Performing achievement

I’ve written before about the world of the Performing Arts here at Southampton; what it offers you in terms of skills and personal benefit (lots!), how to get involved (visit the website!) and why I love doing it (too many reasons to fit into an interjection!).

This past seven days I’ve been fortunate enough to have witnessed, experienced and enjoyed three broadly varying and outstanding shows, as well as taking part in one myself. Every production showcased an expansive range of talent, vision and sheer achievement, the magnitude of which left me in awe of just how every person involved has managed to balance it all with their course!

The tour of shows began at the Annex Theatre with the Light Operatic Society’s (usually shortened to “LOpSoc”!) double feature production of the Gilbert & Sullivan shows Cox & Box and Trial by Jury. I must admit that I hadn’t heard much Gilbert & Sullivan before, but I was nonetheless bowled over by the sheer enthusiasm of all of the performers, many of whom gave memorable showings, and strong vocals and hilarity were abound.

Plus, to stage two different shows back to back, with only an interval separating them, was an inspired achievement in itself, both by the performers (including the faultless orchestra) and also the production team who glued them together. All in all, seeing a student production is always a great way to relax after a busy week, and LOpSoc’s effort was a lovely way to wind down on a Friday evening – although, for fear of feeling like an old man, I probably won’t be “winding down” every Friday night in the future!

Another aspect of the show that should be commended is the speed and deftness demonstrated by StageSoc, Performing Arts’ backstage society (who operate for every single PA show – so there are always loads of chances to learn new skills and get involved!), particularly their impressive skill in designing, constructing and reassembling a very rich and detailed set. With the performance consisting of two different shows combined, props, lighting and set had to be efficiently transformed to represent an entirely novel setting in the second half, and from an audience member’s perspective, I can’t praise them enough for how seamless this was.

The next afternoon I was whisked into another world by Theatre Group’s comical, intelligent and fourth-wall-breaking (often featuring audience members volunteered by the cast!) spectacular Shakespeare in a Week show, only revealed to be Twelfth Night exactly seven days before its first performance – including to the actors (who somehow made it through without forgetting any lines)! Twelfth Night was produced without a budget to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital, a truly wonderful cause, and they did so to tremendous effect, making more than £500 across four performances over a single day.

And not only did the show achieve great success in its charitable objectives, but its sheer quality – the hour-long performance I attended had the whole audience chuckling throughout, and absolutely flew by! – exhibited brilliant imagination and verve on behalf of the directorial team, as well as confidence, humour and adaptability in the face of challenging circumstances from the cast. It was a remarkable feat indeed – congratulations to all involved!

And, to round off an extraordinary few days of theatre, the musical theatre society, SUSU’s “Showstoppers”, took on Jonathan Larson’s modern classic RENT at the Annex Theatre amidst a stunning backdrop, incredibly intricate and well-realised choreography (with cast members rising to the standard brilliantly), and an overall cast vocal prowess which, in my opinion, was unmatched amongst all amateur dramatics I’ve witnessed in my lifetime. It was sensational.

Every part was played with confidence and precision, and the whole thing was so moving that the girl in the row in front of me was in tears – on several occasions! Once again, Performing Arts took on a show renowned for its difficulty, and came up trumps with a stunning result for which everyone involved should be commended.

So how to round all of that off? With, you guessed it, another society!

Recently, I saw that Comedy Society was encouraging members to enter a heat of a stand-up competition which SUSU was to host on Valentine’s Day. I hadn’t really considered doing it until, a few days ago, I wrote out my schedule for the rest of the term (packed with rehearsals for the musical Parade, on at the Nuffield Theatre in March!) and came to the conclusion that, if I wanted to realise my ambition to make a debut gig before the end of the term, it was now or never.

And so I found myself with three days to write, rehearse and tune my first ever stand-up set, which had to total 7-8 minutes of original content – needless to say, it was difficult not to drift away in trying to piece together puns and jokes whenever attention wavered in lectures! I’ve not had butterflies to that extent since I was in my first play!

But, as always, Performing Arts rose up and encouraged involvement. A large number of Comedy Society, Theatre Group, Showstoppers, StageSoc, members of my course and other friends kindly turned up on the night and gave myself and the seven other acts a brilliantly atmospheric, supportive and inspirational backing throughout. The eight minutes I filled on stage are now a complete blur in my head – I could barely tell what I was doing during them, let alone remember afterwards! – but I do remember being spurred on by the sight and laughter of friendly faces in the crowd.

Sorry for the poor quality of the photo although, given the look of sheer terror that was probably on my face at the time, it might be for the best!

Some of the jokes I told seemed to go down quite well, particularly in the up-tempo one-liner-stuffed first-half, and others missed the mark (forgetting to deliver the punch-line on a couple of occasions perhaps wasn’t my brightest idea!), but I got some great constructive feedback afterwards which I’ll try to take on board – thank you to all who supplied it! Personally, I was just proud that I’d managed to overcome my self-doubt and give it a go, regardless of the result.

Because, at the end of the day, that’s what I feel University is all about: having experiences you’ll remember for a lifetime. And who knows? After discovering the buzz of an adrenaline rush while on stage, I might give it another go some time – this time with improvements to the set and, hopefully, delivering the whole joke every time!

As for the competition itself, it was a privilege to share the stage with the seven other acts, who all entertained hugely in their unique styles and made for a memorable occasion – again, congratulations to all involved (particularly Joe Hart, who without doubt deservedly made it through to the next round)! SUSU are hosting another heat in March so, if you feel like you’re bursting with jokes which need to be told, I can hugely recommend taking the plunge!

Phew!

But as you might have gathered, life in Performing Arts doesn’t stand still: this weekend (the 22^nd-24^th) sees the arrival of Pure Dance 2013 at the Turner Sims Concert Hall on Highfield Campus. Pure Dance is an annual (usually sell-out) dance show which features many different styles of dance, multitudes of performers and competition-winning standards of performance.

So why not pop along and celebrate student performance achievement or, better yet, become the achievers yourselves?

Robin