Much Ado About Nothing
This production has been a labor of love for me, since I conceived of the idea to some Shakespeare in a park this summer with a group of my fellow professional actor friends. This eventually grew into a new Shakespeare Company, London International Shakespeare Ensemble (LISE for short) and we secured a partnership with Camden Events, to be part of their 50th Anniversary Summer Events Series. This certainly wasn't an easy process and we found the difficulties in performing in open public space like Camden Market. But we managed to pull together a wonderful show, and received great feedback from our audience! I got to play my ultimate dream role, Beatrice, as well as a fun comedic bit as one of the watchman. It was so fun getting to perform with all my favorite people, who I have had the pleasure of forming a community with, over the past few years in London. I hope this is just the beginning of a bright future for LISE!
https://londoninternationalshakespeare.wordpress.com/
This production has been a labor of love for me, since I conceived of the idea to some Shakespeare in a park this summer with a group of my fellow professional actor friends. This eventually grew into a new Shakespeare Company, London International Shakespeare Ensemble (LISE for short) and we secured a partnership with Camden Events, to be part of their 50th Anniversary Summer Events Series. This certainly wasn't an easy process and we found the difficulties in performing in open public space like Camden Market. But we managed to pull together a wonderful show, and received great feedback from our audience! I got to play my ultimate dream role, Beatrice, as well as a fun comedic bit as one of the watchman. It was so fun getting to perform with all my favorite people, who I have had the pleasure of forming a community with, over the past few years in London. I hope this is just the beginning of a bright future for LISE!
https://londoninternationalshakespeare.wordpress.com/
The Fan
This April, I was in the hilarious Carlo Goldoni play The Fan. I played Tognino, the mischievous butler to the lady Geltruda. Uniquely in our production, the five "servant" characters, came together to create a a traditional Italian Lazzo, a comedia dell'arte style piece, that was performed halfway through the show. It was a 10 minute delightful clowning show, which left us all out of breath by the end!
This April, I was in the hilarious Carlo Goldoni play The Fan. I played Tognino, the mischievous butler to the lady Geltruda. Uniquely in our production, the five "servant" characters, came together to create a a traditional Italian Lazzo, a comedia dell'arte style piece, that was performed halfway through the show. It was a 10 minute delightful clowning show, which left us all out of breath by the end!
GLOBAL TALENT VISA!
In some very exciting news, I recently received my Global Talent Visa! This gives me the right to work in the arts in the UK for the next 5 years and can lead toward applying for indefinite leave to remain! This is such a huge accomplishment for me and I am so excited to continue working in theatre and film in London and around the UK for the foreseeable future. I wish I could tell little 20 year old me who studied abroad in London way back in 2014 what was in store for her. "All the world's a stage" as Jaques so aptly says in As You Like It. Let's do this!
In some very exciting news, I recently received my Global Talent Visa! This gives me the right to work in the arts in the UK for the next 5 years and can lead toward applying for indefinite leave to remain! This is such a huge accomplishment for me and I am so excited to continue working in theatre and film in London and around the UK for the foreseeable future. I wish I could tell little 20 year old me who studied abroad in London way back in 2014 what was in store for her. "All the world's a stage" as Jaques so aptly says in As You Like It. Let's do this!
Under Milk Wood
This June, I am back performing at The Tower Theatre, in Under Milk Wood. As well as mastering a Welsh accent (which is no easy feat), I am playing multiple characters, as there are over 60 in total in this show! Most notably, I play the sultry Lily Smalls, and the refined Gossamer Beynon. This production has not been without its setbacks, as we had a few cast changes, but I love how it has turned out.
It runs June 7th-17th!
https://www.towertheatre.org.uk/under-milk-wood/
This June, I am back performing at The Tower Theatre, in Under Milk Wood. As well as mastering a Welsh accent (which is no easy feat), I am playing multiple characters, as there are over 60 in total in this show! Most notably, I play the sultry Lily Smalls, and the refined Gossamer Beynon. This production has not been without its setbacks, as we had a few cast changes, but I love how it has turned out.
It runs June 7th-17th!
https://www.towertheatre.org.uk/under-milk-wood/
Short Film
This April I shot a mockumentary for a final year project for film students at King's College. It is satirizing both the upperclass "yummy mummies" of Chelsea and American tourists. I played a very stereotypical American "influencer," who is not at all happy with her "instagram boyfriend." It was so fun to be a completely obnoxious person, and because we were filming with just a small camera to make it look more "on the street" style, some people didn't initially realize I was just acting. I got some pretty weird looks haha. Link for it is below, I come in around 5:50, as well it is listed on my reels/videos page.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjWsyNcBqK4
This April I shot a mockumentary for a final year project for film students at King's College. It is satirizing both the upperclass "yummy mummies" of Chelsea and American tourists. I played a very stereotypical American "influencer," who is not at all happy with her "instagram boyfriend." It was so fun to be a completely obnoxious person, and because we were filming with just a small camera to make it look more "on the street" style, some people didn't initially realize I was just acting. I got some pretty weird looks haha. Link for it is below, I come in around 5:50, as well it is listed on my reels/videos page.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjWsyNcBqK4
Coram Boy
I am currently performing in Coram Boy at The Tower Theatre in Stoke Newington! This play marks my "official" London debut since graduating from East 15, and it has been such a fun production to rehearse! It has many different intertwining plots, a myriad of exciting characters, a cast of 26, and close to a 100 costumes. I play Alice Ashbrook, the youngest sibling of the Ashbrook family, as well as a Choir Boy, and a Coram Boy. This play, adapted by from the novel by Jamila Gavin, blends the line between fantasy and reality, invites audiences on a face-paced and dynamic adventure through 18th century England, involves music from Handel's Messiah, and maybe even an appearance from Handel himself! The show runs July 20th-30th in London and then we are taking on tour to the gorgeous Minack Theatre in Cornwall in August!
https://www.towertheatre.org.uk/coram-boy/
I am currently performing in Coram Boy at The Tower Theatre in Stoke Newington! This play marks my "official" London debut since graduating from East 15, and it has been such a fun production to rehearse! It has many different intertwining plots, a myriad of exciting characters, a cast of 26, and close to a 100 costumes. I play Alice Ashbrook, the youngest sibling of the Ashbrook family, as well as a Choir Boy, and a Coram Boy. This play, adapted by from the novel by Jamila Gavin, blends the line between fantasy and reality, invites audiences on a face-paced and dynamic adventure through 18th century England, involves music from Handel's Messiah, and maybe even an appearance from Handel himself! The show runs July 20th-30th in London and then we are taking on tour to the gorgeous Minack Theatre in Cornwall in August!
https://www.towertheatre.org.uk/coram-boy/
Showcase time!
After two postponements because of Covid, I am finally having my New York Showcase with FDS! This showcase is collaboration with many different drama schools in the UK for actors who eligible to work in the US. There will be a mix of 2020 and 2021 graduates as we were all affected by the pandemic and unable to have in person showcases previously. It's been great to work with fellow recent graduates from other schools and I can't wait to show off our monologues and scenes!
The showcase will be at Theatre Row on May 16th at 1pm and 5pm.
RSVP [email protected] to confirm your attendance!
Hope to see you there! :)
https://www.federationofdramaschools.co.uk/whats-on/new-york-showcase-2022
After two postponements because of Covid, I am finally having my New York Showcase with FDS! This showcase is collaboration with many different drama schools in the UK for actors who eligible to work in the US. There will be a mix of 2020 and 2021 graduates as we were all affected by the pandemic and unable to have in person showcases previously. It's been great to work with fellow recent graduates from other schools and I can't wait to show off our monologues and scenes!
The showcase will be at Theatre Row on May 16th at 1pm and 5pm.
RSVP [email protected] to confirm your attendance!
Hope to see you there! :)
https://www.federationofdramaschools.co.uk/whats-on/new-york-showcase-2022
Performing in an off-West End Theatre!
So for our final productions at East 15, we were able to perform at the Bridewell Theatre in central London, a beautiful repurposed Victorian swimming pool! As Covid had cancelled our first opportunity this winter to perform in a real off-West End Theatre, we were all very excited to finally be stepping out of Debden. Due to a need for a little bit of double casting, I wound up being in both the productions- Appropriate by Branden Jacob Jenkins and Incognito By Nick Payne. I played the 8 year old son, Ainsley in Appropriate and Margaret, wife of the famous HM patient in Incognito. Though Incognito is traditionally played by 4 actors- 2 males and 2 females swapping out the roles, we had a cast of 8, with some people just playing one main role, and others playing a smattering of several smaller (but no less important) roles. I think this not only helped showcase us as actors individually, but also helped the audience follow the different stories more easily, as the scenes jump back and forth between different characters and timelines. Margaret's character was particularly challenging because many of her lines are the same throughout her different scenes. She is in a hospital (or ward) with her husband Henry, who has just had an operation to alleviate his seizures, but the surgery has wiped his short term memory. Margaret and Dr. Milner, who is studying Henry, attempt to make progress on restoring his short term memory, by getting him to play the piano, a skill that previously Henry excelled in, but it takes a lot of repetition. Ultimately Henry does not make any real progress until after Margaret is gone (no spoilers). The scenes took a lot of dissecting to determine the real meaning behind each line and figuring out their order in the timeline of play, as they are written out of order.
In Appropriate I played the rambunctious 8 year old son of the family, Ainsley, who although does not have any lines, still steals the show with his many wild entrances and exits. It truly reminded me that there are no small parts, only small actors! It was great to play two such contrasting characters. Although, I'm not sure how I could keep up with Ainsley's hyperactive energy in an extended run!
So for our final productions at East 15, we were able to perform at the Bridewell Theatre in central London, a beautiful repurposed Victorian swimming pool! As Covid had cancelled our first opportunity this winter to perform in a real off-West End Theatre, we were all very excited to finally be stepping out of Debden. Due to a need for a little bit of double casting, I wound up being in both the productions- Appropriate by Branden Jacob Jenkins and Incognito By Nick Payne. I played the 8 year old son, Ainsley in Appropriate and Margaret, wife of the famous HM patient in Incognito. Though Incognito is traditionally played by 4 actors- 2 males and 2 females swapping out the roles, we had a cast of 8, with some people just playing one main role, and others playing a smattering of several smaller (but no less important) roles. I think this not only helped showcase us as actors individually, but also helped the audience follow the different stories more easily, as the scenes jump back and forth between different characters and timelines. Margaret's character was particularly challenging because many of her lines are the same throughout her different scenes. She is in a hospital (or ward) with her husband Henry, who has just had an operation to alleviate his seizures, but the surgery has wiped his short term memory. Margaret and Dr. Milner, who is studying Henry, attempt to make progress on restoring his short term memory, by getting him to play the piano, a skill that previously Henry excelled in, but it takes a lot of repetition. Ultimately Henry does not make any real progress until after Margaret is gone (no spoilers). The scenes took a lot of dissecting to determine the real meaning behind each line and figuring out their order in the timeline of play, as they are written out of order.
In Appropriate I played the rambunctious 8 year old son of the family, Ainsley, who although does not have any lines, still steals the show with his many wild entrances and exits. It truly reminded me that there are no small parts, only small actors! It was great to play two such contrasting characters. Although, I'm not sure how I could keep up with Ainsley's hyperactive energy in an extended run!
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3 Minutes Dead Silence
For my next production at East 15 we are working with a relatively new form of theatre, Headphone Verbatim. This type of theatre involves interviewing people (could be friends, family, colleagues, or even strangers) around a specific topic, editing the interviews, and then performing them live on stage while listening to the interview through headphones. By using this technique you are giving the most truthful portrayal of the interview, without putting any judgement on it, just saying the words as they are and as close to the voice of the interviewee as possible. A "conduit" for the voice.
As we are all Americans in my cast, we chose a topic that is very relevant to what has been in the news now and for many years in our country: Violence and Trauma in Education. We interviewed friends and family who were teachers and students currently, as well as though who had just recently graduated, or even people reminiscing about their time in school years ago. Our interviewees talk about doing various active shooter drills, having the experience of a real shooter on campus, police presence in schools, trauma from student (and teacher) harassment and bullying, how safe people feel at school and the effect all these events have on student's education. It is a pretty heavy subject we are dealing with, so we do have a few people talking positively about their education experience as well. But we think these are important stories that need to be shared, especially at a time when America is still experiencing so many mass shootings and violence, both at schools and in public.
I think it is best summed up in this mission statement we created early in the process:
“This piece of theatre seeks to highlight the highs and lows of the education system through an American lens and put a voice to the individual effect of violence in education. We aim to bring this topic to a populous that may not have experienced these issues, and to hopefully start discussions that challenge society and bring about positive change.”
This show is definitely for a 13+ audience as it deals with such heavy topics and there is a lot of swearing and crude language. Also a trigger and content warning for discussions of violence and trauma in schools, active shooter experiences, discussion of suicide, and loud, sudden noises.
We will be streaming the performance live on April 10th at 2:30pm and 7:30pm, but since this our original work and there are no copyright issues to deal with, it will be available to stream for several days afterwards as well.
https://www.east15.ac.uk/productions-london-loughton
For my next production at East 15 we are working with a relatively new form of theatre, Headphone Verbatim. This type of theatre involves interviewing people (could be friends, family, colleagues, or even strangers) around a specific topic, editing the interviews, and then performing them live on stage while listening to the interview through headphones. By using this technique you are giving the most truthful portrayal of the interview, without putting any judgement on it, just saying the words as they are and as close to the voice of the interviewee as possible. A "conduit" for the voice.
As we are all Americans in my cast, we chose a topic that is very relevant to what has been in the news now and for many years in our country: Violence and Trauma in Education. We interviewed friends and family who were teachers and students currently, as well as though who had just recently graduated, or even people reminiscing about their time in school years ago. Our interviewees talk about doing various active shooter drills, having the experience of a real shooter on campus, police presence in schools, trauma from student (and teacher) harassment and bullying, how safe people feel at school and the effect all these events have on student's education. It is a pretty heavy subject we are dealing with, so we do have a few people talking positively about their education experience as well. But we think these are important stories that need to be shared, especially at a time when America is still experiencing so many mass shootings and violence, both at schools and in public.
I think it is best summed up in this mission statement we created early in the process:
“This piece of theatre seeks to highlight the highs and lows of the education system through an American lens and put a voice to the individual effect of violence in education. We aim to bring this topic to a populous that may not have experienced these issues, and to hopefully start discussions that challenge society and bring about positive change.”
This show is definitely for a 13+ audience as it deals with such heavy topics and there is a lot of swearing and crude language. Also a trigger and content warning for discussions of violence and trauma in schools, active shooter experiences, discussion of suicide, and loud, sudden noises.
We will be streaming the performance live on April 10th at 2:30pm and 7:30pm, but since this our original work and there are no copyright issues to deal with, it will be available to stream for several days afterwards as well.
https://www.east15.ac.uk/productions-london-loughton
More New Headshots!
I wanted to get some more range in my headshots, so I had a lovely session with Fay Summerfield to get some more looks! Head to my Gallery to see them!
I wanted to get some more range in my headshots, so I had a lovely session with Fay Summerfield to get some more looks! Head to my Gallery to see them!
A (Socially Distanced) Christmas Carol
Even in the midst of a second national lockdown, I was fortunate enough to continue to be able to attend school in person (with strict distancing and mask wearing enforced) and rehearse for our upcoming Christmas show. We had a slightly compressed schedule, with the ruling that all in person university classes had to end by December 9th, but we made the most of it and worked hard to create a magical Christmas masterpiece. We were all sectioned off on zones of the stage that we could inhabit, and we could not move to another place to talk, unless it had been unoccupied for 15 mins. If we had to move without talking, we had mask snoods that we would pull up. And they actually blended in with out costumes very well, as they looked like just the sort of thing a Victorian might pull over their face to protect from the cold. I played five different characters, quickly transitioning from a Charity Worker, to Fanny, to Mr. Fezziwig (yes I said Mr.), to The Spirit of Christmas Present, to The Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come. I did a London, Northern, and R.P. accent for different characters and between that, the quick changes, and running from our stage to the balcony up top, it really was a mental and physical workout every show. But it was so much fun and brought so much cheer to our hearts in these dark times. We were able to perform for a small audience of fellow MA/MFA students, which was nice to have some live audience response. There were also recordings made of each performance, and will be available to watch on vimeo from the 15th. So grab a cup of hot cocoa (or mulled wine) and sit back and relax and enjoy A Christmas Carol.
https://www.east15.ac.uk/productions-london-loughton/2020/12/15/a-christmas-carol-1
Even in the midst of a second national lockdown, I was fortunate enough to continue to be able to attend school in person (with strict distancing and mask wearing enforced) and rehearse for our upcoming Christmas show. We had a slightly compressed schedule, with the ruling that all in person university classes had to end by December 9th, but we made the most of it and worked hard to create a magical Christmas masterpiece. We were all sectioned off on zones of the stage that we could inhabit, and we could not move to another place to talk, unless it had been unoccupied for 15 mins. If we had to move without talking, we had mask snoods that we would pull up. And they actually blended in with out costumes very well, as they looked like just the sort of thing a Victorian might pull over their face to protect from the cold. I played five different characters, quickly transitioning from a Charity Worker, to Fanny, to Mr. Fezziwig (yes I said Mr.), to The Spirit of Christmas Present, to The Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come. I did a London, Northern, and R.P. accent for different characters and between that, the quick changes, and running from our stage to the balcony up top, it really was a mental and physical workout every show. But it was so much fun and brought so much cheer to our hearts in these dark times. We were able to perform for a small audience of fellow MA/MFA students, which was nice to have some live audience response. There were also recordings made of each performance, and will be available to watch on vimeo from the 15th. So grab a cup of hot cocoa (or mulled wine) and sit back and relax and enjoy A Christmas Carol.
https://www.east15.ac.uk/productions-london-loughton/2020/12/15/a-christmas-carol-1
Creating solo work
To start our term off as 2nd year MFAs, we write and perform 7 minute solo monologue pieces, inspired by a play of our choice. I chose These Shining Lives, a play about the women who worked for Radium Dial at the beginning of the 20th century. I created a narrative of a girl who is thrilled to be independent and working for the company, until she starts to discover radium's deadly consequences. Much like The Workman's Wife, we streamed this show live to an online audience, although in this case, since we were performing individual monologues, we were able to do them without our masks! (Though we wore them backstage of course!)
Back performing in a theatre for a live(ish) audience
While most theatres have remained shut during the pandemic, I was lucky enough to come back to school a little early this fall and work on an MFA Directing student's final project and perform it in The Corbett, the main performance space at East 15. We took the Covid restrictions very seriously, wearing masks and keeping at least a 1M distance while inside the rehearsal studios. While we were hopeful that for our performances we would be able to do it mask-less, as long as we kept distance, as the state of the UK worsened, and when the tech director who watched an early run of the play said we would be crossing into each other's spaces too many times, we ultimately decided to keep the masks on for the whole run. Though it is certainly an adjustment acting in masks, it really was not too hard, you just to really make sure you were annunciating and articulating every world clearly. (My voice teachers would be proud!) And the lovely mum of one of our cast-mates made us all matching masks!
The play is called The Workman's Wife, and my director Ronja, painstakingly translated it from Finnish to English, as it had never been done in English in the UK before! So we got to do a world premiere of her translation, which is very exciting! Written at the turn of the 20th century by Minna Canth, a female playwright, it looks at the inequality of women at the time, centering around Johanna, who has some money in her dowry, but her husband spends it all on drinking. I played Lena-Kaisa, a conservative, religious woman, who tries to steer Johanna away from making her own income, when her husband spends all her money, and instead just pray and turn to God for guidance. Fortunately (without giving too much of the story away) Lena- Kaisa does have a major shift in character by the end of the play, when she sees how damaging Ridge's (the husband) behavior has been to Johanna.
We streamed the show live on Youtube, since we couldn't have a real audience in theatre and it should be available to watch for a while, and one of the ADs is also working on creating a higher quality video of it, to have available for future use. We are also hopeful that we can perform the play at again at different festivals, once it is safe to do so.
https://youtu.be/iSsDCsKD7xM
While most theatres have remained shut during the pandemic, I was lucky enough to come back to school a little early this fall and work on an MFA Directing student's final project and perform it in The Corbett, the main performance space at East 15. We took the Covid restrictions very seriously, wearing masks and keeping at least a 1M distance while inside the rehearsal studios. While we were hopeful that for our performances we would be able to do it mask-less, as long as we kept distance, as the state of the UK worsened, and when the tech director who watched an early run of the play said we would be crossing into each other's spaces too many times, we ultimately decided to keep the masks on for the whole run. Though it is certainly an adjustment acting in masks, it really was not too hard, you just to really make sure you were annunciating and articulating every world clearly. (My voice teachers would be proud!) And the lovely mum of one of our cast-mates made us all matching masks!
The play is called The Workman's Wife, and my director Ronja, painstakingly translated it from Finnish to English, as it had never been done in English in the UK before! So we got to do a world premiere of her translation, which is very exciting! Written at the turn of the 20th century by Minna Canth, a female playwright, it looks at the inequality of women at the time, centering around Johanna, who has some money in her dowry, but her husband spends it all on drinking. I played Lena-Kaisa, a conservative, religious woman, who tries to steer Johanna away from making her own income, when her husband spends all her money, and instead just pray and turn to God for guidance. Fortunately (without giving too much of the story away) Lena- Kaisa does have a major shift in character by the end of the play, when she sees how damaging Ridge's (the husband) behavior has been to Johanna.
We streamed the show live on Youtube, since we couldn't have a real audience in theatre and it should be available to watch for a while, and one of the ADs is also working on creating a higher quality video of it, to have available for future use. We are also hopeful that we can perform the play at again at different festivals, once it is safe to do so.
https://youtu.be/iSsDCsKD7xM
I'm in a Zoom show!
So, for obvious reasons, in March, East 15 suspended face to face classes and moved online. While this has definitely been a challenge, adapting classes that thrive with person to person interaction, it has been delightful creating a show on this new platform. On June 5th, I will be in Twelfth Night with part of my MFA cohort. This was supposed to be our big end of the year performance on the main stage with costumes, lights, and sets, but we've had fun creating our own unique costumes and props, and embracing bring all the world stage to our little screens. I play Antonio, the old sea captain, but as you will see, he (or really she) has a lot more up her sleeve than you might think! It will run at 12pm EST on June 5th on youtube, but alas only be available when it is live (like real theatre!). https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVSxMSAgrnyrCjt1hZ5JRww
So, for obvious reasons, in March, East 15 suspended face to face classes and moved online. While this has definitely been a challenge, adapting classes that thrive with person to person interaction, it has been delightful creating a show on this new platform. On June 5th, I will be in Twelfth Night with part of my MFA cohort. This was supposed to be our big end of the year performance on the main stage with costumes, lights, and sets, but we've had fun creating our own unique costumes and props, and embracing bring all the world stage to our little screens. I play Antonio, the old sea captain, but as you will see, he (or really she) has a lot more up her sleeve than you might think! It will run at 12pm EST on June 5th on youtube, but alas only be available when it is live (like real theatre!). https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVSxMSAgrnyrCjt1hZ5JRww
Life goal achieved!
Ever since I was a little girl I have loved Shakespeare and specifically a reason I chose East 15 for grad school was that I knew they had a three-week-long residency at The Globe Theatre in London. This December, I finally got to perform on that stage, for a public audience, as Jaques, in As You Like It, That's right I got to say "All the world's a stage" on the Globe Stage!! 10 year old nerd Caroline would probably die if she knew this was in her future.
Ever since I was a little girl I have loved Shakespeare and specifically a reason I chose East 15 for grad school was that I knew they had a three-week-long residency at The Globe Theatre in London. This December, I finally got to perform on that stage, for a public audience, as Jaques, in As You Like It, That's right I got to say "All the world's a stage" on the Globe Stage!! 10 year old nerd Caroline would probably die if she knew this was in her future.
More! I prithee, MORE!
I moved countries!
This fall (2019) I began Grad school at East 15 Acting School in London, UK! I am pursuing my Acting MFA for the next two years. We perform in productions on campus as well in central London, most notably our residency at The Globe Theatre in December of the first term!
This fall (2019) I began Grad school at East 15 Acting School in London, UK! I am pursuing my Acting MFA for the next two years. We perform in productions on campus as well in central London, most notably our residency at The Globe Theatre in December of the first term!
First day of Grad School!