Over the summer, I spent a week workshopping a new musical called ‘Catastrophe Bay’ by Jim Barnes and Kit Buchan, with the National Youth Music Theatre. It was an entirely collaborative process between the performers but the directors as well. Our day started at 9 and ended at around 8:30pm, with short breaks every so often. It was a residential course, so we were living with each other for the whole week. Despite, the intense 12 hours of working, it was a truly valuable experience, as I got to work alongside likeminded people doing something that I am passionate about. Initially, I felt very inferior to the other cast members, but by the end of the week, I walked out with much more self-belief. The audition process was three rounds, a self-tape, the first in person audition and the recall. For the first in person recall, I had to prepare a song and a monologue. I chose, ‘He’s My Boy’ from Everybody’s talking about Jamie for my song and Helena’s monologue from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. When I arrived, we were split into three age groups and then the CEO explained the process and what the shows were about. We began with a dance audition, we were taught some choreography and then had to perform this in small groups, and then we looked at more expressionist dance and were instructed to devise our own pieces in pairs based on the atmosphere created by the music. Afterwards, we were sent into the acting audition, where we were put into groups and assigned a fairy tale, which we then had to try and perform within 60 seconds at first and then 30 seconds. We were then given a script and put into pairs and were asked to perform several minutes later. The final section was the singing audition, where we performed our chosen songs to the other auditionees. One week later, I was emailed informing me that I had been recalled for one of their shows. At the recall, we performed a new song, learnt new choreography, and were assigned the challenge of combining our monologues in groups of three. Then, two weeks later, I received an email saying that I had been chosen for the workshop of a new musical. It was such an enjoyable experience and I felt that it was a safe space to let go and try new things. The quality of performance that we produced within such a short period of time was incredible. I am currently waiting on the announcement of next year’s shows.
Izzie, Year 13
