Let's Talk About

 Let’s Talk About 

A new Fair Access Project working with

Care Experienced and Estranged Young People

Young person holding a camera hiding their face
📸 Graeme Roger

Let’s Talk About…our new project working with care experienced and estranged young people in the performing and production arts. 

Supported by the William Grant Foundation, we are hoping to highlight some of the best arts practice happening across Scotland. We’ve kickstarted the project in Aberdeenshire, working with one of the nine care groups overseen by Holly Robertson, Aberdeenshire’s Virtual Head Teacher. We visited the Meldrum Academy care group on a field trip to Newburgh Seal Beach with our artists in residence, Graeme Roger and Dave Martin. 8 young people got to grips with how to use film, photography, sound equipment and even drones on the beach. We can’t wait to see what work they produce at their exhibition later in the year. 

Let’s Talk About…is taking place in Aberdeenshire, Ayrshire, on Mull and beyond this autumn and winter and we will be sharing how the project is going on a brand-new website soon. In the meantime, if you want to read about some of our care experienced work we did last year, check out our Sounding Out report.

If you are care experienced or estranged and interested in studying the performing and production arts, you might be eligible for our Transitions programme. Find out more about how to apply to Transitions on our website.

Performance Making Taster Workshops

 PERFORMANCE MAKING WORKSHOPS 

at the Traverse in Edinburgh and RCS in Glasgow

Two young people standingwith their back to each other, touching with a foot

In partnership with Dr Vania Gala, Head of the new Performance Making BA, Fair Access has been running taster workshops at the Traverse Theatre and at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

At both venues, we had a brilliant turnout of creative people, willing to move, collaborate and explore new ways of working together:


‘I loved being creative, moving and the energy in the room’ 


‘It felt so good to move’ 


‘I enjoyed the positive way we connected to each other and to our own bodies, and thinking about movement in a different way…I had a lot of fun!’ 


‘Learning that there are resources out there that encourage new theatre being created was so useful’ 


Our session at RCS was run in partnership with Scottish Youth Theatre and Creative Director Rikki Payne brought a group of young artists from Dunoon to take part and also couldn’t resist joining in himself! The session was co-led by Lucy Cash who teaches on the new degree programme.

Interested in exploring Performance Making with Transitions?

If you’re keen to work across different artforms including performance, movement, dance, choreography, sound, light and community arts, apply to Transitions on our website 

Recharge Your Theatre Practice, Season Two!

 Recharge Your Theatre Practice 

Career Long Professional Learning for

N5, Higher and Advanced Higher Teachers

A woman on stage in costume, reading from an old blotted bit of paper

Build your skills in Directing Monologues for Auditions and Practical Lighting. Join us at RCS and All Saints Secondary School Glasgow for workshops to refresh your creative practice and share new ways of working!

Directing Monologues and Audition Techniques

Practical Lighting Skills

When: Wednesday 10 May, 4 – 6pm
Where: RCS, Wallace Studios
When: Thursday 18 May, 4 – 6pm
Where: All Saints Secondary School
Led by: Liz Carruthers, Director

Find out what a typical drama school audition process looks like from Liz Carruthers, who sits regularly on audition panels for the RCS, both in Scotland and internationally. Discover how you can best prepare your pupils or students, including choosing and working on suitable monologues, responding well to re-direction in the audition and being best prepared for the interview.  Liz will also discuss managing auditionee expectations and having a good plan B if not successful the first time, which is very common! 

Led by: Christoph Wagner, Lecturer in Lighting RCS 

Explore what makes an effective lighting design and how to achieve this with equipment typically found in a secondary school drama studio. This hands-on session will also look at how to use lights and equipment correctly. Using short scenes as stimulus, we’ll consider how to light key moments and document this with plans, notes and cue sheets. With lots of opportunities for questions, to troubleshoot challenges with teaching lighting in school, and sharing solutions.

‘Super helpful and I have lots of ideas to take back to school! Thank you’ 

‘Really inspiring and enjoyable – I wish we had more opportunities like this’

 Contact Us 

If you have any questions or queries, get in touch with the team on: fairaccesshello@rcs.ac.uk

48 Hour Visual Storytelling Challenge (Greenock)

 48 Hour Visual Storytelling Challenge 

Saturday 28 Jan & Sunday 29 Jan, 10 – 4pm

Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock

People wearing Samhain style costumes with dark mysterious lighting

Join award-winning physical theatre and scenography company, Megahertz, for a fun and energetic crash course. It will cover DIY costume, character creation, physical storytelling, lighting, projection and site-specific devising.

Bring to life your very own Sci-Fi creature in response to the different spaces at the Beacon Arts Centre. You can also take part in a photoshoot to document your creations

“I love the alien in people, I love the wilderness… the lightning of the Other mind” – Alice Bradley Sheldon aka James Tiptree Jr, Author

If you love this quote, you’ll love this opportunity, so join us

Where: Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock
When: Sat 28 Jan & Sun 29 Jan, 10am – 4pm
Who: For those aged 16-30
Cost: Free, you just need to book your place


Click here to visit the booking form to reserve your place


 Get In Touch 

If you have any questions or queries, email: fairaccesshello@rcs.ac.uk

Get Into: Musical Theatre, End of Term

 GET INTO: MUSICAL THEATRE 

End of Term Update

A group of young adults, holding their ears with ukes on the floor.

Last weekend we celebrated the end of our first term of ‘Get Into Musical Theatre’. Our ten incredible students shared their new skills in front of a full audience of friends, family and Fair Access staff.

Get into Musical Theatre is one of our new activities this year. It runs weekly over three terms and is designed to support Fair Access students develop skills in acting, singing dancing and musicianship – all the skills needed for a Musical Theatre pathway. The course is taught by 3 outstanding professionals including Transitions Musical Theatre Alumni Caitlin Forbes.

We are so proud of our Get Into Musical Theatre group and can’t wait to carry on building skills and having fun next term.

 Our Transitions Programme is open for applications. If you or someone you know is interested in studying musical theatre, why not check out our pages to find out if you are eligible?

Have You Seen Them?

 Fair Access Ambassadors 

In Schools and at Local Events

Our newly recruited Fair Access Ambassadors for 2022/23 have been busy over the past few months attending events and speaking to school groups. They’ve been letting everyone know about Fair Access here at RCS alongside talking to pupils, parents, and carers about the different options for studying and careers in the performing and production arts.

Two young people holding a poster and smiling
Nikyla and Tayor at Inverclyde Academy Drama Club

 

A young woman holding a postcard to her face
Livia at Garnock Community Campus Higher Media Class

 

Young man standing in front of a company banner with a table of materials
Dayton at Rosshall Careers Fair

Alongside attending events at Inverclyde Academy, Auchenharvie Academy, Garnock Community Campus and Rosshall Careers Fair, they have events upcoming across the country. If you see any of our Fair Access Ambassadors out and about, be sure to say hello!!

 Get In Touch 

If you’d like to find out more about our Fair Access Ambassador Programme, email: fairaccesshello@rcs.ac.uk