Holly Gallagher (w12017006)

Theatre and Performance Practice (PA0703)

Reflective Essay #3: Young Company

The longest lasting project, aside from Before (the line is lost) itself, that I completed
for my portfolio was my work as a director for Northern Stages Young Company for
National Theatre Connections 500 the National Theatres festival of Youth Theatre that
takes place yearly across the country. The role I was contracted in for was as a freelancer
Assistant Director, however I was ultimately credited as an Associate Director on the project
due to the level of input I had in the creation of the final piece of work with the company. The
piece I directed alongside Rebecca Frecknall, RYTDS Director at Northern Stage, was What
Are They Like? by Lucinda Coxon.
At the start of this project I was required to hold auditions to form the initial company this
gave me a great insight into the thought processes involved in forming a company, as well as
into securing a cast of people that would suit the kind of roles within the piece we were
allocated by the National Theatre (NT). It also allowed me to greatly develop my facilitation
skills as I was given the sole responsibility of running sessions and devising theatre with the
group on a regular basis when Frecknall was unavailable. NT Connections also gave me
experience in working with participants with special needs as one of our company members
had Autism meaning I was given an insight into how to best treat and care for a performer
with additional needs. I believe facilitation skills could be key to myself as a theatre maker
should I ever choose to run workshops for a piece like Before (the line is lost) to increase
audience engagement in the run up to the show.
In order to give myself a specific area of focus to develop myself in as a facilitator and
director during the course of the project, I had a short meeting with Frecknall at the beginning
of the process. We settled on my focus being on working on Voice and Character with the
company for this I would run weekly vocal warm-ups with the ensemble, as well as
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Theatre and Performance Practice (PA0703)

character development and text excavation exercises with the group during the initial stages
of rehearsals.
The techniques I used most frequently in rehearsals were warm-ups proposed by voice
practitioner Arthur Lessac who claimed that once you have learned use and skills regarding
vocal technique all an actor has to do to be successful in their performance is then extend
those skills into their talents; into artistry; and artistry, into virtuosity (Lessac, 1997, p.
201). This is best achieved by warming up vocally and physically through the exploration of
Drum Beat and (Voiced & Unvoiced) Sustainable Consonants, Structural and Tonal Vowels.
Lessac said that consonants carry a multiplicity of melody, syncopation, and rhythm while
the vowels function as a solo instrument, providing emphasis, inflection, and intonation
(Lessac, 1997, p. 68) all of which I believe heavily aid clarity and expression in a piece.
Additionally by working through Voiced (B, D, G) and Unvoiced (P, T, K) Consonants
diction and clarity can also be improved. Structural Vowels Oo, Oh, Aw, Ah, Ow, too, were
key within my young company warm up, particularly when I had the company speak them in
an exaggerated manner as they are ideal for widening the jaw and increasing its flexibility to
aid clarity, volume, and to provide an overall stronger vocal tone as the larger the sound box
the fuller, richer, and warmer are the tone and quality emanating from the instrument
(Lessac, 1997, p. 161). In theory, with the use of all of these techniques, clarity, diction, and
projection should all be improved within a performer as it warms up their vocal chords, facial
muscles, and connects them to their core. I have often found through work with young people
that these areas tend to be where performances fall short which is why it was so important to
run these warm ups on a weekly performance with the company: a performance can be
beautifully performed but the moment an audience cannot hear it properly, it falls short.
Therefore it was key I explored Lessacs techniques to improve these skills and to connect the
company to their breath and core.
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Theatre and Performance Practice (PA0703)

Alongside developing vocal technique with the company, I also built up character with them.
In the initial rehearsal process, as with the ARCade scratch night and 10 Mins to, I had the
company record facts about their characters and ask new questions from this as the image of a
character changes under your questioning gaze, transforms itself again and again until
gradually (or suddenly) you feel satisfied with it. which then allows actors to better connect
to their characters emotions, and allows the desire to act to emerge in a performer
(Chekhov, 2002, p.24). It is with this newfound creative state that a performer will begin
to act under its inspiration and become more open and expressive with their ideas all
seems entirely new and unexpected and allows the young performer to feel they can take
command over their part of the creative process (Chekhov, 2002, p.88).
Once the ensemble had developed a sense of character, and had therefore gained a greater
understanding of the text in doing so, their ideas for how to devise and create images from the
text grew and I found myself fielding an increasing number of ideas from all members of the
group on what could be done at different sections of the piece as the process went on, which
was a brilliant way of seeing how the companys understanding and confidence had grown in
practice. When the company were better connected to their characters and therefore told their
stories with a newfound sense of truth, they were truly tapping into the imagination and
allowing an audience to willingly believe that something is happening that isnt happening at
all and to exercise this is, of course, the essence of theatre (Alfreds, 2013, p.10).
Additionally this increase in understanding allowed for a greater focus on storytelling, and
delivering the text with clarity as we reached the final stages of rehearsals. As we moved
through the rehearsal process my notes to these young people altered drastically: no longer
was my aim to simply tease collaborative ideas from the group to devise around text, I was
now able to give specific notes on delivery, articulation, and character. I felt that by the end of
the process we were truly getting the most out of our participants and really pushing them as
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Theatre and Performance Practice (PA0703)

actors, as they were now at a stage in the rehearsal process that every performer (myself
included during Before (the line is lost) rehearsals) experiences with precise, detailed notes
becoming the norm.
Overall Young Company was a brilliant project to be a part of: it allowed me to develop
facilitation skills which I can most certainly utilise with Before (the line is lost) should I
develop any audience engagement workshops surrounding it in the future, and it equipped me
with a greater understanding of how to create work with young people that pushes them to
achieve their very best. It was also a great networking opportunity as it developed a working
relationship between myself and Frecknall which led to me working as an Assistant Director
on her production of Julie, and led me to meet festival director Louie Ingham who felt we had
created a a magnetic, beautiful and sophisticated piece of work (2016) with our company.
Lastly, it reminded me of the importance of a vocal warmup and how crucial it really is to a
performance in order to fully connect you to your core and allow for better projection and a
much wider vocal range. Thanks to Young Company I had an effective vocal warmup that I
used diligently in the rehearsal room during the final stages of Before (the line is lost)
rehearsals: the difference it made to the quality of my voice both during and after each hour
long run was remarkable and is something I will carry over into all future rehearsals from this
point onwards.

Word Count: 1,350

Holly Gallagher (w12017006)

Theatre and Performance Practice (PA0703)

Bibliography:
Alfreds, M. (2013) Then What Happens? Storytelling and Adapting for the Theatre. London:
Nick Hern Books. p10.
Chekhov, M. (2002) To The Actor: on the technique of acting, New York: Routledge. pp.2488.
Ingham, L. (2016) Email to Rebecca Frecknall, forwarded to Holly Gallagher, 30 March.
Lessac, A. (1997) The Use and Training of the Human Voice, The McGraw-Hill Companies,
Inc., pp. 68-201