Your Experiences

A Master’s Degree by Ed Denning

A Masters Degree. Sounds intimidating. Sounds exciting. Sounds… good.

Those were my first impressions to be honest. I finished my undergrad at Hull with a low 2:1 but without really any direction of where my life would go next. As some of us will know (and the rest of you are about to know), a conversation with Pavel can lead to many outcomes, often positive. It is as a result of one said conversation that I sought a new route in life – post-graduate studies. I never considered myself particularly strong academically but this provided a fresh start, a new opportunity to prove myself.

The degree itself was definitely a challenge and compared to how I perceived my undergraduate studies, it was a wake-up call. The first trimester is quite heavy, reading wise, and often draws from topics outside of theatre. Philosophy, architecture, geography, sociology. So much of the first twelve weeks is about thinking outside of the box, from the perspective of people in all these different and unique areas of academia and how they might look at the same world we do, but in their own ways. Through this comes expansion of ideas and perceptions about performance becomes so much wider. Or at least that’s what I took from it. it requires a dedication to reading before each weeks class that I think I
should have probably done better in the first few weeks, but what you get out of it is a better sense of the multitude of perspectives the world has within it and how they can inform your own theatrical practice.

The outcomes of this trimester cumulate in a unique opportunity to step outside of
the comfort zone. In my experience, this was fresh, fun and entirely different to anything at undergraduate. We were asked to create a short piece of performance in a location outside of the Gulbenkian building, with deliberate focus on the designated area. This was done in small groups and the results of which saw shows about World War Two, stream of consciousness performance regarding artwork in the Library Gallery, a story about foot binding in China.

The second trimester is much more practical you’ll be glad to know. After an intense
first couple months that you come out of with an aching brain, and a deeper knowledge of your campus, the second trimester allows you to flex your independence a little more. This includes a professional development module in which the individual is given time to understand what they could bring to the industry and how to achieve that. There’s an opportunity to take you beyond the campus, inviting you to work with a community group within the city. There’s also a module that, for our year at least, looked inwardly at the city. This was an opportunity to work in groups to create a piece about Hull. There were some really tender and gripping pieces of work made.

The final trimester is your thesis. ZOINKS! This is the intimidating bit. After having 24
months to mentally prepare yourself for you undergrad dissertation, you’ve only got 24
weeks this time. But it’s okay. By the time this comes round, you have a solid sense of what you want to write about. AND you can be practical with it too. Put on a show or a exhibition if it helps you consider your specialism better. It’s also the only thing you have to worry about between May and September so LOOOAAAADS of time to figure things out.

Let’s Talk Dissertations: What They Don’t Tell You by Becca Magson

Sorry third years, but avoiding this topic is as impossible as Jacqui being wrong about something.
Dissertations are coming closer and those measly 5 (yes, FIVE) lectures on how to structure your dissertation and how to write it are slowly, but surely, making their ways through onto your ever-changing timetables. Don’t get me wrong, those lectures were extremely helpful at times and whoever you have (for us it was The Lord Himself, Pavel), will be sure to create a power-point that will be on canvas, and won’t be looked at until your last few weeks when you believe you’ve done it all wrong. Jae and Cerys have very kindly asked me to discuss all things that lecturers won’t tell you about dissertations – if it comes from an alumni then hopefully it will give you a bit more confidence in your work, and that it won’t all be doom and gloom!

1. How do you choose what you write about?

Uhhh. Good question. Some students are very lucky, have a plethora of ideas to write about and don’t fall short on topics, research questions and books. Others, myself included, are not so lucky, and it can take them a long while to find a topic they feel they can talk about for ages. But once you do find it, panic over. However, be prepared to change your own topic again and again, sometimes things don’t fit or don’t seem right and that’s okay! Personally, I knew what to write about when I met with my AST and we spent a good 30 minutes talking about Restoration Theatre and Nahum Tate’s reworkings of Shakespeare – and that was the majority of my dissertation. Before that, I had no clue what I was doing. I think I wanted to write about Architecture beforehand, but why? I’m not into that? If you can talk about it for a good while, that’s probably a good start. Maybe it’s a kind of theatre you enjoy – children’s theatre, promenade, immersive etc. – or maybe it’s a play-write. Maybe it’s contemporary issues that are present in the theatre still, if it’s a passion, write it down. Don’t write to please anyone else but yourself, because you’re the one who’s got to write the bloody thing for months.

2. How do you start the research? What do you hone in on?

THE LIBRARY WILL BE YOUR SANCTUARY FOR THE NEXT YEAR. Go ham, type whatever key words you need to and read whatever seems interesting or fits. MLA Bibliography on the Library Website gives you access to E-BOOKS AND ARTICLES WRITTEN BY PROFESSIONALS, so use it wisely and frequently. And in terms of honing in on things, within your 5 dissertation lectures you will be asked to think of “research questions”, which are essentially sub-categories for your main topic. An example; your topic could be “Women Actors In The Theatre Throughout History”, a question/sub-category could be “why weren’t women allowed to perform in the 17th century?”. Usually you’re asked to come up with 3, so that’s three chapters

3. When should you start writing your dissertation?

4. Always accept and ask for help

There is no shame in asking for help, such as setting up meetings with your supervisor, or asking for an extension. I asked for an extension on my dissertation and it got accepted, and it was such a relief to have that extra week to gather my thoughts and put myself together after a rough year. Taking the time to focus on your mental health is more important than a dissertation, because if you’re not there mentally you won’t produce your best work. Be very open with your supervisors and AST’s, if you’re struggling the help will be there, all you need to do is ask.

I wish you nothing but the best of luck! Do your research, buy snacks for the long library nights, and take care of yourselves. All my love x

LGBTQ Poetry – the Performance and Importance of Selfhood by Alex Parker

I recently had the absolute pleasure of performing at an LGBTQ event hosted by Emily Bridgett, a graduate of the university of Hulls drama department. This was a night of poetry and music, where I, along with other LGBTQ creators, delivered pieces of work regarding our sexualities, identities and individualities. I’ve performed many characters, and delivered plenty of poetry, so why did this feel so different? 

That’s the question I had to ask that morning, I woke up with a weird level of anxiety that I don’t even experiencing when performing. While it may be a bit silly to try to justify anxious feelings (as they often come without reason) I think it’s an opportunity to explore the importance of staging and watching gay work. I do want to note however that my anxiety could have been the result of thousands of things; it’s not unusual for creative types to experience it! 

Let’s start off by stating the obvious: performance is important for a myriad of reasons, a statement I know needs no defending or explaining here. When staging anything, a drama lecturer will always ask the same question:

“What do you want to say with this piece? What is the message for the audience?”

By extension, performance is inherently meaningful. Performances depict characters, stories and situations which can and do occur in the world around us. When staging any work, a miscommunication in meaning or intent can be disastrously harming for both creator and audience alike. There is an importance when representing anything in the arts. I find this to be especially true when representing marginalised groups. However, I had always considered performance as something solely for the audience. While we as performers do benefit from the wonders of performance, and tend to learn many things throughout the process, it is ultimately presented for an audience. This little coffee shop performance in Leeds however, has shown me something different.

When I first walked into the little coffee shop, I felt almost immediately at home. It was a visibly pro LGBTQ space with the pride flag greets you as you walk through the door. Plants cascaded from the ceiling, cake aplenty and pronoun badges on the counter. A bit of a nervous wait was made much better by getting to chat with some of the amazing #HullMafia who continue to take over every performance space in Britain. As the time grew closer, the tables began to fill and people were excited for the performances. Quickly, it became clear that lovely members of the LGBTQ community where present in the audience. Throughout the night, the performers had the undivided attention and adoration of the audience. The applause was loud and yet the love in the room louder still. With every act, the feeling of belonging grew stronger, aided by poetry and music.

My National Youth Theatre Summer by Sophie Clarkson

3 weeks of mad, intense, overwhelming fun. The National Youth Theatre Backstage Course 2019 was absolutely incredible and I’m here to tell you a little bit about it. I took part in the Stage Management course and had the pleasure of working alongside many different backstage disciplines as we joined a group of actors and a professional director to put on a fantastic show! An unforgettable journey! In the first week we completed workshops in different areas of stage management, such as Prop Making, a Blood Workshop, and a practice round of cues, to name a few! As I said before, it was very intense and the hours were long, but the amount of knowledge I left that first week with was immense and I stepped into the second week full of confidence.

My Experience at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival by Amber Samuels

Attending the Edinburgh Fringe with Z Theatre Company was a fantastic opportunity to learn more about the theatre industry and see amazing shows. Edinburgh is flourishing by the time Fringe comes around, with street performers everywhere you go, and flyers plastered to every wall in sight. The atmosphere at Fringe was electric – upon arrival, I could feel the passion in everyone to create amazing theatre. The Royal Mile, absolutely heaving with performers and theatregoers. We brought two shows up with Z Theatre Company, Luminescence and What Does Love Mean to You?, and performed every day to paying audience members. Handing out flyers was also a fun experience, and you really get to learn how to sell a show! The people of Edinburgh are a tough crowd, so to grab their attention is a fun challenge. It even took one of our actors getting on the shoulders of another whilst he played the guitar! Gimmicks always worked.