Carol A. Russell:
All the World's A Stage...
So you’ve graduated! You’ve got your degree, you’ve said ‘goodbye’ to student life, you’re ready to step out onto the red carpet for your next stage of life. The world is your oyster and you are the creative force in the British Arts Scene that everyone has been waiting for…except no-one else seems to know that yet!
Leaving University in the current uncertain economic climate is the stuff of nightmares. All the expectation that you had when you entered the Hallowed Halls a mere few years ago seem to have melted away into a distant dream. You thought your degree would guarantee your future...but the reality is, it just doesn’t.
Take heart, dear friend, there is a way forward.
Whatever your first degree is, if you want to work in the Arts, experience is the thing to be trying to get next. Paid, or voluntary, you need to keep your eye fixed on the final goal- you are in this for the long game.
You may have also managed to get further formal training, but look to the wider world to build up your CV.
If you want to get involved in theatre-performance, technical, directing or writing, you may be able to get involved with a Youth Theatre near you. NAYT is a national organisation which may be able to get you connected. Not only do they have over a 1000 youth theatres registered nationally, but they also run training courses and an annual BIG Youth Theatre Festival- look at their website
National Association of Youth Theatres (NAYT)
National Association of Youth Theatres (NAYT) ... NAYT supports the development of youth theatre and young people’s involvement in theatre through a ...
www.nayt.org.uk
If you are looking to work with young people there are other performance based organisations to follow up:
1. Stagecoach
Stagecoach Theatre Arts plc.
weekend theatre schools,weekend theatre school,Drama courses,Performing Arts courses,Acting courses in london, UK, Stagecoach provides a safe and secure ...
www.stagecoach.co.uk/stagecoach
2. Theatre Train
Theatretrain - Home
Theatretrain provides Professional Training in the Performing Arts for young people aged 6 - 18.
www.theatretrain.co.uk.
If you want to be involved in performance with other people also searching for work, there is also the huge development in conglomerates. Not only are people getting together to perform at The Edinburgh Festival, but also take their show on the road in pub theatres and other small venues. With the internet as a tool- there are always people looking to find like-minded people.
Whatever you choose to do- don’t give up on the dream. As you know too well- a creative person needs to be creative…and now is certainly the time to use those creative tools and energies.
Good Luck in the next stage of your life- or to use theatre parlance….BREAK A LEG!!! !
About Carol A. Russell
Carol A. Russell was born and educated in Leeds.
In 1968 she left Leeds to go to Whitelands College, London, to study Drama and Education, graduating with B.Ed in 1972.
She taught in London and on The Isle of Sheppey, Kent, before moving to Sawbridgeworth in Hertfordshire in 1975. For the next 30 years, she taught in schools,colleges and community groups in both Essex and Hertfordshire. She choreographed and directed several community arts events and was the founder in 1987, of Youth CREATE, a Community Arts organisation, which she ran until her retirement in 2006.
She has written numerous lyrics, songs and plays with music. She has directed in excess of 30 performances.
She published her first book of poetry in 2008.
She is currently writing a series of children’s illustrated story books
She continues to live in Sawbridgeworth with her husband.
Other Articles:
An article on directing by Alex Clifton, director and teacher at RADA
An interview with theatre designer Paul Burgess
An interview with composer Matthew Lee Knowles