A Day of Physical Theatre with Mark Hill

Today I had the honour and privilege to be taught by Mark Hill in Literature and Theatre.

I shall start with literature since it came first.

I walked into the Black box nervous but extremely excited for what was to come. I’ve heard only positive things from people about Mark, but also how physically straining it could be. I assumed that since we went in as an English class rather than a theatre one, that this session would be a lot easier that what I would eventually be doing, and my assumption was correct. We started off introducing ourselves to Mark, which then led into a quick warm up (to the Pussycat Dolls), where we were told to just be silly and have fun with it. Afterwards, Mark explained that since we are an English class that we would have to work on our presentation (in all things, not just English). He taught us that the main elements of presenting well was to have:

1.     Good energy (minimum of energy levels 4 or 5 and a sense of curiosity)

2.     Focus (fixed focus, and focusing on your peripherals)

3.     Group work

We then performed a few energy exercises and mirror/focus exercises.

I found this class really helpful because, as I mentioned in the afternoon session with theatre class, I have had huge problems with expressing and opening myself up to an audience, and even just to my friends and family (this is one of the main reasons I threw myself into theatre in the first place). Mark taught me ways to overcome my anxiety and control my voice when I speak/sing. Although I know I won’t get it over night, (with practice) this has given me an opportunity to learn new ways to overcome this massive obstacle in my life, and to give better presentations in class. :D

In the afternoon session that I had with theatre, we talked more about ourselves and getting to know each other better so that we could become more in tuned with each other as an ensemble. We all had to say our names, a person who is our biggest artistic influence, what our biggest obstacle is as an actor, and our perfect moment.

My biggest influence was Henri Cartier-Bresson who was a French photographer who really started the idea of photojournalism. He was a huge believer in capturing humans how they are natural rather than when they’re posed and artificial.

My biggest obstacle: not being able to make myself vulnerable (as I have explained up top).

And my perfect moment: I am in London Heathrow, back home from a journey all around the world visiting all the different places around the world, and having met different people on the way. I have had just a backpack and a camera with me the whole journey.

On the bus, I reflected upon my choice of things that I shared as a first impression of me to Mark, and was pretty please with my choices. Usually when I reflected back I always think of other things that would’ve been more accurate to me and more interesting about me, but this time I never felt that and was very proud of myself.

The first day of physical theatre with Mark Hill has been SO fun and different and so enlightening for me. I’m extremely excited to have the chance to work with him for a whole week!

Emma.