New Era Academy  - Examinations in Speech & Drama

WELCOME TO THE SPRING NEWSLETTER

WELCOME TO THE WINTER NEWSLETTER.

Season's Greetings to you all! 

This autumn term has been a very busy and exciting one for everyone within New Era. The launch of the musical theatre syllabus has given rise to the instigation of a series of Musical Theatre Workshops, the first of which took place in Newry, Northern Ireland, on Sunday November 15th. Fuller reports follow in the newsletter; and anyone wishing to take advantage of these workshops at their own schools can apply to the office to book their own slots!

Also included in this edition is a flyer for the 2008 Conference; we hope to see as many of you as possible there. It really will be an unmissable opportunity to share your individual knowledge, thoughts and ideas with your fellow teachers, as well as to enjoy the workshops and discussions on offer. Be sure to book your places early.

Lastly, a gentle but firm reminder from your editor......please use the stamped addressed envelopes I send you (if you are randomly selected to receive one!) to send your thoughts back to me, however brief. It will only take you a moment, and will mean that we don't waste the stamps we give you for this purpose.

Have a restful Christmas Season and a Wonderful New Year

                                                                                 Kim Ismay

CHAIRMAN'S CHAT

I am sure that this Newsletter will reach most of you at that very busy time of term, when you are juggling with Speech and Drama Exams, rehearsals for Carol Services, Concerts, Plays and Nativities, and then of course, the actual performances of all or some of these. The crescendo of the Christmas term is a hectic one for those of us involved in teaching, especially in schools.

However, I do hope you all take heart from the wonderful opportunities and experiences you are giving all your students – sometimes it is important to remind ourselves of the benefits and bonuses of our work. So make sure you give yourself a metaphorical pat on the back once you reach that magic last day of term!

It has been heartening that the BBC have been running a competition to encourage primary school children to participate in learning and reciting poetry off by heart. This was apparently set up in response to the Government suddenly realising that poetry recitation was a dying art ………………!

I do hope that many of you have taken the opportunity to involve your students in the “Off By Heart Competition”. My students were extremely excited and enthusiastic about it, I think they viewed it as something that rated somewhere between “The X Factor” and “Strictly Come Dancing”!

I would like to think that the feed back they received from their “judge” (yours truly!) was both kinder and generally more constructive than most of those who sit on the judging panels of those two shows!

I would like to convey my enormous thanks on behalf of you to all to our Newsletter Editor, Kim Ismay and our Examinations Director Miranda Jacobs who both work so tirelessly on behalf of NEA.

Finally, I would like to wish you and your students a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful and healthy New Year!

                                                     Linda Cardigan, Chairman

Our own examiner, Jill O'Hare, in addition to a varied acting career encompassing West End, Repertory and television, and an extensive directing CV, including straight plays, musicals, youth theatre and opera,  is renowned both nationally and internationally in the adjudicating and drama world. In September 2008, she launched her new anthology at the British and International Federation of Festivals Conference in Glasgow. This wonderful new essential addition to our bookshelves will also be featured and displayed at the STSD AGM on February 14th 2009.

AROUND THE WORLD IN 70 WAYS

I am so thrilled to announce the publication of my first book "Around the World in 70 Ways - multicultural monologues and duologues." There are 70 pieces in the anthology, and are for young performers of seven years old and upwards and represent a multitude of colours, cultures, religious festivals and traditions from many countries. The idea of a multicultural theme has been in the back of my mind for a long time and evolved because of my ongoing examining and adjudicating experience which has spread from Asia to Europe, America to Africa over two decades.

It finally reached fruition in July 2006. I was examining a young brother and sister from Sri Lanka who had been living in the UK for most of their childhood; as they worked their way bravely through their acting pieces, I felt how much easier it would have been for them if they had had the opportunity to act out their own culture - as well as the English side of life.

As it says in my book in a page for all performers, "Hopefully because of the varied themes of the acting pieces you will be able to find a piece that is close to you and your background and this will become your motivation". When you walk onto that platform, at your Festival, carry that pride with you and share it, there is probably someone who has no idea about your ''special'' theme and will be so interested and involved in your presentation, you will have taught them something; even the adjudicator cannot know everything!!

The Festival Movement is so important and my teaching experience has enabled me to appreciate their communicative value for students to perform as well as to learn and observe from their peers. Suitable and different material is not always easy to find - hopefully my anthology will fill a gap and I have ensured that "Permission" covers Festival performances as well as acting examinations that are offered by all Boards of Performing Arts.

The seventy pieces in the anthology have flexibility of casting, boy/girl and girl/boy characters as well as performers with some disabilities. My work with individual students and theatre youth groups has shown me how variable their needs can be, and how rewarding when their chosen pieces give them pleasure and offer them new skills and performance techniques. Young people around the world can be proud of their backgrounds and cultures and also be aware and tolerant and understanding of each other.. Drama an discussion can help to embolden this global need.

The anthology "Around the World in 70 Ways" (ISBN: 1-904557-03-1) is available at the bargain price of only £14.99, and will be released and published in January 2009, but copies can be ordered in advance from:

Dramatic Lines

PO Box 201

Twickenham

TW2 5RQ

Tel.:  020 8296 9502

UK Freephone:  0800 296 9502

www.dramaticlines.co.uk                                        Jill O'Hare

Note: Jill informs us that there was a discount and post-free opportunity with a flyer available at the aforementioned Conference,but advises New Era teachers that if they order before the end of the year, it may still apply. Surely that's worth a try.....come on teachers, this is an oppportunity not to be missed - order without delay!

From another of our examiners, Elle Knight:

"I was delighted to be invited to write a short review of this book. Jill is a dedicated teacher, adjudicator and examiner of very long (!) standing. having been confronted with the problems which all students and teachers of the spoken word face from day to day, she not only felt the need but embraced the challenge of  finding a much-desired outlet of suitable pieces for performance by our now ethnically-diverse society. Here it is! Jill is not only my friend but a much-valued colleague, learned but practical, of sunny temperament, and blessed with a delicious sense of humour (the latter being especially in evedence during our wonderful adventures in Kenya and Hong Kong).

Thanks Jill.

Elle"

AROUND THE WORLD IN 70 WAYS - a review.

Just what I've always wanted! I am confident that this will be the cry from teachers and students on publication of  'Around the World in 70 Ways'.

It is a comprehensive, clear, all-embracing tool of the performer for many purposes. In addition to its use in festivals and examinations, the content is a source of pleasure, entertainment and learning.

The world is now quite a small place and multi-culturalism abides in countries around the world, not least in those of the English-speaking nations. Hitherto, I have witnessed the struggles of many young people in absorbing and becoming familiar with ancient traditions and customs with which nationals grow up. Here is the answer! In addition to the wealth of material available from many sources, we now have this amazingly well-researched and varied set of monologues and duologues which inform and delight.

That children can learn about life by embracing it is an acceptable proposition. This has helped schools to recognise that they should be concerned with letting children learn about life rather than with filling empty buckets with information. drama has helped children to become articulate and self-reliant, more at pace with themselves and better adjusted to society.

Here lies the value of this book. imaginative yet practical, wide-ranging yet systematic, concise yet packed with information of many cultures, it is exactly what is wanted by students and teachers.

However did we manage without it?

                                                                                Elle Knight

On November 15th, the first in a projected series of full 3-hour Musical Theatre workshops took place at the Sheridan Theatre School, Newry, Northern Ireland. There were two sessions, the first for ages 7-12 (who worked on a scene and number from "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang") and the second for ages 13-18 (who worked on a scene and number from "Mamma Mia").

We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and the passion and commitment with which the students worked was inspirational! Two other sessions have already been booked for 2009 (Guernsey), and we have had a number of further queries. For your chance to book one or more sessions, and for workshop prices, contact the office as soon as possible.

                                                                                 Kim Ismay

CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG

Colleen, (10)  "I loved the performance at the end and trying out different parts"

Lauren, (10 ) "I thought the workshop was brillient (sic), I loved Kim teaching us it was fun"

Alanna (10)   "It was class and Kim was really nice she let everyone have a part in the play"

Rhiannon (8)  "I think that it was fun with Kim and I hope I will see her again"

On 21 Sept, Miranda Jacobs and I flew to Belfast to take part in the Society of Teachers of Speech and Drama Conference. In the morning session, The  local chairwoman, Patricia Mulligan welcomed us all and spoke most interestingly about the Society and its local associations and work.

Miranda addressed the assembled teachers and students, telling them all about New Era and the current - and also the  forthcoming - syllabus, the way forward for New Era in the coming years, and the way we will be adapting to encompass accrediatation without losing our precious ethos. She then opened the floor to questions, and a lively and interesting discussion followed, with much interest being shown in all aspects of the syllabus. It was wonderful, too, to put faces to the many names we know so well! I then spoke briefly about our new Musical Theatre syllabus, and we adjourned for lunch.

In the afternoon, I took a short workshop, leading a brief physical and vocal warmup and tackling as much of a scene from "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"  as we could in an hour and a quarter! Students of all ages - and some teachers, too!- took part with energy and the end result was truly impressive.

                                                                                 Kim Ismay

The STSD Conference was very insightful and informative. It was a great opportunity to meet other teachers and to have the chance to voice our questions and feelings towards the new syllabus.

We recently introduced Musical Theatre examinations within our centre - it is always daunting teaching something new, and for many teachers of Speech and Drama, Musical theatre proves to be a difficult task to say the least. However, I left the Conference feeling much more confident in the direction i should be taking.

In the Workshop, we tackled a scene from the musical "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang". This encouraged both physical expression and vocal production. Kim had us captivated from the moment it began. It brought a different dynamic to the day, and it was a great way to finish the session!

                                        Kathy Colgan and Teresa McBride

WELCOME TO THE AUTUMN NEWSLETTER!

The dreadful luck we had with the Summer weather seemed to extend to our Directors over the last couple of months, seeing no fewer than six of us being hospitalised. Mercifully all are home and either back to "normal" or on the mend, and I'm sure you'll extend your best wishes for recovery and/or no reoccurrence to Brian, Elizabeth, Miranda, Derren, Linda.....and me!

Miranda would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your patience this summer whilst she had to be absent from the office, which was left in the more than capable hands of Amy Greaves - thank you Amy.

Another randomly selected batch of stamped addressed envelopes are enclosed for 12 of you.............and I am eagerly awaiting articles, comments, feedback or announcements, however long or short, from any and all of you! Please don't waste the stamps we send you, share your thoughts.

If you would rather speak to me direct or leave a message, you can call me at any time on 07969 062597.

You will all find enclosed the new fees list; please keep it somewhere safe and be sure to update your records.

Here's to a happy and - more importantly healthy - Autumn term!

Kim Ismay

WEBSITE CORNER

This edition's discovery continues my quest to bring you as much free access  to plays, poetry and literature as I can! I was both enchanted and excited to discover  www.thefreelibrary.com  which is exactly what it claims to be.

Since 2003, The Free Library has offered free, full-text versions of classic literary works from hundreds of celebrated authors, whose biographies, images, and even a comprehensive list of famous quotations can also be found on the site.

Recently, The Free Library has been expanded to include a massive collection of periodicals from hundreds of leading publications covering Business and Industry, Communications, Entertainment, Health, Humanities, Law, Government, Politics, Recreation and Leisure, Science and Technology, and Social Sciences. This collection includes millions of articles dating back to 1984 as well as newly-published articles that are added to the site daily.

For example, typing in "Shakespeare"  and selecting "literature" as your search criterion will bring up a list of his plays which can then be accessed scene by scene. By selecting "periodicals" as your search criterion,  you will have access to a wealth of commentaries, articles etc. from across the world. You can search by subject, author or keyword, just as you can at your local library.

The collection tends to be weighted towards the classics; more modern poets may be missing from their massive archive, but the amount of supporting and accompanying material will make this site invaluable for your students'  school work as well as interesting background reading and study for their New Era examinations.                            

CONFERENCE  2009

 Our 2009 Conference has been confirmed for Saturday 12th September 2009, and has a new venue which we hope the majority of you will find convenient.

The Croydon Park Hotel is easily accessible from both Gatwick and Victoria, and the North of England is equally well served as First Capital Connect trains stop there too, with less than a 30 minute journey from King's Cross.

The hotel is less than a 5 minute walk from the station, or if you prefer to drive, there is car parking available. Should a sufficient number of delegates wish to stay overnight, New Era will be able to arrange a discounted room rate.

For more details on the venue you can visit the hotel's website:

www.croydonparkhotel.com

The Speakers will be announced nearer the time, although we can reveal that there will be a Syllabus session, as we hope our new syllabus will be out by then. We will also be launching our new Musical Theatre syllabus, accompanied by an exciting workshop.

The cost of the 2009 Conference is £67.50 for teachers and conference delegates, with a reduced cost of £61.75 for anyone booking and paying in full before 12th March 2009.

There is also a discount for students; please contact the office for details.

JOIN US AT OUR CONFERENCE BECAUSE ……………

Just in case any of you need a little more encouragement to join us at our Conference, printed below is an article I wrote about the multi talented Scott Eck after his first visit to my school. The article speaks for itself.

However, I would just like to add that since the wonderful introduction to Scott’s work recorded below, I have been lucky enough to work with him on several occasions since, and still marvel at his energy and dynamic imparting skills. When I ran a course for IAPS Drama Teachers last year Scott was one of the presenters, and for the first time worked with the Teachers as actors – it was quite simply brilliant! And just to convince you that you should not miss this opportunity ………………

A SHAKESPEAREAN FEAST!

I wonder how many of you have come across “Shakespeare and Company”. How grateful I am to our former Director of Studies, Alison Fleming, for bringing them to my attention. So if you have not yet heard of them, then let me enlighten you.

Shakespeare and Company is run by husband and wife team Scott Eck and Dina Rawson, who are prepared to travel anywhere in the United Kingdom to present their highly creative interactive workshops for students of all ages.

Scott, a trained Improvisational Educator will deliver a unique, hands-on workshop that will stimulate and motivate your students. Scott creates an environment that builds confidence and encourages individual creativity. Scott tries to ensure that every student is given a role, and even the quiet, less confident students participate on an appropriate level.

Dina, is known as the “Costume Lady”, and she provides a trunk full of colourful, exciting costumes and props which add a further dimension to the student’s learning. She is also the General Manager and administrator of company.

Scott spent 12 years as a University Professor, and also over 25 years touring North America with his interactive theatre workshops. Amongst the programmes Scott has created are Improvisation, Play Analysis, Characterisation, Acting Shakespeare, Playwriting, Speech and Performance Theory.

He is also delighted to receive requests to create a workshop around a literary character or text of your choosing. He currently offers interactive workshops on a range of Shakespeare Plays, Shakespeare’s Life, Works by Oscar Wilde or Charles Dickens and the Arthurian Legend.

Shakespeare and Company recently spent the most riveting day at our school, so I feel I can therefore highly recommend Scott’s lively, innovative method of learning as education of the highest  quality.

In the morning he presented an interactive exploration of the plot for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” with our Year 7 with a combination of Shakespearean dialogue and teenage vernacular that they both responded to and understood. Mixed with costumes, props, techniques, action and humour they could not wait to be picked for a role and loved the whole session.

During the afternoon our Year 8 participated in Scott’s “Romeo and Juliet” with an equally enthusiastic response. Having been lucky enough to observe both sessions, I was able to identify some of the techniques Scott used to encourage a less confident student, or channel a slightly disruptive student. We were also able to observe his incredible improvisational skills, as our collaborative playwrights banished “Romeo” to “Tricky”! Suddenly two characters called “Micky” and “Dicky” were created, the advent of whom did not detract from the class’s understanding of the plot, but also provided two cameo roles for the students!

As a result of this exciting day our Year 7 and 8 pupils are absolutely “buzzing” about their texts, and feel they have been privileged to understand Shakespeare in the light of performing (Halleluiah!). Through his sheer energy, presence and improvisational skills Scott enthused and educated our students. It really was as Shakespeare and Company claim on their flyer, “Learning Come to Life!”

To contact:

            Dina Rawson

            General Manager

            Shakespeare and Company

            2a, Stamford Road

            Bournemouth

            Dorset

            BH6 5DP

            Tel/Fax           01202 430307

            dina@shakespeareandco.co.uk

www.shakespeareandco.co.uk

Linda Cardigan

CONDOLENCES

I am sure that you will all join the Directors of New Era in extending our heartfelt condolences to Carole Best, who sadly lost her husband in July. Our thoughts and prayers are with her at this difficult time.

The following is an edited version of an article which appeared  in "Source" magazine.

"SHOWBIZ KIDS" 

Perhaps cheerful, old-fashioned musicals are a bit like skirt lengths - a useful barometer of how upbeat a nation is feeling. That would explain why West End theatres have been ringing to the sound of  musicals for a while now, the audiences attracted by the lure of familiar songs, heart-warming stories and fond, recession-proof memories of childhood trips to see a show. But The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, The Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Oliver! have another important thing in common - they're packed with child performers crucial to the success of the show.

Never have so many children held down such high-profile roles as today. Children's casting director Jo Hawes has just finalised the casting of 130 child performers for  Cameron Mackintosh's Oliver! (which premiers on 12th December) - that's three teams of 30 and two teams of 20, including three Artful Dodgers. Children can only perform for six months at a time, so in a long-running show she'll be looking for new mini Von Trapps at least twice a year, and has been recasting the children in Les Miserables every few months for over a decade.

She has queues of children keen to take part - more than 1,000 attended the open audition for The Sound of Music - and this is not simply down to stage-struck parents. Children today don't want to grow up to be nurses or train drivers; they dream of being famous, of singing, dancing and acting and having their names up in lights. They watch Britain's Got Talent and the search-for-Nancy BBC show I'd Do Anything and see youngsters winning their chance to perform at the Royal Variety Performance or play Oliver in Drury Lane.

The process of actually getting a child onto the West End stage can be a long and gruelling process. They need to be talented actors, singers and dancers, but they also need bags of confidence to hold their own on stage. (No problem for anyone taught by our New Era teachers! -Ed.) As a general requirement, they have to look childlike but be old enough to take direction, so tend to be between six and 13 years old, after which voices break and bodies change.

They must be fairly self-sufficient and independent too, as parents are banned from auditions and from backstage so the children are catapulted into an adult professional world where they can test and stretch themselves, learning important life lessons about discipline, team work, patience and concentration along the way.

Yet life as a child performer is a hard slog too, and not only because of learning the lines, music and choreography. Children have to fit schooling around their very full rehearsal and performance schedules - they often leave the theatre at 10pm and must be in school by 9am the next morning. Other extra-curricular activities are put on hold for the duration, and holidays or weekends away are a strict no-no - even children as young as six can be expected to go on stage at a few hours' notice if someone falls ill.

Those with larger parts such as the Olivers and the Dodgers, may be put up in a London flat with a professional chaperone and tutor and hardly see their families. And they won't get rich - the current going rate starts at £11 for a four-hour rehearsal and £22 per performance.

Jane Phillimore

TEACHERS  PLEASE  NOTE........

Jo Hawes is always looking for talented children between the ages of 5 and 13 who can act, sing dance and be confident and full of character. She sends out her requirements and casting breakdowns to agents, but she tries to see as many new children as possible for each new show, both by appointment and at open auditions.

The director and the musical director make the final casting decisions, then Jo does the contracts, licensing (all children need special licenses to work, and each council has its own rules and vagaries!) and scheduling. She usually casts three teams who work on a rota.

Contact Jo at jo.hawes@virgin.net

Some schools will not allow children time off to work. Please ensure you check FIRST whether or not they will before submitting a child for audition.......it's no good hoping for the best, as this will waste both your time and the production's time and disappoint and distress the child.

***WIN***

Four tickets for the Gala Preview Evening of Oliver! on 13th January 2009, including programmes and drinks.

Visit www.greenbee.com/oliver to enter and for terms and conditions. Closing date:  31st October 2008.

CONGRATULATIONS

Since the last newsletter, the following  students have passed their diplomas:

Victoria Patterson, A.N.E.A. Speech Training

(Teacher: Bernadette McSwiggan)

Lara Keery, L.N.E.A. Speech and Drama

(Teacher: Marie Campbell)

Emily Parker, A.N.E.A. Acting

(Teacher: Joy Sander)

Emma Filby, A.N.E.A. Acting

(Teacher: Claire Jones)

And CONGRATULATIONS to Roz Sheridan in Newry who is engaged to be married in May 2009.

Copyright © 2009 New Era Academy

This Page Last Modified August, 2009