News
We were thrilled to talk to Old Millhillian Sam S (School House), who was accepted into Bristol Old Vic Theatre School this year. He is currently in his first year of Theatre School, and we wanted to catch up with him to see how he’s doing and his path to Drama School.
What inspired you to apply for Drama School?
Attending Drama School has been my dream since I joined Belmont in Year 7, as the idea of being able to act all day, every day, with no distractions, was something I often daydreamed about in lessons! I also loved to watch films or plays and search for the actors I liked the most to see which Drama School they had attended, making a note of it so I could eventually apply to the same school. I’ve always admired the completely unique experience that Drama School provides, as the variety of skills and knowledge you pick up is endless, from stage combat and medieval dance to the mechanics of your diaphragm and the use of the phonetic alphabet, and that’s just the first week!
How did your experience of Drama at MHS shape your journey?
Drama at Mill Hill was integral to my audition process, as the expertise of the entire department helped me to understand what I was undertaking and push my performances to a point where I felt confident in the audition room. The constant opportunities to perform in school productions were so beneficial to me, as they gave me the experience and on-stage composure I needed when auditioning and provided an opportunity to collaborate with and learn from all of the other amazingly talented performers in the school. House Drama was also a fantastic chance to co-write and direct a play, giving me much-needed insight into the inner workings of theatre production on and off stage and offering some of the most fun I’ve ever had as an actor and theatre maker. I really can’t thank the Drama Department enough for their tireless work in giving everyone the opportunity to perform and grow and for putting up with me constantly sitting in their office asking thousands of questions about my upcoming auditions.
Is there one memorable piece of advice from MHS that you’ll carry with you throughout your career?
If I had to pick one piece of advice to take with me all the way into the world of professional acting, it would have to be from a lunchtime monologue tutorial with Mr Pleseants, Head of Academic Drama, and Mr Futeril, Teacher of Drama, where they essentially told me to stop explaining my character’s emotions, and just start feeling them. I didn’t fully understand it at first, but this philosophy has really changed how I approach performance, and it helped so much with my auditions! I also have to mention Ms Bull, Housemistress of School House, and her wise words of advice before House Drama: “Just have fun!”
What was it like auditioning for Drama School? Do you have any tips for future applicants who dream of following in your footsteps?
Drama School auditions are very different from the normal UCAS application process. Before applying, I made sure to have a bank of monologues prepared, with a couple of contemporary pieces as well as some classic Shakespearean speeches. The process is (usually) split into three rounds: a self-tape, then a Zoom call, and finally, an in-person audition at the school. Most self-tapes will consist of one classic and one modern speech and some small talk about who you are.
My top tip for self-tapes is to set yourself a time limit when filming, for example, only doing eight takes or only working on it for 1 hour; this is because it’s so easy to spend entire days trying for the ‘perfect take’ despite the fact that you’ll almost always end up picking one of the first five tries, as that’s when the material was fresh and not overworked. For the second round, usually a Zoom call, remember that the person on the other side of the screen knows how weird it is to perform a monologue on your laptop in your own bedroom! Final rounds almost always take place at the school and involve a full day of workshops, interviews, and monologues. The final round is much less about your individual skills as a performer (as, at this point, they are more than happy with your acting ability) and much more about how you work with others and respond to the teaching.
My advice would be to be true to yourself and not to treat it as an audition but as a wonderful opportunity to share your work with some amazingly talented teachers and actors (that’s another piece of Mr Pleseants’ advice!). Overall, the audition process can take several months, from preparing your monologues to getting an acceptance email, and it’s essential to find a good balance between the audition process and all of your academic responsibilities. However, the audition process is so much fun, and it gives you the opportunity to travel the country, meet amazing performers and practitioners, and really strengthen your acting skills. I’d recommend it to every budding actor at Mill Hill!
Tell us about your first few weeks at Drama School!
The first few weeks have been amazing but definitely hectic! Due to the huge variety of lessons, we receive every week, getting to know all of my teachers has been a slight challenge, but they’re all extremely talented and experienced people, and it shows in the amount I’ve learned so far. Meeting my 27 course-mates has been exciting too, but very different from school, as the average age of people in my year is 21, making me one of the youngest! The days are quite long, and I register at 8:30 am, leaving the school at around 5:30 pm after four 90-minute lessons with breaks in between. In your first year, you do a surprisingly small amount of ‘acting’, and the main focus is mainly on training your voice and physicality to a professional level so that when you start public performances in the second year, you’re well-equipped physically and vocally. This means lots of movement and voice lessons to learn how your body functions and to strengthen your vocal and physical stamina, so lots of cardio, spinal rolls, and breathwork! All in all, the first few weeks have been fantastic, and I often have to pinch myself to make sure it’s all real and that I’m actually training in the same rooms as Daniel Day-Lewis, Olivia Colman, and hundreds more actors that I have idolised for so long!
What has been your favourite part of training at Drama School?
So far, my favourite part of the training has been stage combat, as we wasted no time sitting and talking. We have already learned so many falls, rolls, slaps, and an entire stick-twirling martial arts routine inspired by the Beijing Opera! Later in the year, to get our first stage combat certification, we will choreograph our own hand-to-hand combat fight routines to a scene of our choice, which a visiting examiner will be performed. Bristol Old Vic has an excellent reputation for stage combat, so I can’t wait for this!
