Hi I’m Helena, I’ve never written a blog post before so this
may be choppy but I’ll give it a good go. The Hepworth Job was a weeklong
project where basically we were given a script written by Sarah and we had to
get together and make a show in a week. Within this week, I met loads of new
people, created many friendships and remembered the reason I fell in love with
this community at eleven years old... Soppy I know but incredibly true.
The one thing that I noticed throughout the past week is the
just how powerful theatre is. When you’re in a show and you spend a couple of
months having to cast, block, run and perfect it, I think the gravity of what
you’re actually creating is sometimes forgotten. Being forced to do this all in
a week and trying to still come out with a performance just as high a standard
as one in rehearsal for months, really made me realise that theatre is powerful
stuff not only for the audience, but for us as an ensemble. When you’re on a
mega time limit, you really have to work together and not dilly dally around.
There’s no ‘We’ll look at that next week’, every problem, every moment has to
be explored within that week otherwise, the show will never really take off. This
is crazy exhausting but also really cool because you realise just how much
effort goes into a show from both the actors, and the director. I also really enjoyed the character
work and how condensed that became because of the time limit I was on. I played
the character Stella and she was a funny one. She was snarky, sharp and artsy
but I could also sense some insecurity in her. She was unlike anyone I had
played before. At the beginning of the week, to put it slightly bluntly, I was
not the biggest fan of Stella. I left the first rehearsal wondering what I had
gotten myself into. However as the week progressed, I discovered new dimensions
to the character and found that myself and her had many connections. To truly know how to play this
character I had to dissect and uncover who she was before the night at The
Hepworth. I saw her likes and dislikes, I created a past, a backstory, that
nobody but myself knew, but by creating it, I was able to create a connection,
a sense of empathy between myself and her that (hopefully) was evident in what
the audience saw. I’m telling you this because I did this in a week, and I’ve
sometimes played a character for months and simply not delved into this much
detail. It was so empowering and really cool. It also reminded me why I love
acting so much. I love connecting with characters and becoming someone who is
the polar opposite of me and yet still finding similarities to myself in them.
It’s powerful because you’re discarding your identity but by doing that, you
find out things about yourself you never knew. Deep stuff. I also don’t know if
it makes any sense but oh well!
Highlights of the show for had to be Marnie and Bea (Ellen
and Abbie) . Their energy was absolutely contagious and so so funny. Without
them the show simply wouldn’t have been the same. I also hold a soft spot for
Gustav despite being a lunatic. Hats off to Tommy for absolutely nailing the
role of a crazed super villain, you were brill!
If you were thinking about doing this summer project next
year, I would really recommend it. You meet so many good people and it’s both
intense but extremely friendly. Like you’re working so hard, but with people
you love so it doesn’t feel like hard work (all the time). I’d like to thank
Sarah for being an amazing writer and director and all the other cast, who
worked so hard to create such an amazing show! Also thank you to the audience
who came and watched! I’m going to stop now because this is beginning to sound
like an Oscar speech and it really isn’t one.
Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Helena x
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