Suzy Davenport
Hi everyone. Apologies for being a bit quiet last week, but we are back with yet another student blog. The show is drawing ever closer, as next week we head into June! Make sure you keep the 18th - 20th July in you're diaries, and keep your eyes peeled on here and social media for announcements when tickets go on sale.
This week's blog comes from Suzy Davenport, who has been with ATS for four years.
SUZY:
Hi everyone. My name is Suzy and this is my fourth year with ATS. This year, I have been cast in two of the four plays: Nerys Potter in Gizmo; a ruthless, over enthusiastic "Davina McCall" style physiotherapist, and Kerry in You, Me and Wii; a mother of two teenagers living on a council estate in Leicester.
As always, compared with my previous years with ATS, this year is entirely different and I have brand new challenges to face. I've played a variety of roles at the school: a first world war housewife, a hippy teenager and a nun in our production of Table; the fabulously witty Nancy in Nell Gwynn, with her infamous one liners, and last year I was taken to the glamorous 1930s in our Noël Coward season. This year, with three out of four plays being set in today's modern society, brings with it it's own set of challenges.
Firstly, I play Nerys Potter in Gizmo. Now, if you're looking for a physiotherapist, don't employ Nerys! She is ruthless and takes great pleasure in seeing her patients in pain. As a slight background in case you haven't read the previous blogs from my fellow cast members (if not - WHY NOT?), Ben is paralysed from the shoulders down. However in true Black Mirror style, Alan Ayckbourn has created a fabulous concept of the GIZMO microchip. This is implanted in Ben's brain, and anyone wearing the connecting 'watch' mechanism can control Ben's movements.
I've been directed to watch Davina McCall's exercise videos and pick up on her genuine enthusiasm. Using this zeal and mixing it with Nerys' cynicism (one of her lines to Ben is "there's nothing wrong with you at all"...!) has created a fun character who I take great pleasure in playing. Every time Ben insults her, she increases the intensity of the exercising - so don't cross Nerys!
The physical aspect of this role has been (and continues to be) one of the most difficult challenges I've faced with ATS. Of course, as I'm wearing the GIZMO mechanism, every move I make has to be mimicked in scrutinising detail by Max, who plays Ben, so no more involuntary movements - pushing my hair out of my face has become a thing of the past! We have to be perfectly in sync with one another (same foot/same arms at same heights etc) when we are jogging/star jumping/even walking on the spot. I've also discovered that I'm a bit 'floppy' (for want of a better word) in my physicality... meaning I've really had to look at the way I hold myself compared to how a sporty and fit physiotherapist would. I think I've just about driven the fabulous Amanda/Julianne/Emily mad with my 'floppiness'... but they have been incredibly patient with me and given me such a strong guidance that I feel more confident (and ever so slightly fitter than when I was first given the role!). In order to create the illusion that I am controlling Ben's movements, Max and I have to work tirelessly and practice practice practice. I can't wait to put this play in front of you all in July.
The second role I play is Kerry in You, Me and Wii, written by the prestigious author of the Adrian Mole books, Sue Townsend. Kerry is a mother of two teenagers, living on a council estate in Leicester. They live within the safety of their own four walls, never venturing into the dangerous outside world, and ordering the online food shop from Iceland once a week. However, one day their local Labour MP, Selina Snow, arrives on the doorstep needing their help, and Kerry's eyes are opened. She is a very intelligent and passionate person, but she has just given up on the world and fails to see that she could make a difference. Kerry is actually quite politically-minded and cares about certain issues, she just doesn't do anything about it. Similarly to Nerys, she is also quite brutal in that she doesn't sugarcoat anything when talking to her kids and her mother, even when she knows it will provoke a bad reaction.
I grew up in the West Midlands, quite near to Leicester, so luckily for me I've already got the accent required for this part (though having lived in London for a few years, my Midlands accent isn't as strong as it used to be, so I need to ensure I exaggerate it slightly). I've been helping my colleagues in this play with their accents, as I realise it's quite a difficult one to do because it's reasonably subtle. Midlands isn't as strong as a Birmingham accent, and when people try to do it, I've found they initially verge on a Yorkshire accent. I pointed out the basic vowel sounds involved with the subtle Midlands accent, and I have been on standby when anyone has a query about how to say a certain word, but they've all done very well at picking up such a difficult accent.
I thoroughly enjoy doing this play as it can go from a light-hearted moment to an incredibly dark place in a matter of seconds. It's been really interesting to try and find this light and shade, and I've learned to trust that the words are funny on their own, so I can afford to play the whole thing seriously. If the writing is good, comedy will come out naturally where Townsend has intended without us having to try. The writing is undoubtedly great so I know that this will come across to our July audience.
Of course, none of us would be here without the fabulous direction and nurture from Amanda Redman. We are pushed totally out of our comfort zone by Amanda as she knows that's the best way to get us up to to the incredibly high standard she knows we are all capable of, and that ATS prides itself on year after year. I have learnt so much more in my time at ATS than I ever would have learnt anywhere else thanks to Amanda and all the supporters such as Julianne and the visiting teachers, and I will take this knowledge with me wherever I go. Despite my four years with ATS, I don't plan to be going anywhere anytime soon. There is always more to learn and what better way to do that than from someone at the very top of their game.
If you are considering auditioning for ATS, what are you waiting for? You can fill in an application form to audition in September at any point from our website www.artiststheatreschool.co.uk . Don't hesitate, you have nothing to lose and an awful lot to gain.
This week's blog comes from Suzy Davenport, who has been with ATS for four years.
Hi everyone. My name is Suzy and this is my fourth year with ATS. This year, I have been cast in two of the four plays: Nerys Potter in Gizmo; a ruthless, over enthusiastic "Davina McCall" style physiotherapist, and Kerry in You, Me and Wii; a mother of two teenagers living on a council estate in Leicester.
As always, compared with my previous years with ATS, this year is entirely different and I have brand new challenges to face. I've played a variety of roles at the school: a first world war housewife, a hippy teenager and a nun in our production of Table; the fabulously witty Nancy in Nell Gwynn, with her infamous one liners, and last year I was taken to the glamorous 1930s in our Noël Coward season. This year, with three out of four plays being set in today's modern society, brings with it it's own set of challenges.
Firstly, I play Nerys Potter in Gizmo. Now, if you're looking for a physiotherapist, don't employ Nerys! She is ruthless and takes great pleasure in seeing her patients in pain. As a slight background in case you haven't read the previous blogs from my fellow cast members (if not - WHY NOT?), Ben is paralysed from the shoulders down. However in true Black Mirror style, Alan Ayckbourn has created a fabulous concept of the GIZMO microchip. This is implanted in Ben's brain, and anyone wearing the connecting 'watch' mechanism can control Ben's movements.
I've been directed to watch Davina McCall's exercise videos and pick up on her genuine enthusiasm. Using this zeal and mixing it with Nerys' cynicism (one of her lines to Ben is "there's nothing wrong with you at all"...!) has created a fun character who I take great pleasure in playing. Every time Ben insults her, she increases the intensity of the exercising - so don't cross Nerys!
The second role I play is Kerry in You, Me and Wii, written by the prestigious author of the Adrian Mole books, Sue Townsend. Kerry is a mother of two teenagers, living on a council estate in Leicester. They live within the safety of their own four walls, never venturing into the dangerous outside world, and ordering the online food shop from Iceland once a week. However, one day their local Labour MP, Selina Snow, arrives on the doorstep needing their help, and Kerry's eyes are opened. She is a very intelligent and passionate person, but she has just given up on the world and fails to see that she could make a difference. Kerry is actually quite politically-minded and cares about certain issues, she just doesn't do anything about it. Similarly to Nerys, she is also quite brutal in that she doesn't sugarcoat anything when talking to her kids and her mother, even when she knows it will provoke a bad reaction.
I grew up in the West Midlands, quite near to Leicester, so luckily for me I've already got the accent required for this part (though having lived in London for a few years, my Midlands accent isn't as strong as it used to be, so I need to ensure I exaggerate it slightly). I've been helping my colleagues in this play with their accents, as I realise it's quite a difficult one to do because it's reasonably subtle. Midlands isn't as strong as a Birmingham accent, and when people try to do it, I've found they initially verge on a Yorkshire accent. I pointed out the basic vowel sounds involved with the subtle Midlands accent, and I have been on standby when anyone has a query about how to say a certain word, but they've all done very well at picking up such a difficult accent.
I thoroughly enjoy doing this play as it can go from a light-hearted moment to an incredibly dark place in a matter of seconds. It's been really interesting to try and find this light and shade, and I've learned to trust that the words are funny on their own, so I can afford to play the whole thing seriously. If the writing is good, comedy will come out naturally where Townsend has intended without us having to try. The writing is undoubtedly great so I know that this will come across to our July audience.
Of course, none of us would be here without the fabulous direction and nurture from Amanda Redman. We are pushed totally out of our comfort zone by Amanda as she knows that's the best way to get us up to to the incredibly high standard she knows we are all capable of, and that ATS prides itself on year after year. I have learnt so much more in my time at ATS than I ever would have learnt anywhere else thanks to Amanda and all the supporters such as Julianne and the visiting teachers, and I will take this knowledge with me wherever I go. Despite my four years with ATS, I don't plan to be going anywhere anytime soon. There is always more to learn and what better way to do that than from someone at the very top of their game.
If you are considering auditioning for ATS, what are you waiting for? You can fill in an application form to audition in September at any point from our website www.artiststheatreschool.co.uk . Don't hesitate, you have nothing to lose and an awful lot to gain.
- Suzy Davenport
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 Simon O'Neill.
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