Spotlight on Placement student Aglaia
Hi there! I’m Aglaia, and let me tell you my short (so far!) story.
Imagine: you’re an international student in your second year of Arts Management at Goldsmiths University of London, and you’re going to have your first placement experience ever! You’re scared of new people, new work, constant English language and of yourself being unprofessional. I didn’t need to imagine it – it was my life 3 weeks ago. However, looking back at all these fears, I understand they were so unreasonable.
As a 2nd year student, my placement was only for 30 hours. “It’s nothing” – you would say, but I will argue this. It was definitely something! For these 30 hours, I had an opportunity to join 3 different groups: Broken Silence, DDM and Blue Sky Actors. The groups are so diverse and unique, but there is one matter that unites all of them – incredible people. People, who create an artistic environment in which you can be your true self or someone else, doing something you always wanted to or never had an idea of doing. People, who create a space where the art is evolving.
[I admired] Broken Silence for their acting and music skills. I didn’t expect to witness full-fledged rehearsals with almost memorised text in the second session, and, honestly, the way all members of the group were enjoying singing, was the best. After Broken Silence sessions, we were heading to the DDM group. The contrast between these two groups was very pleasant. DDM was constantly giving me the opportunity to feel energetic, playful and physically strong (as we were moving a lot). We were acting, playing, discovering and, of course, laughing all the time. Feeling attached to these people is what I would like to keep for a longer time. The last group I was lucky to be a part of for my placement surprised me with the level of interest and involvement in everything they were doing. Such a close-knit community of Blue Sky Actors fully lives up to its name – they are professional actors! In each session, participants came up with unexpected ideas for etudes or mise-en-scénes which they played exceptionally plausibly.
Aglaia kneels next to a seated member of the Blue Sky Actors. They are both pretending to drink tea from a mimed cup and saucer.
The level of learning and training from groups was very high. Apart from facilitator practice, now I have knowledge of the inner management and financial sides of theatre organisations. Thanks to Ray’s little lectures about running a theatre, now I can proudly say that I’m ready to try working in similar organisations!
Nevertheless, I can’t underestimate the overall influence of Face Front’s staff on every day. The way they lead groups, write scripts and songs, prepare activities, talk to participants and enjoy the time all together is extremely pleasant to notice. Every time I opened the office door I heard cheerful and welcoming greetings (even at 10am on a cold Monday day!). Ray, Sarah-Jane, Greg, Chi-Lin, Grace, Molly and Penny, you all are amazingly impressive people! Thank you for welcoming and supporting me every day. I’m proud that my first experience was with this community, with this theatre.
So, as an international student in 2nd year of Arts Management at Goldsmiths University who had her first placement at Face Front, I can only encourage people to join the community and create art, overcome troubles and enjoy time with them. Thank you Face Front, I will see you soon!
