Final year BA (Hons) Acting for Stage & Screen students recently performed their own solo shows at ARC, Stockton Arts Centre to an industry panel to be considered for the ARC Solo Show Award.  This is the fourth year of the ARC Award which sees one student win the opportunity to be supported in developing their piece.

Jonny Bussell, Senior Lecturer of our Acting degree programme said; “The students have complete autonomy of the pieces with regards to style and content which always means there is an eclectic mix of pieces.  Previous winners have gone on to be supported in the development of the work by ARC and Arts Council England.  It is a great opportunity for our students as they progress into the industry.”

The winner of award was Arun Graves-Kochhar with fellow students Izzy Sander and Meg Dale receiving special commendations.  Reflecting on Arun’s piece the panel commented that Arun was “an excellent and engaging performer shifting from comic beats to powerful storytelling effortlessly – with the characters emotions always simmering under the surface.  The piece was brilliantly written with the character deflecting their own stories within the narrative heightening the sense of personal impact. It felt honest and authentic.”

Speaking of his performance Arun said: “I am very proud to have won the ARC award, as solo theatre is something I have struggled with in the past but I was particularly proud of my work this year and was overjoyed to receive such commendation for it. The piece itself is something that is very personal to me as it focuses on issues of racism and struggles of identity, particularly the struggle of a mixed-race identity and never truly feeling a part of any part of your heritage. I also look into growing up in Britain and how exposure to racial abuse often starts at a young age and how that impacts you, also leading into having identity struggles as a result, growing up and losing love for a certain part of who you are because you are targeted because of it.”

Speaking of developing his work he relied a lot on feedback from his lecturers and peers, reflecting; “my process for this show was getting a full draft script written and then sharing that with two of my lecturers, Jonny Bussell and Katy Weir, who then gave me immensely helpful feedback and ideas for minor changes to the script and directions for the performance side of things. I would say some of the most important feedback I received was from my peer and course mate, Tee Preston-North, who encouraged me to have more faith in my writing and ability to perform it. Tee guided me to really play the moments of the script, leaning into the humour more and then snapping away from that suddenly, to give the audience emotional whiplash. I used this feedback and implemented it into my piece effectively. Feedback from the ARC board was all very lovely and I was glad to see I had successfully implemented Tee’s feedback as they commented on how well I was able to shift the beats of the piece.”

For his performance he wanted to be as authentic as possible; “For my prep time I knew, due to the nature of my piece, I did not want to over rehearse it as I wanted my final performance to keep the raw emotion and authenticity in it. Once I had decided on blocking and set on learning the lines, I limited the amount of times I would run through the piece. I believe I achieved this aim with the final performance being very strong and emotionally impactful for myself and the audience. I felt immediate pride after this performance which was nice and new for me, especially as it was for something that was wholly my own work, from the writing through to the performance.”

“Going forwards, I have a few ideas for the piece; I aim  to extend the length of it and look at taking it to Newcastle Fringe Festival. I have also thought about developing it in order to have a cast of 2 rather than keeping it as a solo show, looking into the later life of the main character, seeing how their life has possibly changed. Due to winning the ARC award I will be able to start this development in the new year with the space provided for me from ARC.”

Jonny Bussell stated “I was proud of all the pieces performed and Arun was a worthy recipient of the award.  The piece was nuanced, well crafted and excellently performed.  The themes are extremely important and it is a story not often told on UK stages.  It has lots of potential to be developed into a fuller piece.”

Fellow student’s Izzy Sander and Meg Dale received special commendations for their performances. Izzy’s work follows character Ada; “her perfect life unravels with motherhood, forcing her to choose between family and ambition. Rich Pickings examines guilt, regret, and the stigma surrounding mothers who leave to pursue their dreams. I wanted to create a piece that aims to dilute the stigma that mothers frequently face when wanting to maintain their identity before children and often lack support with this. I wanted this piece to showcase the importance of this and highlight areas where support could be offered. The actual performance itself was so fun, we’re always encouraged to have creative ownership of our work, and I think this is a time I felt quite proud of something I had written, directed, and performed!”

Speaking of receiving a special commendation Izzy commented; “The feedback I received from ARC was really lovely, they commented on the authenticity of the piece which I was glad to hear, as I was writing a show from a perspective I have not experienced. Over Summer I spent a considerable amount of time researching the weight of the label ‘mother’ and combined that with my own beliefs, that I then applied to my writing. The rehearsal process consisted of a lot of peer feedback, particularly from my dramaturg Tee-Preston-North, who always offered great insight and suggestions. Using peer and tutor feedback I refined my piece, using technical and storytelling skills. So, I was really glad the truthfulness came through in the writing and in the performance.”

Talking about her future steps Izzy said “Having a piece of theatre written and ready to develop is such a great thing to be coming out of Uni with and I’d really like to utilise that so I’m hoping to adapt and develop Rich Picking for Newcastle Fringe, after I graduate!”

Izzy described her experience on the acting course as: “Absolutely brilliant! The Acting for Stage and Screen programme, truly equips you for the industry, through teaching, workshops, and the necessary material you leave with that is essential for the industry. We couldn’t ask for more encouraging and supportive lecturers!” 

Our acting degree has been designed by working industry professionals to ensure students develop the skills required when performing for stage and screen, providing students with a drama school style experience outside of London. Students on this intensive acting course will receive 30 hours contact time a week to develop core skills in voice, characterisation and physicality. Find out more here.