WOW, which stands for Weekend of Workshops, is a local extension of the series of workshops that IB Theatre students would have been exposed to in the past when student overseas trips were still running. Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, high school trips to Australia have unfortunately been cancelled indefinitely. However, our Grade 11 and 12 IB Theatre students now have the chance to participate in a three-day intensive acting and directing programme with Shane Anthony and Natasha McNamara, acting and directing tutors who work at NIDA (The National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney, Australia) in our very own black box in UWCSEA East in during the month of September! 

Up to date, WOW has had two successful runs - one in 2021 and the most recent one that just concluded in 2022. Our most recent run of the Weekend of Workshops was from 16th to 19th September 2022 and this year we not only worked with Shane Anthony and Natasha McNamara, but we also collaborated with Anna Houston - an actor, playwright and director who graduated from NIDA back in 2004.

In 2022, Shane Anthony, Natasha McNamara, and Anna Houston conducted workshops via Zoom with the superb camera set up from the AV  Team to ensure a high level of engagement with the students and maximum high definition video quality on the projector.

The workshop conducted by Natasha focussed on the Voice and she taught the students important techniques on the breath, the pace, the articulation of words and much more through various vocal exercises. Anna Houston then worked on Text and Acting with the students - teaching them how to maintain the relationship with the audience and with their acting partners and to have fun while playing/acting even whilst keeping their objective in mind. The workshops by Shane Anthony started off with an intense physical exercise where he taught the students techniques from the Suzuki Method of Actor Training which had a lot of emphasis on the lower half of the body. Shane then taught the students about Viewpoints such as Repetition, Proximity, and Kinaesthetic Response that will help them build an engaging story with their bodies and movement.   

In addition to the programme of workshops students had also:

• Participated in Silent Disco around campus

• Enjoyed a time at Gardens by the Bay

• Watched professional theatre @ Marina Bay Sands 

"I learnt that each line and word has its own emotion, and that to express that with tone, voice, volume and pace is super important. Secondly, articulation is very important for delivering it clearly to the audience so that they are able to understand the message you are communicating. Third, I realised that eye line is very important to be able to engage with the audience and deliver your piece efficiently."

Amaana (Grade 12)

"One of the takeaways from WOW was using my full body to fully express my emotions of the messages I want to communicate. Usually I find myself relying on my vocals and sometimes neglect the rest of my body and I find that I can’t effectively communicate the messages I want to. Next, I learnt the importance of always having a target audience and knowing what my purpose and objective is when speaking any dialogue. This was really important for me to understand because not only is it more engaging for the audience to see/hear but it also makes it easier for me as an actor to feel confident with what I am saying. Lastly, spatial relationships was something I really valued exploring during this workshop because it helped me brainstorm and develop ideas and connect it to our CP project. It was very interesting to see how just a change in space can completely change a message."

Alexandra (Lexie) (Grade 11)

"Through the workshops conducted, I learnt that when performing a monologue, don’t always go with your instinct as it’s often the “easiest” route. Instead, try to look for the intricacies or more subtle emotions and intentions behind what someone is saying. For example, even if someone is angrily delivering a monologue, they don’t have to be shouting loudly the entire time. I also learnt that enjoying and having fun while performing and being on stage is incredibly important. If an actor is not having fun, it’s very apparent to the audience. The energy shown when someone is playing and having fun on stage should be translated into your performance. In addition, using physicality to create different spatial relationships between characters can make a scene or the perception of two characters a lot more effective/interesting to look at."

Wren (Grade 11)

"I learned the importance of portraying the connection between characters. This was shown during multiple aspects of the Weekend of Workshops, for example, viewpoints, the text work and even the monologues when acknowledging that you are still talking to a focus point. Secondly, I learned the importance of using one's physicality as much as one's voice, if not more to portray emotions, ideas and significant moments. Third, I found the 7 questions to ask yourself about your character to be very important, especially the questions about objective. This helped me to further connect with my character."

Aisha (Grade 11)

"My takeaway from WOW is that while performing a monologue, it is important to have fluctuations in your emotions and change it depending on trains of thought instead of having an emotional wash. I also realised that abstract physicality is just as beneficial as naturalistic physicality and it is more visually appealing along with spatial relations. Taking into account the architecture in the room and allowing that to reflect in your movements. My last takeaway is to think about when your character steps up or jacks away and whether or not there are things within the monologue that are very difficult for your character to say."

Maya (Grade 11)

In 2021, Shane Anthony and Natasha McNamara conducted workshops via Zoom and we had used our 3 camera set up to ensure a high level of engagement with the students.

These workshops had focused on extending our students’ skills in the areas of acting and directing, and have been particularly beneficial to our past Grade 12 students in relation to the following IB Theatre assessments:

• Production Proposal

• Solo Performance

• Collaborative Theatre Project

In addition to the programme of workshops students had also:

• Attended professional theatre online 

• Undertook backstage tours @ the Esplanade 

• Participated in Q&A session with a director

High school students had the chance to extend their drama and theatre skills in an internationally acclaimed environment. Participation in these series of workshops would also offer new skills and stimulus for future coursework and could also be included as part of college and university applications.