I'm going to caveat this by saying that my course is probably not reflective of an average BA. I'm doing a one year PgDip/Ma which is basically a 2 year MFA crammed into one year. I knew it was going to be intense when I signed up but I admit freely I underestimated just how intense it was going to be.
The teachers
Something to be aware of when you're looking at drama schools is that the calibre of teaching is going to be pretty standard across all the 'good' schools. Yes, some drama schools have a particular reputation - like RADA & Central are 'holy grail' schools to get into and yes, agents will like that. But they also produce cut and paste actors - they produce a standard consistent level of actor. Schools like mine focus on cultivating individuals rather a factory of clones. But my tutor also teaches at central and is a Shakespeare consultant for The Globe. A movement teacher I worked with at RADA will be working with me next term. The director I'm working with at the moment for a scene study set up and ran the MA acting course and directing courses at RADA and in her professional life has directed Sean Bean & Helena Bonham Carter. Just because you don't go to 'the best of the best' drama school doesn't mean you don't have access to exactly the same quality of teaching that they do. Going to RADA/Central does give you a leg up because of its reputation, but it doesn't guarantee that you will be the best actor because of it. That's on you.
I absolutely adore all my teachers and tutors. They are all complete characters and incredibly funny. I have a BA in Comparative literature -I've been through the academic system before (albeit 15 years ago) and it was very much students on one level and teachers on another. It could be be partially because I am in a similar age bracket to my teachers now, and partially because this is not an academic degree, but it feels very much as though we are equals. Don't get me wrong they don't mess around - you are expected to work your bollocks off and keep up, but they are incredibly friendly and approachable - even the ones who have a reputation for being incredibly fierce are actually lovely once you get a chance to work with them. Drama schools have a bit of a reputation for 'breaking you down to build you back up'. My school made a point from day one to say 'we do not believe in this - bullying people doesn't bring out their best work so we refuse to do that here'. Something else I love about them is that they never ask you to do anything they wouldn't do themselves. My movement teacher is 70 years old and does everything we do - he does it once to show us, and then does it along with us almost every time unless he's watching us to see if we can do it without him. My current director is 77 and leads us in a yoga warmup and a ski seat every morning - and she puts us all to shame by being able to hold the ski seat longer than any of us. They do have standards and expectations though, which, as an adult I was surprised that they felt they had to actually state because to me this is basic good manners and professionalism:
Turn up on time. By 'on time' it does not mean turn up the minute class starts - be there at least 10 minutes beforehand to make sure you are warmed up and ready to work.
If you are running late let the office, the teacher and your cohort know. When you show up, apologise for your lateness when there is an appropriate opportunity to. Don't sidle in and hope they won't notice. They will notice.
Hangovers and period cramps and food poisoning and even flu are not valid excuses for not turning up. Drama school is not like academia. Unless you're dying do not take time off. Not only will you get a 10 min lecture from your teacher about how they've only taken 4 days sick leave in their 180 years of being in the industry, but also you will have missed so much in class that it will be hard to catch up as nothing is repeated and if it's a technique you physically need to understand you won't have had the benefit of the teachers supervision to ensure you do it correctly and don't damage yourself. They really don't give a shit if you have a migraine, if you're throwing up or have a fever or (like me) have heart problems. Drag yourself out of bed and turn up even if you feel like death, and TRY. They aren't totally heartless and will go easy on you when they see you're unwell. They may even send you home. But the fact you turned up and you tried earns you brownie points and respect with them. Calling in sick gives you a black mark instead.
Do the work, do the homework. Do not give excuses.
ALWAYS TRY. Even if you're not comfortable or convinced about something at least TRY. If something is really not working for you, offer an alternative don't just be the dick that says 'no'. Be open and be respectful of your fellow students, take notes, follow direction, do what you're told but also engage and question if it is pertinent.
NEVER give notes (as in corrections) to classmates. This is the director/teacher's job, not yours.
Always greet your teacher/director & pay attention: don't chat, make eye contact, show that you're listening, be engaged and NEVER yawn in the presence of a director.
Cultivate your reputation now. Word gets around in this business and the impression you make now as a student working with external directors matters. Don't fuck up your career before you even start it by being lazy, unprepared, late, inattentive or difficult.
Give up your life
I've spent the last decade and a half of my life as a graphic designer barely using my brain, only memorising 6 digit hex codes for short term, and spending most of my time sat on my arse. Then during the pandemic I had 3 years of very little movement with the various lockdowns plus a year in bed when I had my health problems (which still affect me so that's another thing I have to work around). Drama school is not like an academic degree where you have 12 hours of tuition a week. I am up at 6:30 & out of the house by 7:15, in school by 9:15 for a warm up, a couple of 10 min breaks and technically an hour for lunch (but it's usually 15 mins because we get meetings for things like headshots) and technically we finish by 5:30 but we sometimes get stuff after school too like industry talks, plays to go and see, headshots to shoot etc so I usually get home between 7:30 & 9 but sometimes I get in at 1am. I don't know if this is the case for other drama schools but for this particular course I barely have time to shower during the week. I'm glad my partner and I broke up just before I started because there is no way on earth I would have time for a relationship during this.
I am exhausted. I am fully, and totally on my knees. I know I'm still finding my feet here but you need stamina for this. It is a LOT. I also have a 2 hour commute each way and I am claustrophobic so I start and end my day in hell (aka on a packed commuter tube) and that alone takes it out of me. I used to be a night owl. Now I'm desperate for sleep by 9pm and still have to keep myself awake in order to get some of my homework done before bed at 10. I have so many lines to remember - SO MANY LINES - and the only time I get to learn them is on my commute in. We get a play to read and about 5 sides of lines to learn in 2 days because they like us to be off book before we start rehearsing. I'm still trying to figure this out and find a technique for line learning that works for me. I thought I had a pretty good memory but apparently not.
Be fit
I tried to improve my fitness a few months before I started by getting myself out for more walks and thought I was doing well if I clocked up 8k steps a few days a week. IT IS NOT ENOUGH. Now, I average 12k steps a day, 8k on days where I think I spend most of it sitting down, 18k+ steps if I have movement / laban. When I started, my RHR was 61 and it's now gone up to 73 because my body is 'overtraining' (I had to look it up) so I'm trying to find ways to calm and soothe my body and give it the rest it needs. Unfortunately to help my body rest and repair by sparing it the mile up hill speed walk to the station carrying a heavy pack in the morning, I actually have to give it less rest by getting up earlier to take the bus.
Drama school is incredibly physical. You have two warmups a day if you're smart - always start the day with a warmup and I usually do a little one after lunch too - then depending on what classes you are you'll be moving around a lot too:
Movement is obvious - you warm up before that for 15 mins, then spend 3 hours sweating in places you didn't know could sweat. In my first week I learned 5 new dances.
Voice & singing classes is a lot of shaking yourself around, being shaken around by others and flailing your arms around in the air to get rid of tension. A LOT of breathwork - it's very normal to get light-headed during class and needing to sit down for a minute.
LABAN is a lot of rolling around on the floor and a lot of going from standing up to lying down in a split second and flinging yourself around
Character is a lot of walking around in a circle figuring out where your weight is going to be, or being on the floor being an animal version of your character
Acting & Improv are a lot of games like monster tag, a lot of walking around the room, a lot of running around the room, a lot of physicalising lines
Approaches to text is a rare one where you sit down for most of it. We all struggle to stay awake for this class - not because it's boring but because we're all so tired that being allowed to sit down makes our bodies beg us for sleep.
I've not had screen or audio yet, but I start those next week.
Do I still like it?
GOD YES!!! I'm loving it. I'm just utterly exhausted and wish I lived closer. I feel like I've grown a lot as a person and as an actor already. Every day I'm facing some kind of fear, I've grown incredibly more self aware than I was before and I thought I was pretty self aware beforehand. The thing that scares me the most now is line learning. It is not my strength YET. I really need to find a technique that really works for me - but I try to not be too hard on myself about it because I am only in my first month at school - my brain is having to build the neural networks to support the things I'm making it do now and that takes time. I've already memorised 10 A4 pages of dialogue, one monologue, 6 dances, one poem and 5 songs. Before school the most I had to memorise was 150 lines for a play and 3 months in which to do so. You can't go from zero to hero in a month without literal growing pains. I keep having to remind myself that. Also almost all the people in my class are a good 15 years younger than me and more than half have just come out of a BA at drama school where they are used to doing stuff like this. So really, the fact I'm still afloat at all and almost able to keep up with them is pretty damn good.
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