I have never had a more productive summer in my life, 41 days in the studYo had really become a part of my routine that once we were finished I was suffering from post – act one- depression.
I-M-P-R-O-V-I-S-A-T-I-O-N – I have never feared anything as much as this. The thought of having to be thrown in front of a million people and to "think on your feet" – never came easy to me, but that's what I learnt from this course. 'Jump into the deep end'. Face it, go through that disgusting feeling of not knowing what you are doing on stage. Act one actually taught me one BIG lesson – don't be a coward, just get up and DO. That was one thing that was drilled into us - that actions spoke louder than words – quite literally.
I thought the way the course was structured, it never led to any gaps in my head, everything was clear. After every session the next day we would review what we did the previous day – our comments, views etc. I've never come across any place where this is done. A lot of care is taken once you're within the studYo, such that no one goes out of here in confusion. It's not only about the hours, on most days we went beyond the usual 2 hours, and that was okay with all of us. Keeping a journal was essential; it is my prized possession now. Reading my comments I know what exactly I did on a particular day and what I felt afterwards. It instills a sort of discipline in us, so we learn from our mistakes.
Yog is a brilliant teacher, not just of dramatics- anything. He really knows a lot, not just about theatre, but even cinema and other performing arts. He doesn't teach and move on, he makes sure we have thoroughly understood before moving on. Sometimes people are shy to come out of their shells, he just pushes you into the deep end and then you need to struggle it out. I think that is the best way to learn. He is very 'articulate' J while teaching so its fairly simple for anyone to follow. Even though he stresses upon discipline, it's not like "school"!. I've never been happier with homework as much as when I got it here. Every exercise is interesting, especially the techniques of mime, and group improv's which were my favorite. Another very striking characteristic was that it was NOT a classroom, we discussed with everyone, addressing to everyone present there- the atmosphere really boosts confidence – am saying this from personal experience.
I met many new people and watched transformations happen as they let the process take over. As soon as we started applying what we learnt, to our improvisations. The last day still remains in my memory, when each of us wanted to come and do an improvisation.
Every part in the course shows that a lot of work has gone in, to compile all these "basics". It's great that people want to share what they know. I've always wanted to act and be on stage. But there is a difference from just acting because I want to be on stage and acting and really knowing what I'm doing on stage. I don't mean to sound preachy here, but-I can very confidently say, act one equips us with craft, techniques that you can never read off a book, these are tools for life.
Everyone has a process or a method of teaching, this one here – 'act one' is extremely potent my friends. I'm not trying to be a drama queen, but I actually mean it. I've had days when I felt terrible about a certain improvisation or exercise, but there were good days too. And what I noticed was, the faster and sooner you let yourself go and get into the groove, the more you learn from it. Don't shy away, just go with the flow, immerse yourself and you'll feel the magic, and then you will see it.
I'd really like to thank Yog and all the other people who I've interacted with for a wonderful journey! I hope more people get to know of how super cool the course is and sign up! *trust me everybody, otherwise you can hunt me down and shoot me later!*
Godspeed.
Love
Shruti
