Week 2 is almost over, and highlights have included a visit to see English Touring Theatre’s production of The Weir, Conor McPherson’s award winning play. Prior to seeing the play, on the Everyman’s main stage we were lucky enough to have a workshop with Katie-Ann McDonough, the production’s Associate Director, who ran an energetic and fun workshop focusing on story-telling.

During the workshop, which took place in the beautiful Director’s Lounge, the Stagedoor students took part in a variety of activities, which got them thinking about the words they choose when telling a story, as well as on the structure of stories, and the impact on an audience of the story teller’s expression, tone, pace and posture. We also had fun hiding in corridors and playing mass keepy-uppy with a beach ball, before learning about the journey Katie-Ann took to her current job.

As well as learning about and watching The Weir, we have started preparing for our Variety Show, which will be the first proper assessed performance of the course, and will take place in the Everyman Studio on 9th November. So far, the students have been researching the early days of Variety, looking at Victorian Music Hall, and finding out about famous names such as Marie Lloyd and Lily Langtry as well as some more interesting acts like the Giraffe Girl and the Equestrian Dwarf (who performed impressions of famous Victorians whilst riding his horse) We may have to draw the line at equestrian pursuits in our own show, but we do aim to honour the spirit of the great variety shows of the early 20th Century.