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Should you put your daughter on the stage?

Thursday 24 October 2013

Seven aspiring OQ Drama Queens fill us in ontreading the boards beyond Queenswood.

Fran Regis

After Queenswood, I gained a scholarship to a drama school in New York, the
American Academy of Dramatic Arts. I went there for six months before
getting into the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. 

I did a play called Our Days of Rage at the Old Vic tunnels, and some play readings for the National and other theatre companies. 

In October 2013, I play the youngest sister, Irina, in Chekhov’s The Three Sisters, the first ever production at the brand new Milton Court Theatre in the Barbican.

My fingers are crossed for the future.


Georgina Nicholas

After I left Queenswood I took a
gap year, not only so I could go travelling, but so I could really concentrate
on auditions and improving my acting. I started by joining a theatre company in
Welwyn Garden City where I played the role of “exotic dancer” in The Graduate! I then played Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Little Red Riding
Hood in Into The Woods. I sang every day
for at least two hours and went to dance classes where I could. I have now been
offered a place at Mountview starting this autumn and I am so excited to be studying there.

Audition tip – although keeping myself busy made me a better actress, it also
exhausted me for a few of my auditions. If I were to go back in time, I
wouldn’t spread myself as thin, but having a lot on your plate is part of being
a Queenswood girl!


Olivia Smith

I am starring in an upcoming short horror
film, Wonderland, directed by Andrew Bury, and I will be receiving an IMBD credit. I will be playing the role of
Laura, a young girl who is taken and made to believe she has been in a mental
institution her whole life. I am
currently presenting the ‘Eco-munch’ channel on Club 106 TV, which is aired on
Youtube. I am in the process of a four week crash course, training to be a
presenter. I am still very new to it all but so far I love it! I will be
interviewing different chefs and nutritionists who will talk about the
consumption of fresh, sustainable and locally produced organic food and who aim
to educate young people with skills needed to prepare healthy meals for university.
I have recently modelled for ASOS, Barry M and I am on Video-jug modelling
wedding dresses/hair/make-up. I was a backing dancer for Little Mix’s new
music video which will be out very soon!


Lauren Garnham

Since leaving Queenswood, I have
managed to obtain a degree (Leeds University), gone to Drama School (Lee
Strasberg, New York) and had a substantial number of highs and lows.

The highs? The Sea Plays at the Old Vic Tunnels,
Welcome to the Punch with James
McAvoy, No Smoking (short film
nominated at the BFI Future Film Festival).

The lows? Not getting the role,
losing self-motivation, asking myself, ‘Why am I doing this again?!’

So far, I
have learned that passion and self-motivation are key. You have to be like a
punch bag – once you get knocked down, you must always get back up. This summer I played Olivia in Twelfth
Night
and Parnell
McCarthy in Anatomy of a Murder at Blackfriars. I am
playing the title role of Antigone in
Athens in September.


Olivia Grant

After taking a one year diploma in Acting at
the Central School of Speech and Drama, Olivia has successfully gained a place
at Guildhall for autumn 2013. She is over the moon!


Emma Mottram

I am in my third year at
Loughborough University studying English Literature and Drama. So far I have
loved my time at Loughborough, I really enjoy my course and the student
lifestyle. It’s a bit crazy/frightening to think I’ve got less than a year left
until I graduate! Since leaving Q my passion for acting has only increased and
I am involved in productions with Loughborough’s Stage Society and with the
Little Theatre in Leicester. This summer I headed to the Edinburgh Fringe
Festival with an ensemble theatre company. We took a play called Road by Jim Cartwright. I have just completed my first professional
acting job with a small role in a TV mini-series. I hope to go to drama school
once I graduate to pursue an acting career; however, my plan B is journalism
and I have an internship as a theatre critic for an online paper called A Younger Theatre, which I love.


Dani Mosimann

In the past seven years since leaving Queenswood I have
formed three different theatre companies, all still running successfully. The
first professional company I was a member of was The Hungry Bitches who specialise in cabaret-style sketch shows and
new off-the-wall musicals. My role in this company is that of Creative
Producer, meaning I do a bit of everything; a bit of marketing, a bit of
concept development, a bit of directing, a bit of writing, a bit of
venue and design co-ordination, and so on. I also sometimes perform in the
cabarets along with the rest of the production team. The company’s aim is to be
more of a brand than a theatre company. Our musical Facehunters (I was a
credited writer for the first two versions) was shortlisted for the 2012
Edinburgh Emerging Artists Competition and won the Cameron Macintosh Award
after performing at the National Student Drama Festival this spring. I have
also formed a collective called Rough
Triangle whilst studying for my MA in Writing for Performance and
Publication. This was a Performance Art based group performing at a range of
festivals. Torn Apart Theatre was
formed a few months after my return to London with some other theatre
graduates. We performed an immersive and experiential adaptation
of the Greek myth of Philomele on the Golden Hinde II
(a replica Tudor battleship at London Bridge) in July 2013.

I was very
much involved with the theatre societies at Leeds University and wrote,
directed, performed and produced different projects. I would highly recommend
any Q girl to get as involved in university theatre as possible and to go to
the Edinburgh Fringe at least once.

I have temporarily sold out, and got a job as a
Marketing Assistant for a Consultancy firm. My plan is to finally go travelling
in the New Year and spend some time living in other countries before I get too
old to chase a career in the creative industries. Upon my return I am playing
with the idea of moving into TV production and away from theatre. I also have
plans with my writing – both for stage and screen – but I will never be a
full-time writer as I enjoy working with people too much. Ultimately, as long
as I am doing something creative I know I’ll be happy.      

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