Re-inventing the show
November 29, 2012
As well as being the perfect way to shake off those post-US blues, the week we've just spent in the beautiful city of York seems to me to sum up everything that defines the spirit of YPS.
This week, we've performed in three of the most diverse spaces that we've encountered so far – a school hall, an ornate and resplendent Victorian ballroom, and the main house of a Matcham theatre.
Each space has lent something of itself to the character of the performances hosted there, and this is one of the really exciting aspects of the production for us as actors; every time we come to a new space, we have to reinvent the show. Only in a small, subtle way (don't worry, Tim!), but reinvent it, nonetheless.
In addition to finding an Edmund to fit each of our spaces, I've spent a lot of time this week preparing to deliver the new workshop that I've devised under the guidance of Jamie Luck and Rebecca Gould.
The purpose of the session was to explore the various methods and, dare I say it, tricks that Edmund uses to get what he wants. It was a daunting experience for me in many ways, but I was really excited by how the students engaged with the ideas.
For me, this is another brilliant aspect of the YPS project – it has helped me to develop a new skill and gain confidence in an area in which I've had little experience in the past. If the young people we've been performing to have learnt half as much as I have, then we can't have done badly.
Photos: York Minster. Below is the entrance to the Quire with kings from Richard II to Henry VI left to right, all subjects of Shakespeare's plays.
by Ben Deery
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