Blog: Naseema

 Monday

When I arrived at the Half Moon, I was nervous as I didn’t really know what to expect. However, when I entered, I was warmly greeted by Lydia, who showed me to my seat in the office. After filling out a form and reading a pack with the details of my work experience, she gave me a tour of the building. As I have already visited the Half Moon last year for Careers in Theatre, I recognized some of the rooms. However, we went to the basement, which I had never seen before, and with the help of Lydia I turned on the sound system for the Solar group that would come that evening.

After the tour, I began watching a play on Vimeo called Guantanamo Boy which was based on a book of the same name, which caught my eye from its name alone. It was about a teenage boy who is imprisoned after being falsely accused of being involved in terrorism.  I found it quite shocking, especially after reading a news article which stated that real events had inspired the author. Later, I have to write a review of the play, which I am looking forward to.

Towards the end of the day, I got involved with the Solar group, who were rehearsing their scenes for their performance. I was nervous as I hadn’t done anything like that before, but the instructors were kind and welcoming, which calmed my nerves, as did the fun warm up at the start of the session, which I was familiar with as I have played a similar game at school in Drama. During the session, I stood in for someone who was absent, and we rehearsed where everyone would be for their scenes during the performance. I had a great time.

Tuesday

Today, I arrived at 12 o’clock and I am now sitting in a different seat. Androulla showed me how to find all my documents on the computer and asked me to write my blog for yesterday. I did this by reading past blogs for inspiration and then I began writing my blog. Then I found photos of when I did Careers in Theatre last year which brought back a lot of memories.

After this I began writing my review for Guantanamo Boy. I didn’t get very far because I didn’t really know where to start but I will continue writing it tomorrow.

After that, Lydia and I got the props from the basement for the Eclipse group. I watched their session where they were rehearsing their scenes for their performance. They were time travelers who travel to different dimensions through a magic door. It began with a calming warm-up and a few games and then they began running through their scenes. It was quite different from the Solar group as there were a lot more people, but I still enjoyed it.

After the session was done, I had 15 minutes left of the day, so I wrote some notes for the blog and wrote some more of the review before going home.

Wednesday

I started the day by writing my blog for yesterday. After that Lydia asked me to help her by sending text messages to the parents who take part in Creative Play with their children. When I was done with this, I continued writing my review, which I have almost finished.

Lydia also asked me to help with tallying the pre-evaluation forms for the Next Steps programme, which helps Year Six students make the transition from primary to secondary school. I look forward to helping the group tomorrow.

At the end of the day, I watched the Equinox session. Again, this group was very different to the two other groups I had seen earlier in the week as they were a lot calmer. The session started with a quick warm-up and then they began sharing ideas for the introduction of their performance in a few weeks.  All of their scenes were about opening Pandora’s box which I found very interesting. After rehearsing their scenes, they shared them back to the rest of the group and they were given feedback to help improve their scenes for next week. I really enjoyed this session as their scenes were all very interesting.

Thursday

Today, I started by writing my blog for yesterday and I finalized my review for Guantanamo Boy. I found finishing it quite hard, but I am happy with how it turned out overall. I also finished tallying the pre-evaluation forms for Next Steps that I didn’t do yesterday. After that I entered the data into a spreadsheet.

I went through my review one last time before the people for the Next Steps session began at the end of the day. This group was my favourite out of all of the groups I had joined in the week. The session was focused on how to be prepared for secondary school. It was a mixture of games, creating still images, role play and sharing ideas for ways to avoid being late or getting detentions. I took part in some of the games, but for some I took photos. The activities were all interesting and everyone got involved, even if they were shy at first. I think that this programme is a really good way for Year 6 students to feel more prepared for secondary school whilst having fun and making friends.

Friday

Today I started by writing my blog and finishing entering the numbers into the spreadsheet. Emily then gave me a book called ‘The ABC of Theatre Jargon’ which was full of words relating to theatre, so I looked through it for a while.

After my break, I created clues for the Dramatic Maths group, and I also created certificates for them as next week is their final session. Then, Lydia showed me how to use the lights in the theatre and I tried it out myself and it was very interesting.

I’ve really enjoyed my week at the Half Moon Theatre, and I am very sad that today is my last day. I especially enjoyed joining the youth theatres and reviewing Guantanamo Boy. Everyone was so welcoming and kind and I would love to come back!