A series of plays by the School’s Acting degree students on topics as varied as sex, social media and sleeplessness, bank robberies, brighter futures and the bonds of friendship is heading to ARC Stockton Arts Centre in March.

The productions are all devised and performed by the students for their Spring Season at ARC which has taken place every year since 2019.

Over three weeks from Tuesday 5 March to Thursday 21 March 2024 students from all year groups will present new work in a variety of styles and genres for the Pay What You Decide performances.

Jonny Bussell Senior Lecturer on the School’s BA (Hons) Acting for Stage and Screen degree course said: “We are really excited for our students to present their work this spring.  Our first, second and third years will all be working towards sharing a range of devised pieces working alongside students from the BA (Hons) Film, TV & Theatre Production course.

“Allowing students to develop their own practice is central to the ethos of the programme as we want to encourage the students to be the practitioners they want to be, making the work they want to see.”

The productions include the InterACT Festival 2024, two evenings of new, diverse and exciting work by Acting degree students along with students from the Film, TV & Theatre department, featuring different works created by final year students on each evening.

Shauna Coleman, a third year Acting student from Doncaster pictured below, who is the writer and director of ‘Truth/Lie’ being presented as part of InterACT on Tuesday 19 March, explained: “‘Truth/Lie is a multimedia piece about dishonesty and communication in relationships and the effect that social media has on people’s perceptions of each other.

“Rehearsals are going well. We are preparing to film the scenes that will be projected onto a screen, to be shown alongside the actors onstage. The cast are all brilliant to work with. It’s fun!”

Darcey Dawson-Taylor, a third year Acting student from Derbyshire, pictured below, is the creative lead for ‘Sex, Mayonnaise and the Clitosaurus’ being performed on Thursday 21 March. “My play is about sex and the preconceptions and behaviour we have towards it both culturally and socially,” she said.

“It’s an absurdist comedy which aims to make people laugh and cringe and realise that every body is different and that should be celebrated.  Rehearsals are going really well. Devising is a really fun process and as a team we work to try as many crazy things as possible to find what works.

“We have a boogie and laugh because otherwise doing a play about sex would be really jarring. We keep it light but we also want to make the best play possible so we work hard, and it’s all about balancing the two.”

Jonny Bussell added: “This is the fourth year of ARC hosting our InterACT theatre festival.  It is an opportunity for our third years to showcase their work in a professional venue ahead of graduation.

“The pieces are really varied in style and theme, the students have worked incredibly hard to develop their work and I’m sure it’ll be two great nights of theatre.”

The Northern School of Art’s Acting degree course Spring Season productions take place at ARC Stockton Arts Centre in March. For further details and to book visit www.arconline.co.uk All the shows are Pay What You Decide meaning that there is nothing to pay until after the show.  15+ Recommended.

The BA (Hons) Acting for Stage and Screen degree programme at The Northern School of Art has been designed by working professionals to allow students to develop the skills required for performing on stage and screen.  This joint approach gives experience of both mediums and offers the student a distinct advantage in the job market or to explore further the craft of Acting.  Students develop core acting skills in voice, characterisation and physicality which are to be utilised in performances for stage and screen.  More information on the course can be found HERE

Further details of the shows are as follows:

• Tuesday 5^th March, 7pm

Brighter Futures

‘Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards’ Soren Kirkegaard

‘Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin’ – Mother Theresa

The future can be daunting, exciting and sometimes baffling but the not knowing is part of the fun of life.  Students from BA (Hons) Acting for Stage and Screen at The Northern School of Art present devised pieces taking the stimulus of ‘Brighter Futures.’.  Investigating ideas around what the future holds and whose future it is.  The students have worked on a wide range of techniques for creating work which they then have utilised to create these pieces.

This show is Pay What You Decide and post show there is an opportunity to give feedback on the pieces which will be really helpful for the students’ progress and development

15+ recommended

• Wednesday 13^th March, 7pm

Community

1 A unified body of individuals: such as

a: the people with common interests living in a particular area

b: a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society

2: a social state or condition

The very definition of community has changed greatly since the turn of the century. We see communities come together, we see others fractured and broken. We can find communities in the virtual but still crave person to person contact. We observe communities battle hardship and we see others rise up and fight.

These multimedia theatre pieces, created in collaboration between The Northern School of Art’s Acting for Stage & Screen degree students and Film, TV and Theatre Production degree students, will examine what community means to us all and how we define it in 2024.

15+ recommended

• Interact Festival 2024

Students from the BA (Hons) Acting for Stage & Screen at The Northern School of Art present Interact Festival 2024.  Two evenings of new, diverse and exciting work.  The showcase of work by the School’s BA (Hons) Acting Department, along with students from the Film, TV & Theatre department.  Both evenings feature different three works created by third year students.

15+ recommended

• Tuesday 19^th March, 7pm

TRUTH/LIE, Directed by Shauna Coleman

One phone call. Two friends. Two tricky situations. And not a lot of honesty. Watch this disrupted narrative unfold whilst you wonder, when will the truth come to light? TRUTH/LIE, a multimedia piece where bonds are broken, but friendships never die.

The Family, Written and Directed by Niamh Henry

A revenge drama focussing on a crime family looking at the trials and tribulations that unfold when planning a heist

The Last Hurrah, Written and Directed by Lucus McNally

What goes on behind the closed doors of one ordinary family? A mother and father both struggling to make ends meet. And a daughter preparing to leave their home and start afresh at Manchester university. For this family – their lives begin to crumble as one week destabilises faster than they could have ever imagined…

• Thursday 21^st March, 7pm

Sex, Mayonnaise and The Clitosaurus, Created and performed by Darcey Dawson, Luke Swainson and Abbi Mercer.

Let’s talk about sex, baby. An absurdist comedy exploring sex… because let’s be real. Sex is weird.

You. Don’t. Think, By Alex Jade Wallace

The days are long but the nights are even longer. Thoughts keeping you up at night? Longing for dreams that never come but getting nightmares that never leave. Is it all going to be worth it at the end? The world is always moving, and this physical theatre piece aims to reflect the struggles of sleep.

We’ve Been Here Before, Written and Directed by Luke Swainson

Synopsis: 4 Clowns. 1 Bank. Prepare to have your bloody doors blown off.