Our fortnightly series of inspirational talks for Year 12 and 13 by speakers from all walks of life kicked off last week with a talk organised by our Drama Rep Ruby, with help from fellow Year 12 Emi. These inspiring examples expose students to a diverse range of perspectives and lived experiences across a broad range of topics.  The lectures are organised entirely by our Sixth Form Subject Reps and are open to Year 12 and 13s.

First up was actress and drama coach Kat Novkovic. Kat introduced us to the different ways of learning to act, starting with Method Acting, where actors focus on a role by submerging themselves into the heads of a character. Famous examples of this included Austin Butler as Elvis, Daniel Day-Lewis as Christy Brown in My Left Foot and Heath Ledger as the ‘Joker.’ We learned that many argue against Method Acting now, however as the line between an actor and their character can become too easily blurred which can lead to psychological strain and identity confusion.

‘Listen with your gut, not your head’

We then heard about Sanford Meisner and the way he approached acting. The Meisner technique is focused on three main elements – emotional preparation, repetition, and improvisation. The technique focuses on an actor’s ability to respond spontaneously and authentically to their scene partner, so genuine emotional connections and reactions are more important than pre-planned actions. We heard about the importance of ‘Given Circumstances’ – the environmental, historical and situational conditions a character finds themselves in, as well as Affective Memory – an early element of Stanislavski’s ‘system’ where an actor calls on the details of a memory that is similar to what a character is going through. Affective memory requires the actor to substitute these feelings for those of their characters. Listening and engaging is essential, so the audience were given opportunities to practise this in pairs.

A big thank you to Kat for a great talk!