Just over one month into the academic year and Studiospace has already hosted it’s first show: DAT. DAT (Directors, Actors, Technicians) is traditionally how Studiospace kicks off the year and the format is specifically aimed at getting first years involved with the society. The idea is that anyone can propose a short fifteen minute theatre piece of any nature, and the current committee (made up of second years) will oversee first years with their technical elements, so that people can learn on the job and not have too much pressure whilst doing it. (I said first year was a good time to pursue extracurricular activities!) Course wise, my modules are Choreography for Theatre, Performance Histories and Interpreting Plays. Performance Histories is our only compulsory unit for this term in second year, and both the other units I chose at the end of last year are practical, meaning part of the end assessment is a performance. Choreography is definitely focused on the practical work, with classes consisting of two three hour workshops a week during which we explore choreographic techniques. We also got the opportunity to watch the English National Ballet take class in the Hippodrome for their performance of Giselle as part of the unit which was a great experience. Quite often the university will suggest you attend shows in Bristol, typically at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre as part of your course. If these shows are a requirement for the module, tickets will be provided however most of the time it is strongly suggested you attend and tickets are (usually) relatively cheap. Interpreting Plays is my other chosen unit, for which class consists of a two hour seminar and a three hour workshop per week. We use the seminar to discuss readings and play texts, before putting our discussions into practice in the workshops. The workshops for both units are often led by the unit director, however we are often visited by people working in industry, who give us an insight into their practice for us to take forward and experiment with.
Outside of theatre I have been taking classes in British Sign Language (BSL) with one of the Bristol Students Union (BSU) societies. I took this as I’d never done it before and thought it would be an interesting way to meet some new people and learn something completely new because after all, that’s what university is all about!
Jamie 
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