First Impressions

Had our induction and first class at RADA yesterday. The first bit was administrative; selecting our play for Scene study groups, learning the building rules, meeting the administrator and our professors, and learning how not to get in trouble with The Academy.

Next up was a tour and workshop on the RADA library, to help us orient ourselves and know where to locate things. Upon completing my assignment (to locate visual images of clothing for the various classes in Measure for Measure) I had some time to look about. There was a small section of the Anthologies dedicated to Canadian plays, so I went to have a look. It contained the obligatory CanDram text Modern Canadian Plays, with Zastrozzi and a couple others. And I was excited to see the collection of essays Contemporary Issues in Canadian Theatre, edited by none other than Per Brask! It was very exciting to see a name from home in this prolific library.

From here, we dove right into classes. The full MA group was divided into two at RADA with half exploring Measure for Measure, and half exploring The Duchess of Malfi. I was assigned to Malfi, with Tom Hunsinger as our instructor. I was very excited for this; we began in a circle going around the room talking a little bit about how we came to RADA and what we were expecting from this course. It was amazing to see the varied experiences of everyone on the course. Following this, Tom allowed us to have a Q&A session, which varied on everything from questions about his course, what kind of work previous students had done, to Tom's writing process and his work as a director.

We then dove right in; divided Act 1 of Duchess into 3 sections, set up groups, and started working. Our assignment is to stage our section, which we'll share with the class next Tuesday, and then discuss the play, meaning, themes, and also our choices in staging. I volunteered as director for my group....so head-first!

The day ended with a brief tour of the RADA buildings, showing us where various rehearsal rooms were and the theatres...and also the bar. As we walked through the halls it was everything I could do not to squeal when I walked by photos or names of people I look up to. I fully intend to wander casually through on my own and take some photos like a little fan-girl.

Tonight is induction at Birkbeck where we'll learn the details of our responsibilities for that half of the course.