Props Presentation 2020

It’s that time of year again where our first year students undertake their Props Presentations. Slightly different this year, the showings took place over four sessions instead of two, to allow the students space to distance in the Seminar Room, and sadly we couldn’t have our usual invited ‘audience’ of students and staff to view the presentations (but thank you very much Lisa from Drama Admin who came to have a look). We also couldn’t encourage students to visit hire houses in person, so that element has taken place online. We’ve got lots planned for visits once social distancing restrictions are eased though so the first years won’t miss out!

The students were each given a playwright and asked to choose one of their plays. They then research the play and write a props list. Armed with this props list, they choose a small selection of props from the list to source using the skills they’ve learned in their Prop classes so far. This has to include using items from our stores, sourcing items from shops, looking on hire house websites and obtaining quotes to hire, making and borrowing. As usual, the students don’t have to actually pay for and provide the items – just proof they’ve spoken to people.

Here are some photographs from this years presentations.

Alex presented props from ‘The Jew of Malta’ by Christopher Marlowe.

Benedict chose ‘The Deep Blue Sea’ by Terence Rattigan.

Beri selected props from ‘The School for Scandal’ by RB Sheridan – here he is setting up.

Iben used Frederico Garcia Lorca’s ‘The House of Bernarda Alba’ – including doing some embroidery as a make.

Jack ended up on a last minute dash to Surrey to collect his newspapers from the printers as they couldn’t be delivered in time! Props from Michael Frayn’s ‘Alphabetical Order’.

Louis chose ‘Translations’ by Brian Friel.

Monika’s props came from ‘No Quarter’ by Polly Stenham.

Qian Yan’s play was ‘The Unexpected Man’ by Yasmina Reza.

Sammy chose Willy Russell’s ‘Educating Rita’.

‘The Death of a Salesman’ by Arthur Miller was propped by Teia.

And last but not least, Tom worked on Athol Fugard’s ‘Master Harold and the Boys’.

Well done all!

Class of 2020 – Em Davis

Em is interested in working in the film or event industries, in roles including Event Manager, Photographer and Filmmaker. Her time at Guildhall saw her work on a range of projects with the Video Design for Live Production program and Guildhall Live Events (GLE).

Earlier this year, she worked on a project which created short films that merge 3D and live action. Her Graduation Project was an abstract 3D film called ‘Knowing When to Say Hi’ – you can see some short clips from this below.

Em’s favourite productions during her time at Guildhall were ‘The Wheel’ for which she was DSM and ‘125 Years of Tower Bridge’ which was a project she worked on for GLE.

You can view more information on Em and get a copy of her CV here.

Class of 2020 – Georgia Dacey

Georgia’s Graduation Project was her last piece of work at Guildhall. This was to produce her own immersive show based on ‘The Jungle Book’. Georgia is interested in interactive/immersive and site specific theatre, festivals and events, specifically ones that involve puppetry and would like to work as an ASM or DSM.

Georgia says ‘my most memorable show from Guildhall is ‘Earthquakes in London’ which I was SM on. The show had some heavy emotions and issues. I’m so proud of how the actors and the technical teams worked together to create a show full of music, dance and beautiful visuals. It was one of the most impressive and bizarre shows Guildhall has ever seen, and won’t be forgotten!’

Photographs include: 📸 ‘Earthquakes in London’ on which Georgia was Stage Manager and ‘La Fedelta Premiata’, DSM, both for Guildhall School. Mihaela Bodlovic. ‘Running Wild’ for Gyre and Gimble, Chichester Festival Theatre, ASM. Pride in London, Head of Stage. ‘Three Musketeers’ for Iris Theatre, ASM.

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You can view more information on Georgia and get a copy of her CV here.

Class of 2020 – May Curtiss

May’s final production role at Guildhall was as Stage Manager for our Virtual Opera Double Bill. May’s industry interests include disability and minority inclusive theatre, site-specific theatre, Regional and Repertory theatre and live and broadcasted events. She would like to work in a stage management team as ASM/book cover, working towards becoming a Stage Manager and Event Production Co-ordinator.

May’s Graduation Project was ‘Act Right: thoughtful theatre’ – a project aiming to make theatre more inclusive and accommodating to audience members with hidden and physical disabilities by focusing on improvements that can be made to Front of House.

May says ‘during my time at Guildhall I have most enjoyed my role as ASM on the site-specific production that took place on the Barbican High walk as it opened my eyes to non-conventional theatre. Also, my role as SM on Provok’d as I got to be part of a production that raised issues about race, gender and sexism present in our society today. I think it is so important to challenge our audiences, encourage creative thinking and provoke action’.

You can view more information on May and get a copy of her CV here.

Class of 2020 – Sophie Alice Cooper

Sophie’s last piece of work at Guildhall was her Graduation Project, which was ‘The History of the Toilette: An Imagined Installation and Period Set Dressing Project’.

Her highlight of her time at Guildhall was the opportunity to Stage Manage ‘The Angel Esmeralda’ last Spring Term, which was a brand new opera. She also Stage Managed our production of ‘The Wheel’ last Autumn term and was an ASM for our Musical ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ in her second year. Sophie’s aim is to work on theatre, opera and events as part of Stage Management teams.

You can view more information on Sophie and get a copy of her CV here.

📸 Merrily We Roll Along: Clive Barda
📸 The Angel Esmeralda and The Wheel: Mihaela Bodlovic
📸 Opera Scenes: Matthew Ferguson, FG Studios

Class of 2020 – Eli Banfield

From ‘The Royale’ – photo credit Mihaela Bodlovic

Eli’s final production role at Guildhall was as DSM for our Virtual Opera Double Bill last summer term. She worked on a variety of productions during her time with us, including Stage Managing a beautiful Opera, a Drama in the Rep season and memorably undertaking the role of ASM on ‘Saturday, Sunday, Monday’, which involved over 100 props and her having to cook a full meal every evening to be served in the show!

Eli’s other interests during her time with us included trying her hand at Scenic Art and initiating a culture of sustainability in the ways we produce and strike our productions. This is something she’s very passionate about and wants to take forward into her career.

Eli says ‘I look forward to stepping out into the industry and am keen to get work on opera and ballet. I will be keen to also get a taste of other theatre genres and the live events world. For my Graduation Project I looked at how the skills of a Stage Manager can be transferred into film work, therefore I’d be keen to see where that path could take me. Guildhall has given me the confidence and drive to step out into the amazing entertainment industry!!’

You can view more information on Eli and get a copy of her CV here.

📸 Saturday, Sunday, Monday (2018): Clive Barda
📸 La Fedelta Premiata (2019) and The Royale (2020): Mihaela Bodlovic
📸 others: Eli

Class of 2020

We mentioned in our post ‘Guildhall Through Lockdown’ that we’d run an Instagram series about our graduating class of 2020 back in July.

Over the next couple of weeks, stay tuned for more information on our Class of 2020 – depending on Covid restrictions their Graduation Ceremony is currently planned for March, but we’d love to promote them and their work one more time!