Hello and welcome to Reigate College’s Performing Arts Department.
My name is Neil Hadley and I’m the Head of Department for Performing Arts. I’m also course leader for the BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma (the equivalent of three A Levels) and the BTEC Level 3 Diploma (the equivalent of two A Levels) in Performing Arts. Whichever course you’re doing, you’ll be spending a lot of time with us studying Acting, Musical Theatre and Movement, so I’m really looking forward to meeting you and personally welcoming you to our department in September.
Before then I’d like you to complete a series of tasks and activities over the coming months to get you ready for starting the Extended Diploma or Diploma course. These activities should all be completed independently from home, but because group work is so important in Performing Arts, we’ll take some time in September to come together and share what everyone’s learnt. Please also use this time to keep up with all the latest performances being released on-line.
The tasks will be released here, in three phases (see table below) and should be completed by Choices Day on 1 September 2021. Please throw yourself into them and above all enjoy them!
Please note, some Course Leaders (for example for Music) may release their tasks earlier, as they may form part of the College’s audition process. If this applies to you, you’ll be notified separately.
New Starters Course Tasks and Activities
| Release date | To be completed by | |
| Explore your Subject | 1 June | 1 July |
| Get Going | 1 July | 1 Aug |
| Aim High | 1 Aug | 1 Sep |
Explore your Subject
Welcome back to the Performing Arts Department!
Taking one of our Performing Arts courses here at Reigate College is a great way to start your journey towards your chosen career in performing arts. During your two years here, you’ll develop and improve your performance skills, as well as the skills and attributes needed to run a successful performing arts company.
For those who are thinking of a different career path, you’ll find that the confidence, creativity, team-working and presentation skills you’ll gain through studying Performing Arts will be hugely valuable whatever you do.
Get ready!
The world of Performing Arts is vast! The following are some activities you should be exploring now in preparation for studying any of our Performing Arts courses – in order to be successful, it’s important you stay up to date on how the industry is progressing, as well as having an understanding of its foundations.
Understanding live theatre today
To get an insight into theatre today, you should be reading newspaper articles and reviews as widely as possible. Of course, with all UK theatres currently closed due to the Coronavirus, you’ll need to go back in time a little to read reviews, but with a little research you will be able to find a huge number online.
When reading the newspapers and websites suggested below, you’ll find a lot of interesting material about how live theatre has had to adjust as a result of Coronavirus; as well as this, you should also look to consider other issues that are affecting the Performing Arts, such as funding and royalties, and also look at jobs offered, openings, closings and training.
Become a theatre critic
For this activity, we would like you to write two reviews.
One review should be of a live play that you’ve seen.
The second review should be of a play that you’ve been in (this could be a piece of assessed performance work, or piece that you have done for fun or professionally.)
Please produce each review in a report-style format using sub-headings that highlight:
- Acting skills
- Genre
- Set design
Experience live theatre for yourself
In order to understand live theatre, there’s nothing like watching it for yourself! Right now, there are so many live stage performances available to watch through YouTube and elsewhere, so watch them – and as many as you can!
As you watch more performances in a variety of genres (plays, musicals, classical productions etc.), you should begin to build up an understanding of contrast in live theatre.
Here are some websites to get you started:
National theatre live: http://ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.uk/
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=live+theatre+performance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8rvV1mXtOo&list=PLsa_IB3EW2g0W7u6Yx6hPefJyx9keQQ5M
Get Going
Developing repertoire
Reading a play/musical/libretto is an important part of the understanding and development of performance. The text indicates the movement of the actors, their tone, position etc. which all adds an extra level of detail. It may also include the lighting and setting of the furniture, as well as the sound effects required for the full assessment of the play.
Task 1: Read three plays, one of which must be a musical. If you’re not sure what to choose, read the following article, which lists 25 plays all actors should read (some of which are available online as free e-texts):
Here are some tips to make the most out of reading a play:
- Read with a pencil in your hand so you can make notes if necessary
- Visualise the characters
- Contemplate the setting
- Research the historical context
- Sit in the director’s chair (can you find an equivalent chair at home to sit in?)
It’s also really important to read the play aloud:
- Plays are written to be heard
- If you can, ask your family to read it with you – reading in a group is more fun!
- Listen for how characters use language that sets them uniquely apart
Plays we’ve explored on Performing Arts courses include:
- DNA by Dennis Kelly
- Blue Remembered Hills by Dennis Potter
- Spring Awakening by Steven Sater
- The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol
- The Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht
- Blood Brothers by Willy Russell
You may like to take a look at the Performing Arts galleries section of the Reigate College website to see photos from some of these performances:
https://www.reigate.ac.uk/news-media/photo-galleries/?gallery-type=98
Task 2: For each of your three texts, spend some time researching the context in which they were written and then have a go at annotating a section of each one.
As well as completing these tasks, don’t forget to keep making the most of the many opportunities to watch plays and musicals online for free.
Aim High
Learning a Monologue
Each year, our Performing Arts students put on an evening of solo performances in the College’s Dramatic Arts Studio Theatre. You can watch the highlights from this year’s performances at:
https://www.reigate.ac.uk/videos/headshotz-performing-arts-audition-pieces/
In preparation for the BTEC Level 3 Diploma and Extended Diploma in Performing Arts, you will need to learn and perform two/three monologues. This will improve your rehearsal, line knowledge and performance skills, which are all essential for the course.
TASK 1: Please learn the below monologue from Shakespeare’s As You Like It in preparation for a workshop lesson:
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part.
The following website will help you will the context and meaning:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_the_world%27s_a_stage
If it’s helpful, you may like to download and print the monologue here.
TASK 2: In order to help with your rehearsal and performance skills, please do some research and annotate the above monologue with notes on context, character, meaning and performance.
TASK 3: For your second piece, we’d like you to learn the following monologue from Rent, spoken by the character, Mark:
We begin on Christmas Eve with me, Mark, and my room mate, Roger. We live in an industrial loft on the corner of 11th street and Avenue B, the top floor of what was once a music publishing factory. Old rock ‘n’ roll posters hang on the walls. They have Roger’s picture advertising gigs at CBGB’s and the Pyramid Club. We have an illegal wood burning stove; its exhaust pipe crawls up to a skylight. All of our electrical appliances are plugged into one thick extension cord which snakes its way out a window. Outside, a small tent city has sprung up in the lot next to our building. Inside, we are freezing because we have no heat. From here in the loft we can see everything that goes on and I mean EVERTHING – the junkies, …the rich folk,…the tourists, …the city guys. We see and live through the hurt, the successes, the pain – it’s life and death here on the streets. But more than that – this is New York. New York baby – so good that they named it twice! (Sees someone) Take her for example, oh and her see – all of them, fresh faced and new to town, won’t last five minutes!
The following website will help you will the context and meaning:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent_(musical)
If it’s helpful, you may like to download and print the monologue here.
TASK 4 – ADDITIONAL TASK FOR EXTENDED DIPLOMA STUDENTS: If you’re taking the Triple Performing Arts (Extended Diploma) course (the equivalent of three A Levels), then as well as learning BOTH the above monologues, you ALSO need to learn a free choice of any song/dance from Musical Theatre. You must be able to provide a backing track when you perform this (YouTube/Mobile Device is fine).
Skills Audit
Having gone through and completed the tasks over the last few weeks, you will have gained a good grasp of some of the activities that are carried out within the study of Performing Arts. However, as a large part of the course will be practical, there is also a need to evaluate your own current level of skills in order for you to develop them.
The below table shows the level of skill you need to be able to demonstrate in order to do well on the course:
TASK 5 – ADDITIONAL TASK FOR EXTENDED DIPLOMA STUDENTS: If you’re taking the Extended Diploma course, we’d like you to copy out and complete the Personal Skills Audit below, filling in:
- comments on your current skills, including evidence/experience
- whether each skill is currently satisfactory (S), good (G) or excellent (E), and
- three ways you might develop in each area
Some suggestions have been given, which you may find helpful as a starting point.
If you’re taking the Diploma course, you may also like to do this but it is not expected.
Once you’ve completed the table, please answer the following questions:
- Why are time keeping, attendance, keeping to schedules, and learning lines quickly and efficiently integral to the rehearsal process?
- In your opinion, what does the term, ‘professional performer’ mean?
Evaluating Success
We’d now like you to think about a show you have seen, and evaluate whether it was successful – or not!
TASK 6: Identify a show you’ve seen, and answer the following questions:
- Was the opening scene/prologue successful? Why/why not?
- What about the beginning of Act 2? How was this different in comparison?
- In your opinion, what makes an opening scene successful?
All about Method?
For your next task we’d like you to go a bit deeper in understanding performance by doing some research into Method Acting.
TASK 7: Firstly, please watch the following YouTube clip:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP1XGOTUjiw
Now, think about some of the tips for and against Method Acting.
If you can get hold of them, the following two books are really useful reading in preparation for the course:
Performing Arts at Reigate College
Throughout the course, Performing Arts students at Reigate College have many exciting opportunities to take part in performances, workshops, masterclasses and trips.
If you’ve not already seen it, take a look at the Spring 2020 ‘Spotlight on Performing Arts’ to get a flavour of some of the things you might be involved with (NB The later events on the What’s On Guide were not able to go ahead due to the coronavirus).
We’re looking forward to welcoming you to another exciting year of Performing Arts at the College!
Head of Performing Arts
