BA (Hons) Acting for Stage & Screen graduate Elen Bodey has received the Arc Award for Best Solo Show 2024! This award is made by an industry panel organised by the School’s partner ARC Stockton Arts Centre.

The panel considered Elen “to be an excellent performer and loved the blend of performance styles and puppetry incorporated into their piece. The panel judged the piece to be really well written and powerful, exploring themes of identity and belonging, with inventive staging and use of folklore to explore contemporary issues.”

Elen, who joined us from Buckley in North Wales, chose to study with us because “of the welcome I received when doing my online interview. No other drama schools took the time to speak to me about my interests in acting and what I hoped to achieve. The course offered multiple things that I was interested in including devising, voice acting and screen acting.”

Read on to find out more about her award and practice:

How did you find your degree programme?

My degree programme has helped me develop into a confident performer and creator of work. Since being at the university i have had an outstanding number of different opportunities ranging from short films, music videos, physical theatre and clowning. The lecturers have always shown me support throughout my 3 years and have always pushed me to achieve my best.

My FMP project was a radio horror play called “Flicker” that was created to be listened to whilst wearing headphones. I was inspired by 360 audio plays and wanted to create something similar.  A lot of foley was used, to make a lot of the sound effects gorier and unsettling for the audience. My cast and I had a lot of fun during the process, and all worked hard to make the play both realistic and terrifying.

Congratulations on your award, how did it feel to win?

I was really excited that I won the Arc award. My solo show meant a lot to myself and my friends and family, as it explored what it’s like to move away from home and the treatment you get simply for being from somewhere else. In addition, I got to show why I love being Welsh and what my home of Wales means to me. I’m looking forward to working with Arc to develop my piece further. I will be adding even more puppetry, movement and Welsh mythology to help convey the message of identity.

Tell us your favourite memory at school! 

My favourite memory from my three years would be seeing people’s reaction to “The Last Hurrah”. This was one of the final major projects and it viewed a family over the course of the week. A lot of hard work was put into this piece, and it was nice to see how well it was received and how much people enjoyed it.

What are your next steps?

Next, I will be doing the MA directing and theatre making course. I’m looking forward to exploring further into puppetry and creating more of my own work.

What is your favourite thing about hartlepool?

My favourite thing to do in Hartlepool is go to the beach, either the one up by the headlands or towards the Mariana.

Any advice for future students? 

My advice for future students would be to have fun. Acting is about taking risks and if you don’t allow yourself to experiment then you won’t grow as a performer. You’ll have moments where you are stressed, but the moments when you have fun over way them massively.

Stay up to date with Elen’s work by following her Instagram: @elen.bodeyactor

If you are interested in studying acting at degree level make sure you visit our degree course page to find out more about the course, our partners, student opportunities, and how to apply!