A FRUITFUL MEETING
3rd Nov 2004
THEATRE ROYAL STRATFORD EAST
Woke up much, much better. My headache disappeared and I got out of bed rather refreshed. Managed to start drafting my writing. Kept editing the draft. Just wanted to do a good piece. Have not finished yet. Well, at least I have started.
Met up with this lady called Jan at Theatre Royal Stratford East just now. Martin had been a great help in setting this up for me. The theatre education class has a placement element next spring. So, what Martin did was ask us what exactly we wanted and to identify some organizations which would interest us. He would then try to link us up with the organization. Theatres get inundated with requests for placements everyday. So, having a tutor be a broker for us is great. Placements in UK are rather different (at least in theatre) from attachments in Singapore. The company offering placements would want to offer some value to the student so that they really learn. The programme is usually very structured. Students are not some kind of free slave. On the other hand, companies also want to make sure that the students are capable of contributing in some way. Very professional.
Anyway, Stratford East is pretty strict with placements because it is extremely popular. They get an average of about 10 requests per week (or was it per day that she mentioned? Cannot remember now). All students who want to go do placements with them have to write in and go through an interview process! So, despite having Martin to set up this meeting, I’ll have to go through the interview process too. That would be some time in Dec.
Jan was nice enough to make time to speak with me though and explain what the organization is about. She is experienced (she’s worked with a number of TIE companies before, including Greenwich Young People’s Theatre which is one of the pioneers of the TIE movement), yet was patient enough to explain the structure of how some theatre co.s work in UK. She even allowed me to sit in to observe her Youth Theatre sessions every Wednesday and suggested that I try leading some activities in future if I’m interested. That sounds extremely exciting to me! Scary but exciting. And the time and place are so right. It’s Wed (my free day), 4.30 – 6pm (just in time to return home for dinner!) and Stratford (not Stratford-upon-Avon) is about 30 – 40mins away only. The place is bustling with people because it’s a major interchange for trains, tube and buses. So, I don’t need to worry about quiet, dark lanes or dodgy, loony characters either.
Sat through the session today and found it interesting. It was absolutely reassuring that Jan spent a fair amount of time controlling the kids. There are three Youth Theatre groups and this is the youngest lot – between 11 and 14. Some of them were just ALL OVER THE PLACE, chasing each other, screaming at times. She had to constantly keep them in check because the kids could go a little crazy, having a lot of fun by themselves. I felt reassured because Jan has about 20 years’ theatre experience. If she cannot handle the kids all the time, then I would have some excuse if I cannot handle them the next time! She even admitted that this is her worst Youth Theatre group so far.
Am looking forward to the next session.
THEATRE ROYAL STRATFORD EAST
Woke up much, much better. My headache disappeared and I got out of bed rather refreshed. Managed to start drafting my writing. Kept editing the draft. Just wanted to do a good piece. Have not finished yet. Well, at least I have started.
Met up with this lady called Jan at Theatre Royal Stratford East just now. Martin had been a great help in setting this up for me. The theatre education class has a placement element next spring. So, what Martin did was ask us what exactly we wanted and to identify some organizations which would interest us. He would then try to link us up with the organization. Theatres get inundated with requests for placements everyday. So, having a tutor be a broker for us is great. Placements in UK are rather different (at least in theatre) from attachments in Singapore. The company offering placements would want to offer some value to the student so that they really learn. The programme is usually very structured. Students are not some kind of free slave. On the other hand, companies also want to make sure that the students are capable of contributing in some way. Very professional.
Anyway, Stratford East is pretty strict with placements because it is extremely popular. They get an average of about 10 requests per week (or was it per day that she mentioned? Cannot remember now). All students who want to go do placements with them have to write in and go through an interview process! So, despite having Martin to set up this meeting, I’ll have to go through the interview process too. That would be some time in Dec.
Jan was nice enough to make time to speak with me though and explain what the organization is about. She is experienced (she’s worked with a number of TIE companies before, including Greenwich Young People’s Theatre which is one of the pioneers of the TIE movement), yet was patient enough to explain the structure of how some theatre co.s work in UK. She even allowed me to sit in to observe her Youth Theatre sessions every Wednesday and suggested that I try leading some activities in future if I’m interested. That sounds extremely exciting to me! Scary but exciting. And the time and place are so right. It’s Wed (my free day), 4.30 – 6pm (just in time to return home for dinner!) and Stratford (not Stratford-upon-Avon) is about 30 – 40mins away only. The place is bustling with people because it’s a major interchange for trains, tube and buses. So, I don’t need to worry about quiet, dark lanes or dodgy, loony characters either.
Sat through the session today and found it interesting. It was absolutely reassuring that Jan spent a fair amount of time controlling the kids. There are three Youth Theatre groups and this is the youngest lot – between 11 and 14. Some of them were just ALL OVER THE PLACE, chasing each other, screaming at times. She had to constantly keep them in check because the kids could go a little crazy, having a lot of fun by themselves. I felt reassured because Jan has about 20 years’ theatre experience. If she cannot handle the kids all the time, then I would have some excuse if I cannot handle them the next time! She even admitted that this is her worst Youth Theatre group so far.
Am looking forward to the next session.
posted by changzee at
6:24 PM
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