Emma Duke
Hello everyone.
Another week, another blog. And this year it's the turn of student in her fourth year of ATS, Emma Duke.
Have a read below. Enjoy!
Emma:
Hi everyone! I'm Emma and this is now my fourth year at ATS. Each year that I have been here has absolutely flown by, and my confidence has grown hugely. All thanks to this amazing course. Every production is so different; there are always opportunities to learn more and more. The productions I have been lucky enough to be a part of over the past three years have been such a huge part of my training and frankly, this is the best training I have come across.
This year, I will be playing Henrietta in 'The Milliner and the Weaver' by Marie Jones, from 'Women, Power and Politics: Now & Then'. This play represents the aforementioned 'then'; set in 1914 inside Henrietta's small mill house in East Belfast, against the back drop of Edward Carson's resistance to Ireland's home rule bill, and Ulster being called to defend its loyalty to the English King George on the precipice of World War I. The play examines the relationship between suffragettes Elspeth, the wife of a Dublin business man, and Henrietta, a Belfast widow and mother of six children. Elspeth has travelled up from Dublin to convince Henrietta to rejoin the suffragette movement, despite the differences that are tearing their country apart.
Mastering the Belfast accent for this play has been (and still is) an extremely challenging learning curve. I have always loved playing around with accents and voices, and I studied phonetics whilst I was training previously, which I loved and definitely gave me a good platform to begin with. Although extremely daunting at first, I worked out my own process (involving a very colourful highlighting regime linking each unfamiliar sound) and a LOT of practice. Thankfully, it is slowly becoming more second nature and sinking into my muscle memory. The great thing is, having worked through this method, I know I could apply this to other accents too, which has given me more confidence to tackle this sort of work in the future.
I get to work closely with Emily Robertson who is playing Elspeth, and Simon O'Neill who plays Henrietta's son, Thomas. Elspeth is from Dublin, so keeping our own accents without being distracted by each other's whilst in the play together adds another layer of difficulty! Simon is originally from Dublin, however he is of course doing a Belfast accent for this as he is my son, so it's a great challenge for all of us. Emily and I recently went on a research trip visiting both Dublin and Belfast, to really get a grasp on this history of the play (and also get some accent pointers from some of the local people). Particularly strong in my memory are the vibrant murals all over the east of the city. Now one of Belfast's most iconic features, they tell the stories of this city's turbulent and proud past, which was hauntingly beautiful.
Another week, another blog. And this year it's the turn of student in her fourth year of ATS, Emma Duke.
Have a read below. Enjoy!
Emma:
Hi everyone! I'm Emma and this is now my fourth year at ATS. Each year that I have been here has absolutely flown by, and my confidence has grown hugely. All thanks to this amazing course. Every production is so different; there are always opportunities to learn more and more. The productions I have been lucky enough to be a part of over the past three years have been such a huge part of my training and frankly, this is the best training I have come across.
This year, I will be playing Henrietta in 'The Milliner and the Weaver' by Marie Jones, from 'Women, Power and Politics: Now & Then'. This play represents the aforementioned 'then'; set in 1914 inside Henrietta's small mill house in East Belfast, against the back drop of Edward Carson's resistance to Ireland's home rule bill, and Ulster being called to defend its loyalty to the English King George on the precipice of World War I. The play examines the relationship between suffragettes Elspeth, the wife of a Dublin business man, and Henrietta, a Belfast widow and mother of six children. Elspeth has travelled up from Dublin to convince Henrietta to rejoin the suffragette movement, despite the differences that are tearing their country apart.
Mastering the Belfast accent for this play has been (and still is) an extremely challenging learning curve. I have always loved playing around with accents and voices, and I studied phonetics whilst I was training previously, which I loved and definitely gave me a good platform to begin with. Although extremely daunting at first, I worked out my own process (involving a very colourful highlighting regime linking each unfamiliar sound) and a LOT of practice. Thankfully, it is slowly becoming more second nature and sinking into my muscle memory. The great thing is, having worked through this method, I know I could apply this to other accents too, which has given me more confidence to tackle this sort of work in the future.
I get to work closely with Emily Robertson who is playing Elspeth, and Simon O'Neill who plays Henrietta's son, Thomas. Elspeth is from Dublin, so keeping our own accents without being distracted by each other's whilst in the play together adds another layer of difficulty! Simon is originally from Dublin, however he is of course doing a Belfast accent for this as he is my son, so it's a great challenge for all of us. Emily and I recently went on a research trip visiting both Dublin and Belfast, to really get a grasp on this history of the play (and also get some accent pointers from some of the local people). Particularly strong in my memory are the vibrant murals all over the east of the city. Now one of Belfast's most iconic features, they tell the stories of this city's turbulent and proud past, which was hauntingly beautiful.
Secondly, I am playing Cevril in 'Gizmo' by Alan Ayckbourn. The play centres around Ben, who, after a terrifying encounter is left 90% paralysed. The GIZMO is a wristwatch-esque device which, when worn by someone else, enables Ben to walk and move imitating the wearers' motions. Cevril encounters Ben when he is brought to her boyfriend (notorious gangster Manny Rice's) apartment, and they get to know each other when Cevril gets to wear the GIZMO device. I've been working with Max Polling who plays Ben, on the specifics and precision required to make this type of mirroring work seamless. I know it will be impressive if done right, but my goodness, it is difficult! This is a hilariously physical play all round, with a number of different characters passing around the GIZMO and getting to grips with the physical rules set by the nature of the technology. As the whole company is involved in this play, it is a lot of fun playing with the physical humour, and it is the first time in my four years doing a play like this, which just shows the variety we are fortunate enough to be a part of in this company.
The physical work involved for this play is intensive; I've been working closely with Ashley Ross, (who's blog went up last week, give it a read if you haven't already! - https://artiststheatreschoolealing.blogspot.com/2019/03/ashley-ross.html ). Also our fight choreographer, Cristian Valle, to work tirelessly to ensure we can create a realistic confrontation, but also to understand the safety measures and trust in each other than goes into this type of scene. I've not done something like this before and I am enjoying it enormously, apart from the occasional rehearsal bruise.
I said this in my blog last year and I will say the same again: if you're thinking about auditioning for ATS, even just a niggle in the back of your mind, absolutely GO FOR IT! Also, come and see the show so you can see what we work so hard to produce (18th - 20th July - put it in your diary now!) I would recommend this course with all of my heart to anyone who is serious about acting, and really ready to develop their skills. Although we meet to rehearse weekly on a Saturday, be prepared to work throughout the week as this is a full time commitment. If you are serious about your love of acting, this should be a huge positive; it certainly is for me.
I can't write this blog without thanking Amanda from the bottom of my heart for everything she has done for me and given to all of us, including all those that have come and gone throughout my relatively short time at ATS so far. She really does care about this tremendously, and I will forever be grateful to her for being such an incredible mentor and inspiration. For every ounce of work and commitment you put in, it is dwarfed entirely by what you get back. Her style of directing really does get the best out of everyone and she helps all of us realise our full potential. Her generosity and furious passion for the arts is infectious, and she continuously welcomes all students in to the ATS family; a huge privilege when you understand how much love, time and energy have gone into building this into what it is, and will continue to be. It is truly a one of a kind training opportunity for any aspiring actor, and thanks to Amanda, and all others behind the scenes who help make the school what it is, I count myself lucky that I get to do what I love and share in my passion with great friends.
Hope to see you in July, and don't forget to keep up with the rest of the casts' blogs in the coming weeks! Don't forget to follow ATS on all socials and get tickets as soon as they go live.
- Emma Duke
ATS' production of ''Gizmo' and 'Women, Power and Politics' directed by Amanda Redman will run from 18th - 20th July at Questors Theatre in Ealing. Tickets will be available nearer the time.
Join us for our blog next week which will be written by Emily Robertson.
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