{"id":9067,"date":"2021-05-10T16:02:32","date_gmt":"2021-05-10T16:02:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/?p=9067"},"modified":"2021-05-10T16:37:59","modified_gmt":"2021-05-10T16:37:59","slug":"returning-to-the-rehearsal-room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/returning-to-the-rehearsal-room\/","title":{"rendered":"Returning to the Rehearsal Room"},"content":{"rendered":"

Returning to the Rehearsal Room<\/strong><\/h3>\n \"\"<\/a><\/span>

Written by Amanda Grace<\/strong><\/p>\n

May 9th, 2021<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/font>

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It\u2019s official: UK drama students are back in school. Rushing between voice, movement, and acting classes, it\u2019s almost as if nothing\u2019s changed\u2014almost.<\/p>\n

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Training looks a lot different than we anticipated. No sooner had my cohort seen each other face-to-face for the first time than we were whisked away to the first of many (many) bi-weekly rapid tests. To get through thirteen of us, plus faculty, takes around two hours the first go.<\/p>\n

When we make it to our studio, old norms clash with new protocols. We take our temperatures before taking our shoes off to step onto the marley dance floor. The floor is its own signpost that things are different now: the sunlit hall is taped off into two-metre squares. Rules released by the government say what happens in our square can be done without a mask, but any interaction with each other should be conducted with face coverings, without touching.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no one\u2019s dream introduction to an acting master\u2019s, but it\u2019s keeping us and others safe\u2026 besides which, we\u2019re grateful to comply, just to share space with one another at last.<\/p>\n

The work is difficult. I find I\u2019m not as vulnerable as I used to be; it\u2019s as if I were to feel something fully, I\u2019d have to address all the feelings I\u2019ve glazed over in order to get here. My acting suffers. It is what it is.<\/p>\n

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Establishing a routine again is difficult. Morning warm-ups and consistent fitness plans seem to be things Old Me did. Part of the challenge is believing in-person work is once again a permanent fixture\u2014that we won\u2019t be sent back home. We each take it one day at a time. I\u2019m a different person coming out of lockdown than I was going in; I don\u2019t know how to gauge my progression as an artist anymore, except day-to-day.<\/p>\n

Day-to-day, we are getting better.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve found new things to be grateful for. Voice class is helping me cope with bouts of breathlessness I\u2019ve had since my encounter with the pandemic last March; choral work is reminding me how the meeting of voices can heal unspeakable hurts. The art is more important than ever, and we are all encountering it raw and humble, which makes us available to the work sans pretense. I have never been more aware of what I don\u2019t know… and I have never been more engaged with my own growth.<\/p>\n

At the same time, I find I have outgrown impatience. Our industry has long lauded working to the bone as the bare minimum\u2014but my colleagues who entered lockdown with no mental, physical, or emotional reserves have not made it out with the energy to continue doing the work. Those of us who once resisted taking time and space to refill our vessels are now reckoning with what poverty of spirit looks like in the creative process (spoiler: it looks like the complete absence of creation). I need more rest now. I need more understanding for the things I struggle with, old and new.<\/p>\n

If I was honest, I probably needed those things long before this moment.<\/p>\n

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None of this is to say this was what we needed for an awakening<\/em> or this crisis has to serve a purpose<\/em>; it\u2019s just that training in a half-out-of-lockdown-world forces you to reckon with an awful lot of emotional, spiritual, messy shit. We\u2019re all having to decide what serves and what doesn\u2019t, because we all are out of our comfort zones and out of the reserves we\u2019d otherwise use to rest on our laurels.<\/p>\n

This is all very messy, but it\u2019s a step forward for our entire industry to be in a studio, looking someone in the eye, telling a story. It\u2019s one step closer to theatres reopening; one step closer to being back face-to-face, properly.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the encouraging bit. The next bit is where I\u2019d usually give advice\u2026 but I\u2019m still working this normal out. My best bits of wisdom for those of you who are in the same boat as I:<\/p>\n