Back from LONDON L

The ISTA TAPS trip was from the 7^th to the 11^th of October and it was AMAZING! The most interesting and fun-filled trip I’ve ever been on, I learnt so much about theatre that I didn’t know and I met people who had the same interests as me from all around the world, and to see there different views on things was interesting and it gave you more to think about different aspects of theatre and different ways theatre students analysis a play or performance.

Sunday 7^th:

Was the day we flew to LONDON! That night we went to see a dance musical called ‘Some Like it Hip-Hop’ by Zoonation. Which was set in the 60’s and was about women not being able to get jobs as easily as men get them. I really enjoyed this play because I really like dancing and singing and it was a play that I would want to go see again. The dance and singing skills was amazing and I really got intrigued by it. This play was mostly dialogue from the narrator and a few other characters whenever there were freeze frames during the play. At the end of this performance the actors got the audience up on their feet singing and dancing which was very enjoyable and everyone joined in. What I also liked from this performance was when the actors bowed they got to do their own dance putting their own stamp on their character and I really appreciated this in the performance.

I was in such a good and inspired mood after this performance which then got ruined when we got ripped off in a local Indian restaurant.

Monday 8^th:

Was the first day of TAPS, I didn’t know what to expect and I was a bit anxious about being in such a big ensemble. After 5 minutes after we started I felt fine and comfortable with everyone I was with. Our two ensemble leaders were Sherri and Anthony and they were so confortable to work with. They always went from one activity to another which kept us going and we never got bored because we were always on our feet doing something interesting to do with theatre.

Our first morning we did warm ups:

-          Banana Song – to get us started

-          Positive Yes exercise- to get the energy levels in the room high

-          Eye contact game –mingling with people in the group and get to know people better.

-          Bear and Lumberjacks game – which helped with the concentration of the people playing the game and showed that with even any type of distraction an actor has to be able concentrate to be able to focus and perform. A BOAL activity.

-          Pair activity – thinking about what type of performer we were – interesting to see what other people thought about what type of performer they were.

The afternoon

-          Playback Theatre – Observation someone during the lunch then re-enacting it out.

-          Lineals – shows emotions and what a person is really feeling and can have an effect on the audience.

We then had a master class on music and we were shown different rhythms and we had to create some ourselves and gave us activities with singing and beats.

That night we saw ‘Oh, the Humanity’ which was a very thought provoking play and showed different perceptions on how people felt. Even thought it was a go performance and the acting of one women especially was amazing, I saw that she really got into the characters she was playing and her emotions she portrayed stood out. I didn’t know what to expect of this play and when I heard what other people’s views they had on them were very interesting and varied to mine.

Tuesday 9^th:

We mostly continued doing warm up activities and different types of games to do around theatre. We talked a bit more about lineals and went through emotions of lineals. We then talked about immersive theatre and discussed a few aspects before our master class we were going to have in the afternoon. And we also had  a mini talk about comedy with Sherri who is specialised in that because she is a stand-up comedian.

The master class we had in the afternoon was very interesting and interactive, before we went on this trip I had to do a research on it and I got really interested and thought it would be really good to go see one, so doing a master class on it was really enjoyable.

That night we went to see ‘One Man, Two Guvnors’ which was one of the best performances I’ve seen. It was so enjoyable and there wasn’t a dull moment in it. It was a play about a man that manages to get two jobs and have two guvnors bossing him around. We could really see the comedy throughout the whole play and the audience were always laughing and enjoying themselves. The music played brought a joyful feel to the whole theatre and put everyone in an even better mood. The only thing I was disappointed with was when I found out that some of the audience that were picked were in fact real actors. It kind of got rid of the whole comedy of the play and the real audience getting involved. And I think it would have been funnier if they were just audience picked at random.

Wednesday 10^th:

The whole ensemble had an overview chat about the play we saw the previous night and everyone thought it was hilarious and entertaining and really enjoyed it as much as I did. We then had a serious talk about the Research Paper and the P.P.P we will have to do in our second year of theatre. I think this talk was very helpful because I got a clearer idea and help from what I was told about what im going to have to do in my second year.

That night we went to see Damned by Despair, which I think if I was more awake and more into the type of theatre that was portrayed I would have found it much more interesting. Even though I didn’t particularly enjoy it I thought the sound and projections used throughout the play were interesting and created a dark and intense atmosphere.

Thursday 11^th:

Bye Bye London, Thursday was the day we had to go L we were all really sad about leaving and we wished we could have stayed for another week if we could. We all learnt lots of new things and we were able to share what we learnt and look back on what an amazing and unforgettable week we all had.