A Teacher Who Acts...

As most of you know (or could garner from my Facebook status updates) I was recently involved in a production at the South London Theatre here in England. The play was called “The Dog in the Manger” and was written by a playwright known as Lope De Vega who lived in Spain in the 17^th century. The play itself is extremely Shakespearian in terms of plot development and characters because De Vega was actually a contemporary of the Bard back in the day. It’s one of those “boy loves girl, girl loves boy, other girl falls in love with boy but can’t be with him because he’s of lower class but leads him on, boy dumps first girl for new girl then gets rejects, boy goes back to first girl and gets rejected, second girl wants boy again, boy gets shut down again, boy becomes a nobleman and gets second girl”…very classic. Either way it was an extremely fun production to be a part of and I am really glad I ended up auditioning for it.

This original audition happened way back in January of this year and I had planned on auditioning for different roles other than the one I was cast in. I really wanted to try and break into different, more comedic roles while over here but my strengths ultimately prevailed and I was cast as the male romantic lead. I know what you’re probably thinking “What the hell’s he complaining about? He got cast as the lead!” I get that…but I rarely ever play comedic roles when I’m in performances and I was hoping to get the opportunity here. However, it was not to be and I accepted the role of ‘Teodoro’ the witty, slightly dumb, and arrogant secretary. 

Rehearsals didn’t begin for some time after the auditions were completed but I had a lot of time to print off and start going over my script in order to prepare for when they did. The first thing that struck was the sheer amount of lines that I needed to memorize for the performance. Seeing as this was a Shakespearian play there were a LOT of soliloquies (more than was really necessary I think) and I spent a lot of time on stage by myself contemplating. Apparently that was sort of Teodoro’s thing and so I worked on memorizing those speeches first. The rest of the dialogue came through more in the rehearsal process. As an actor I prefer to work on memorizing lines by coordinating them with blocking and scene motivation. This way I’m not blankly learning lines without any sort of response back at me or movement. It becomes a real conversation where I simply know how to react or respond when another character says a specific line or makes a particular movement. It’s a bit complicated to explain but it works for me and I suppose that’s what matters.

The rehearsals themselves were a ton of fun and I couldn’t be happier with the group of people that the directors Mark and Charlotte had put together. Everyone took their role and commitment very seriously (which can be tricky to get from people in an amateur production) but not too seriously that we couldn’t have a fun time. There were lots of comings and goings because only those who were called for specific scenes were there but I had the chance to get to know everybody at some level, which is great to sink my teeth into this theatre and for forthcoming productions. I almost always acted alongside two people: Michael, who played my servant/lackey Tristan, and Victoria, who played my romantic opposite Diana. Both of these actors had a tremendous amount of experience and training and drama and it was a growing experience learning from their own techniques and preparation methods. We also spent a lot of time with Mark and Charlotte in character development. Not only who we were as people in this world, but what our relationships were with each other. As a result of this extensive time and emphasis on characters and relationships I feel like we produced a very realistic world and everyone truly embodied their characters on stage.

Once the dress rehearsals and performances began it brought everyone involved in the show back together and it was a wonderful experience. We all spent one evening at Charlotte’s house for a big dinner before the show began and shared many laughs. That night strengthened the bonds that had begun from the start of the rehearsal process. The performances themselves went very well and I was pleased. There were some slip-ups here and there (as to be expected) but we recovered very well and almost nobody in the audience even knew something went wrong, which is always the mark of a successful recovery. The run was only five shows and before we knew it, it was all over. From the feedback I received and heard everyone who came to see it seemed to enjoy it very much. Most of the criticism was about the text being too long and nobody really nit-picked the acting which was nice. I can’t thank my friends enough for coming to see the show and supporting me (some from very long distances). It was great to have familiar faces in the crowd and be able to talk to them about it after over a pint.

Once the show was over it was time to put everything away and celebrate! The cast party afterwards was a ton of fun and a little tearful as some gifts were given out to the production team and the unsung heroes in the world of theatre. When all was said and done it was to bed with me (at approx. 5am) and The Dog in the Manger was over. A wonderful experience and a great one to start my time at the South London Theatre with.

But just because that show’s over doesn’t mean that I’m finished! My next production begins this Sunday with a read through and rehearsals begin the following night. I am in a production of Present Laughter by Noel Coward. A much more updated piece (1940s…but more recent than the 17^th century) and it’s written in a completely different style. I play a much more minor role in this show (which is welcome given the amount of rehearsal I had for the first show) but I can really stretch my acting muscles out. I play the character of Roland Maule who is a young aspiring playwright who becomes obsessed (some would say stalker levels of obsession) with the main character Garry, who is a 40+ popular actor in London having a mid-life crisis. Although I don’t say much in this show a lot of what makes the character of Roland so funny is in body language and physical comedy. I am very happy to be playing an outrageously funny, comedic character and I really look forward to begin development on him. I’ll update more than this as rehearsals begin. Until then…

Cheers and Love

Erik

Royal Wedding Pics

This is just a quick entry for those of you whom I know but do not have Facebook to see the pictures I took from the Royal Wedding last week. Enjoy!

Kate driving by on her way to Westminster Abbey.

William and Kate in the procession after the ceremony.

Followed by Prince Harry with Pageboys and Bridesmaids.

The carriage behind that held The Queen and Prince Philip.

A handful of the many Household Guards on duty that day.

The immediate families on the Palace balcony.

Will and Kate giving the crowd what they wanted.

Fly-over of two Typhoon and two Tornado Fighter Jets.

Final fly-over of World War II era fighters: one Spitfire, one Hurricane, and a Lancaster Bomber.

Two Down, One To Go...

Well, seeing as I am about to begin my last term in the first year of teaching here in England; I figured now would be as good a time as ever to reflect on the term gone by (seeing as how I didn’t really update you guys that much over it). It was a very good term overall although there were difficulties here and there (to be expected). I am still extremely happy to be at Cheam and to be a teacher there. The staff is absolutely amazing and I have fit in and been included very easily by the other teachers. The students are great (for the most part) and are a true pleasure to teach. Although I am not a Drama teacher in the school I am trying my best to enjoy every lesson that I teach and approach it from an interesting and engaging way in order to keep the student’s attentions and make it fun for them. Religious Studies is not exactly the most popular subject at this school and many of the Year 7’s and 8’s do not understand why they have to take the course (especially if they are not particularly religious). This is where a lot of the problems stem from because the students are more inclined to misbehave or be distracted if they have a lack of interest in the subject. I try my best to keep them engaged but it’s a two way street in the classroom and I can only do so much while expecting participation, proper behaviour, and positive working habits from them to create a successful classroom environment (of course I have a large part to play in encouraging this positive demeanor). Although a large part of me wishes I was teaching Drama right now I am content with where I am and I am much better off in terms of sanity from the supply teaching I was doing previously.

In the classroom I can say that it has been successful for me. I have found out last week that the teacher I am covering will most likely not be returning this school year. She has already been out of the school since November of last year and to try and return to her classes this term would almost seem counter-productive given how much work they’ve covered this year and how much she’s missed. It would be easier for her to just return in September with a fresh start, which means that I will most likely be staying at her post until the end of this school year (although it has not been made official just yet). This amount of consistency in the classroom has reflected positively on the students and most of them have reacted very well to my continued presence (not all of them but hey, you can’t win them all). A lot of kids ask me when/if their teacher will be returning this year and every time I answer that she will mostly likely not they respond by saying that they’re glad I’m going to be sticking around for the rest of the year, which is always a very positive boost to the ego. I still mainly teach Key Stage 3 which means Years 7 and 8. This is equivalent to our Grades 6 and 7 so the students are between 11 and 13 years old. I continue to forget this whenever I am in the classroom. I suppose a part of me enjoys teaching older students more ergo I begin to expect too much from the younger students. This applies the most to the Year 7 classes I teach. These students are very young and have a very Primary School mentality and behave as such. This is understandable and I sometimes forget that. This actually works out great in the classroom because it allows me to have a lot more fun with the students and they laugh a lot more at my corny jokes. Once the students hit Year 8 they immediately start to become “too cool” for a lot of activities in the classroom and it becomes harder to figure out ways to engage them in the lessons. I’m determined this term to have a lot more fun with the students (like I did early on in the time at Cheam) to end the year on a high note and steer away from the disruptive nature of some of the classes. It’s very strange but the amount of strictness I employ in the classroom is very inversely proportional to the misbehavior of the students. They need to be given a certain amount of freedom (within limits) or they will explode with the pent up energy they have. This combined with the nice weather outside it’s difficult to get them to stay in their seats and so I want to try and have a lot more fun with them this go around.

In terms of my social life at Cheam things could not be better. I am still becoming closer and closer with the other teachers in the Drama department as well as more teachers in other departments (mainly Humanities which is what Religious Studies falls under). I still go to the Drama office every morning and lunchtime and spend break chatting with them as well. We’ve become very close and a couple of them even attended my recent performance at the South London Theatre. It’s nice to have become such great friends but it makes leaving Cheam at the end of the year very difficult for me. I know that I will still remain friends with them after this school year and Alexis (the Head of Drama) even proposed meeting regularly every month or so to catch up. In the Humanities department I’ve developed two “bro” friendships with a couple of the male teachers. One of them organizes our football every week and so we have much to talk about. The other actually grew up in California and is a huge baseball and American football fan so we chat about those sports every morning. It’s really cool having somebody at the school to discuss these things with and almost makes me feel like I am teaching in a school back home.

I am still playing football with a bunch of the other male students every Friday and we’ve played a couple of competitive matches against another school as well as the Year 11’s at Cheam. We drew the first and won the latter match. I’m definitely becoming much better at the sport, which I think stems from playing amongst guys who are very good, and I can’t wait to continue my tutelage in its ways. I think I have found my natural position in defense which was reflected very well in my play against the other school. I also played a half as Keeper against the Year 11’s and made some really good stops against them, enough that the other teachers were really impressed by them. We have a bunch more matches to come within the next month against the two Sixth Form years, the Tennis Scholarship program students, and potentially two other schools in the area. It’s a nice fitness boost to be playing every week and I really look forward to it, especially with the wonderful weather we’ve been having of late.

Looking ahead I’m starting to think of where I could be in September of this year. I want nothing more than a full time job teaching Drama at a school close enough to where I live now that I don’t have to move. This is asking a lot but my time teaching other subjects through cover positions compared to the three weeks I spent as a Drama teacher at Cheam have only reaffirmed my thoughts that I am a Drama teacher above all else. This is the subject I have a passion for, the one I am continuing to participate in myself, and the one I want to teach as a career. I’ve applied to a few jobs so far but none of them have gone passed the application phase. I’ve gotten letters back thanking me for applying but they’ve “received an overwhelming amount of qualified applications and unfortunately could not offer me an interview at this time”. Which is fine, I just need to continue to persevere in this aspect and hope that my hard work will pay off. I take the rejected applications as constructively as a I can and see where I could tweak my future applications to hopefully bring some success. Plus rejection just gives me a drive to continue to search and work harder…whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger right?

Until I find something new I continue to do the best job that I can at Cheam and the situation I currently have. The guarantee of work every Monday-Friday is a comforting notion and the consistent flow of income keeps me from being worried too much. I’ll continue to update everyone on how school is and whether my job search will eventually be fruitful. Until then…

Cheers and Love

Erik