before the character reveals that they are a pathological liar, or in prison, or actually in love with their mother. If you don’t know the context, it’s hard to give a really informed performance. Also, OVNV are looking for actors who are dedicated and enthusiastic enough to do their research. As Steve says, “Phrases such as. ‘I just selected it from the monologue book my tutor gave me’ are not words we like to hear.”
Audition Doctor is not the place to come if you aren’t thirsty to stretch your acting capabilities. Most of Tilly’s students come ready with several different speeches and ideas of how to approach them. Audition Doctor will not find audition speeches for you because the hunt for the perfect speech is important in itself. The writing must speak to you personally as the organic process of exploring the speech is a lengthy one. In other words, you have to care about what you’re saying to be able to convey the emotion and vulnerability that the writer asks of you.
When Arthur Darvill was asked how useful his training at RADA was, he responded: “Training is a funny thing. I was very lucky and went to RADA. That was the Holy Grail for me, before I went. But it meant that I spent my first year trying to “get it right” rather than get what I could from it. The truth is you never get it right, you just keep learning. Drama school was a great opportunity to do that and – like any place of learning – you get out what you put in.”
Audition Doctor is much the same.
by Bel | Feb 27, 2014 | acting classes, acting classes london, audition classes, audition doctor, auditions, classes for acting, tilly blackwood
When Ideastap asked David Harewood whether drama school was worth the time and expense, he responded: “I’m really glad I did because it gave me that classical training, and you can’t get that anywhere else in the world. We have a deep theatrical tradition here as old as any other on the planet, and you get trained in all these different styles. So when you do get auditions, you feel like you can do anything.
I can do a bit of telly, a bit of radio but I can also belt out a bit of Shakespeare, and you’d find that very difficult if you hadn’t gone to drama school. Some people may not want those skills. I’m coming across a lot of young actors who have gone through other forms of training and are fantastic, and maybe some of these guys don’t dream of getting up on stage and doing King Lear – maybe they’re not interested in that. But it’s also the experience of studying the craft – it’s a skill and the more you study it, the better you get.”
Perhaps it isn’t that the actors Harewood is talking about aren’t interested in theatre, but because they are aware of the recent changes that their profession has faced. Their desire to find success in TV or film is based on a realistic mindset that fewer subsidies mean fewer risks. It’s a well known fact that conservative tastes reign during times of financial trouble.
Even Trevor Nunn acknowledged: “It’s a changing world as drama students leave their drama schools thinking ‘I have to get into television and I have to get into film,’ because there are fewer and fewer opportunities in theatre.”
However, this has frequently proven not to be the case. More than ever, new theatre companies such as DryWrite, Clean Break and Theatre 503, to name a few, are staging new and radical plays. It also appears that students from drama schools are taking the situation into their own hands by forming their own companies. Invertigo Theatre Company is one such venture which was set up by four Guildhall graduates who focus on “the lesser known, from new writing to European plays.”
One of the reasons why drama school graduates are still pursuing careers in theatre is the liberating aspect of the medium over film.
As Kirsten Scott Thomas mentioned: “The trouble with acting in films, she goes on, is that “you’re constantly being told what to do. ‘Move your head that way. Can you cry a bit more? Can you do this, can you do that? Oh, that was lovely, that was amazing, that was beautiful.’ And sometimes you think, that wasn’t amazing and wonderful and beautiful, it was just a look. But you’ve got this person saying it was. And then it’s taken away from you, and it’s all mixed up and made into something else. Basically, when you are acting in a film, you’re giving the director the raw material to make the film. But when you’re acting on stage, that’s it. And that’s when you discover that you can really do it. It’s this word ‘trust’ that keeps coming to me. It’s not a question of whether one person is conning you into thinking you can do it, saying, ‘Oh, it was beautiful.’ On stage, if it works, it works.”
One of the reasons why actors come to Audition Doctor lies in what Jeremy Irvine said recently in an interview: “What’s worth remembering is, when you finally do get cast in a film, there’s no rehearsal time and you’re not supervised. You get a script and you’re told it’s shooting in two months and you have to do all that work yourself. There’s no one holding your hand. There’s no director asking, “Have you tried this?” That happens on set on the day, by which point it’s too late if you haven’t done the preparation.”
Audition Doctor sessions are popular because they are pockets of time where the focus is on preparation. The intensive and qualitative nature of the work that you do in the lessons often means that students choose to come to Audition Doctor over an extended period of time. Consequently, even if you are coming to Audition Doctor for preparation for a film or TV role, you are afforded the luxury of a more prolonged sort of rehearsal period that theatre is known for.
by Bel | Feb 13, 2014 | acting classes, acting classes london, audition classes, audition doctor, auditions, classes for acting, tilly blackwood
Last week, Denis Kelly declared that nothing annoyed him more than the lazy and commonplace assumption that theatre was elitist. “I’m the son of a bus conductor and a cleaner, I grew up in a council house and left school at 16 with no qualifications, but I found a home in theatre…I got involved in theatre young and it kept my mind alive, through brain-numbing jobs that meant nothing to me.” He went onto say that the number of people currently seeing theatre in this country was comparable to attendances at Britain’s other populist event – football matches.
Drama schools such as LAMDA are also working hard to change the false perception that the industry is an exclusive club open only to the moneyed. Having recently appointed Rhiannon Fisher as its first Access and Widening Participation Officer, the drama school has set up new initiatives to give school students more information on vocational drama training.
Speaking to The Stage, Fisher commented: “The idea was to use our [final year students’] first public production as a way of introducing secondary school students to Shakespeare. The students were split into two companies, one of which did Macbeth and one Twelfth Night so they covered four schools each,” says Fisher, adding that each performance runs for 90 minutes followed by a question and answer session with the cast.
Fisher acknowledges that the “Q/A is vital. It allows audience members not only to ask questions about the play and acting those roles but also about vocational drama training in general and LAMDA in particular – the very information which so often fails to get into schools because, on the whole, it is outside the experience of teachers and careers advisers.”
There are further plans afoot to run workshops in 2015 for underprivileged young people in five major cities around the country. Furthermore, the audition fees, which have been cited as eye-wateringly expensive, may be wavered for those who have attended the workshops.
If you don’t qualify for workshops such as at LAMDA, or simply can’t make events such as the Surviving Actors Careers Fair, where Susan Elkin noted: “there was a programme of seminars, workshops and one-to-one sessions” by industry professionals, Audition Doctor offers something similar. However, inevitably, due to the one-to-one nature of the session, it is far more tailored to the individual.
Elkin said in her column for The Stage: “Predictably, what interested me most in all this were the top-up training opportunities for actors [at the fair] and I was pleased to see The Actors Centre, The Actors’ Guild, The Actors’ Cafe, Actors’ Studio and Actors’ Training Centre among others, all busy talking to dozens of actors keen to learn, develop and hone skills.”
As well as being a private acting coach, Audition Doctor also offers sessions at The Actors Centre. This gives her students the added bonus of understanding how drama school students continue to top-up their training even after having graduated, as well as what institutions such as these offer.
Recently in The Guardian, Kristin Scott Thomas spoke about her rediscovery of theatre after years of doing purely film: “I suddenly felt independent. You could walk on stage and you could stand on your head if you really wanted to. No one’s going to say stop, don’t do that, that’s a ridiculous idea. There’s this feeling of independence and trust – I could give myself permission to play things in a certain way and see if they worked or they didn’t. I could trust myself.”
That encapsulates why Audition Doctor is in demand by both professional actors and drama school applicants alike, as the overriding feeling that students take away from sessions is a confidence and trust in their own artistic judgement.
The progress that Audition Doctor’s students achieve can rarely be attained by going to a Q&A or a seminar; the experimentation and discovery lies in actively doing, as opposed to passively listening. This is why Audition Doctor is considered to be so significant in her students’ development.
by Bel | Jan 30, 2014 | acting classes, acting classes london, audition classes, audition doctor, auditions, classes for acting, tilly blackwood
Previous articles have touched upon the relative merits of university drama courses and drama school training. An article in The Times warned its readers about the “hidden truth about university courses; that a few offer a terrific, demanding education while many others are content to allow students to drift through — in a three-year haze” with minimal contact hours that churn out graduates ill-prepared for any industry.
If there is one thing that drama schools cannot be accused of, it’s neglecting to give their students enough contact time. Typically, the exacting timetable consists of 9 hours of contact per day. That’s typically 54 hours a week – in a study conducted by the think-tank – The Higher Education Policy Institute – revealed that the only other university course that requires similar demanding hours was found to be Medicine. Even this notoriously challenging course’s contact hours differed from institution to institution and ranged from 32-50 hours a week.
Faye Marsay, who recently appeared in Fresh Meat, was asked whether her life at drama school resembled the show’s image of relaxed student life: “Drama school was more like twelve hours every day – work, work, work, lines, lines, lines.”
This, along with Brian Cox commenting in The Times that “drama training is the best preparation for anything”, is confirmation that drama school is a far better investment of time and money than a university course if you want to be taken seriously as an actor.
This idea was cemented this week when Sam Troughton lost his voice in the middle of a preview of King Lear at the National Theatre. Paapa Essiedu, a recent graduate of Guildhall, talked of how he had to take over as Troughton’s understudy: “I had about half an hour before I had to go on as Edmund but I was on stage for most of it. I didn’t have any time to prepare. It was one of those things where instinct kicks in and you rely on your training and on any work that you’ve done. And trust yourself to go and do it.”
Olivia Vinall, also starring in King Lear, was asked by Official London Theatre on her first professional job: “My first job was actually before I graduated. I was lucky enough to be in a production of Romeo And Juliet. The principal at Drama Studio at the time let me do it because he thought it would be the best showcase that I could have. From that I got an agent so it was a really good platform.”
In both cases, drama school training has proved to be a necessary foundation for successful performances. Although there are workshops in London such as the one which will be run by Ideastap in February (‘Auditioning technique and monologue advice masterclass’) where actors can ask industry professionals such as casting director Polly Jerrold for tips, there is no substitute for the one-on-one sessions that Audition Doctor offers. Instead of being in a group of 20 where understandably, the advice can only be more generalised, Audition Doctor sessions offer one hour sessions that focus solely on you. From the speeches you choose to group workshop advice, the guidance that Audition Doctor offers is always specific. The result is that you present the best possible you at your audition and consequently significantly increase your chance of securing a place at drama school.
by Bel | Jan 24, 2014 | acting classes, acting classes london, audition classes, audition doctor, auditions, tilly blackwood
Last week, Susan Elkin wrote in The Stage: “I happened to be visiting a prestigious London drama school recently while it was auditioning potential students. The applicants were huddled, anxious and nervous in a stark corridor waiting to go in one by one. Each was wearing a large placard bearing a number as if they were anonymous runners in a race. What price human dignity?”
While this week, when Vicky McClure was asked if auditioning had got any better the longer she’d been in the profession, she replied: “No! I think it’s getting even scarier for me… I lost out on a job just before Christmas and I was devastated. It really knocked me because I did all the prep I could possibly do… and yet you don’t get it, and it’s not because you can’t act, it’s because the chemistry doesn’t work or you’re slightly too short. It does knock you for a bit.”
Auditions, for both professional and aspiring actors, are unavoidable prerequisites for any job. However, much of the time, the outcome in an audition rarely resembles the perhaps stunning rendition you gave in the privacy of your bedroom. As Simon Russell Beale said last week: “I always used to joke that the best performances are done in the bath.”
When auditioning for drama schools, the speeches are key. Although the content is paramount, there are other things that have to be considered. Most drama schools will have guidelines as to the length of your speech. Many panels will simply cut you off if you go over the time, with some even starting a stopwatch as soon as you stand in front of them. Yet it is surprising how often candidates go over the allotted time. When questioned as to why they didn’t adhere to the audition advice (with “advice” read “strict instructions”), an applicant will proclaim that the speech had to end then because of the nature of the monologue’s emotional arc. However, due to the large volume of applicants, the panel simply don’t have the time for protracted monologues. This means that the speeches that you choose are incredibly important as they have to highlight your strengths, as well as showcase your vulnerability and versatility, in a considerably limited amount of time.
It takes students often multiple trips to French’s or Waterstones to find the right speech. However, it is worth it. Audition Doctor lessons are a bonus because they are opportunities to discuss the speech that is right for you specifically. Although a speech may be interesting, it may not suit you at this stage of your development.
Furthermore, Audition Doctor sessions are vital both before and during the lengthy process of auditioning. As candidates get more recalls and reach the final stages of auditions, it becomes even more critical to ensure that you make bold and original choices that also have emotional depth. Audition Doctor sessions offer students the gift of knowing that their best performances will not be in the bath, but in front of the audition panel.
by Bel | Jan 16, 2014 | acting classes, acting classes london, audition classes, audition doctor, auditions, classes for acting, tilly blackwood
Much has been written on the fact that too much time at drama schools is devoted to Shakespeare and not enough given to acting for screen, with heads of acting at top drama schools lamenting the fact that they are training pupils for a fast disappearing theatre industry. However, three of Britain’s arguably biggest television actors are performing in various Shakespeare plays to packed houses in the West End – Jude Law in Henry V, David Tennant in Richard II, and Tom Hiddleston in Coriolanus. The Telegraph mentioned in an article entitled “Why the stars come out for Shakespeare”: To have three such charismatic leading men starring in three relatively underperformed Shakespeare plays at the same moment is a rare treat.” It appears that Shakespeare is still as culturally relevant as ever – enthralling both actors and audiences.
Shakespeare even plays a surprisingly heavy role in the creation of unlikely characters, such as Tom Hiddleston’s character Loki in Thor. In an interview for The Telegraph, it was noted that “Together, Branagh and Hiddleston created a character who was, in many ways, the film’s centre point. ‘We made Loki out of Shakespearean characters,’ Hiddleston says. ‘We talked about King Lear with its two brothers, Macbeth with his ambition, the way Iago spins every situation for self-interest”.
This is why when potential students query the validity of drama school training, it is worthy to remind them that there is no substitute for three years of being surrounded by professionals who have performed Shakespeare themselves. It was Hiddlestone’s years at RADA which gave him the skills to lead him to win an Olivier for Cymbeline. As the interviewer notes of his early career: “While his film career faltered, his reputation in theatre started to gain momentum….and “It wasn’t until Michael Grandage cast him in Othello at the Donmar in 2007 that Hiddleston’s ascent really began. Watching the dress rehearsal was Kenneth Branagh, who was sufficiently impressed to cast Hiddleston as Christian in a Radio 3 production of Cyrano de Bergerac”.
If debating over whether to devote a large proportion of three years to Shakespeare, it’s worth remembering that the Bard still continues to open doors for many actors.
Like Audition Doctor, drama school gives you the time to experiment with language, physicality and voice. It also gives you the space to explore all the ranges of human emotion that future work will require you to express. Attending Audition Doctor or drama school is an acknowledgement that you want to become a better actor, an actor that contributes something to the general debate.As Tom Hiddleston eloquently puts it: “At its absolute best, a play like [Coriolanus] can unite its audience. They can go into the theatre as strangers and leave as a group, having understood and been through something important together. If I am somehow contributing to that then surely my work is of some consequence.”
The valuable nature of Audition Doctor is the way which Tilly pushes you to discover the different colours of emotions that will occur during one speech which means performing a speech on the same note will never happen.
As Hiddleston remarks: “We have the capacity to experience every aspect of life, don’t we?’ he asks, looking intently down at the imaginary keyboard on the table in front of him.”There’s love, generosity, hope, kindness, laughter and all the good stuff. And then there’s grief, hatred, jealousy and pain. The way I see it, life is about trying to get to a place where you feel happy with the chords that you are playing. I’m lucky because I can experiment with all the different notes, via my work. And when I hit the right notes, I like to think that I’m conveying some sort of truth.”This is what Tilly gives each students at Audition Doctor – the ability to explore the myraid of notes and deliver the truth – which is arguably all drama school audition panels are looking for.
