MA Performing Arts celebrates first final show, ‘Coalescence’
Last week our postgraduate students on the MA Performing Arts course united for a spectacular day of performances at our Rayleigh site in Essex.
The show was a mix of short films presented in immersive settings and live performances in the campus theatre space. Guests were guided from space to space and given the chance to experience each project in its own context, with each space being dressed with props, sets and decoration used in that project.
Projects ranged from hip hop inspired dance scenes that followed the story of a teen falsely accused of knife crime, to a study on how the presence (or lack of) of a live audience affects sitcom actors, to an original musical about the Suffragette movement, to the idea of community and sense of self in dance. While each project was led by a specific student, many of them featured multiple MA students in the cast and crew as a true collaborative effort.
Maisie Brennan, whose project The Death of the Ingénue and the birth of the Matriarchy included a ‘male gaze-free’ staging of Cell Block Tango from Chicago, explained her project:
“The project aims to display female characters through a feminist lens, reconstructing the idea of the ‘Male Gaze’. I was inspired by the academic works of Grace Barnes and Stacey Wolf in their feminist literature and acknowledgment of women in musical theatre. The led me to the research enquiry “Constructing a formulaic and practical approach for female actors to take control of their character, and how they are portrayed, by communicating effectively with the creative team in the rehearsal room – ultimately striving to diminish the over-sexualisation of women in musical theatre.’”
Anna’s project explored physical comedy though the medium of silent film, in the style of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Anna, an actor originally from Ukraine, explained how she came to this idea:
“I’m used to the Stanislavsky system, which focuses on stage speech, and my voice. Here in England, I realised that speech would no longer be my main strength, so I decided to explore being understood without words. This inspired me to create my performance focusing on physical comedy, because comedy for me is the most challenging genre and I like to go outside my comfort zone. For my final project, I explored how actors can develop their physical comedy skills through training and study of silent films.”
Paul Saunders, Course Leader for MA Performing Arts congratulated his students on the culmination of the course and their hard work:
We’re incredibly proud of our first cohort of MA Performing Arts students for their remarkable immersive theatre production, which showcased their unique creativity, dedication, and distinctive projects, pushing the boundaries of artistic expression as they embark on their professional journeys in the ever-changing world of performing arts.
Congratulations to the students from everyone at Performers College on a successful show.
To discover more about Performers College, including auditions and how to apply, contact us at [email protected] or book an Open Day on our Events page.
