With a full complement of students (we now have 41 registered), WYA kicked off the new half term with a bang!
It's always an exciting time as an actor and director when you have your first reading of a new script. I always think what it would have been like for actors in Shakespeare's day. They would receive their parts written out for them, potentially having no idea of the play, the other characters or what happens in Act 2! It was exhilarating new work to be played with and discussed, fought for and digested.
And so, our young actors were presented with the 'The Legacy of Fingerless Gloves' development script. The idea is that I give an outline with bits of dialogue and stage direction and then together as a group, we devise and develop what is on the page. I then take it away with copious amounts of notes and re-write the script. It's down to the actors to stake a claim with ideas and potential characters. These are the moments where Tanushka and I will listen to the read-throughs, place new ideas into the mix and respond to spoken passion with an open mind.
Well, you might think that with a group of kids that you'd get a couple that had potential or perhaps you'd tut at a few mis-placed references to 'X Factor' or 'Doctor Who'. Not with this bunch, however. Opinions flew around the room, words tumbled into newness and characters grew from the minds of children.
The real joy is that I now have some unique and original pieces of writing from the kids themselves to incorporate into the story.
And so here I am with four pages worth of ideas and a new script to write. All I can say is be careful what you ask for!
We have three performance dates scheduled for the rest of the academic term. Dates and times will be coming soon.
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