Have you always secretly yearned to perform on stage but didn’t know how or where to begin?
From 12th September 2012 a Surrey based group will start a new course of performing arts workshops aimed at the over 40s to help you bring out your ‘inner artiste.’
PlayAct is the brainchild of four women who have previously attended adult performing arts classes. Their workshops are aimed at anybody over the age of 40 who wants to join an amateur dramatics club, choir or dance class but without the pressure of competing with younger and more ambitious participants.
Founder Christine Humphries explains, “The idea is not to work towards performing a complete play, learn elaborate choral techniques or become the new Darcey Bussell but to incorporate elements from all performing arts to build self-confidence, have fun and forget your worries for a couple of hours every week.
"We have two fantastic professionals on board who will guide students through a combination of drama, song, dance, theatre games and stagecraft. We then incorporate what we’ve learned throughout the course in to a performance for friends and family at the end of term.
“There are many such groups that cater for children and young people but nothing for the generation of over 40s who may have spent their adult lives looking after children and partners and would now like a bit of ‘me-time’ and an opportunity to have a go at being on stage”.
Julie Baker, another founder of the group, originally found the idea of performing hugely intimidating but the patience of the teachers and the support and camaraderie from the other students meant that, by the end of the course, she was delivering a scene from George Bernard Shaw’s ‘Pygmalion’ from memory in front of an audience.
“I would never have believed I could manage to do anything like that,” explains Julie. “The whole experience has given me such an overwhelming sense of achievement I can’t wait for our new term to start!”
The next season of PlayAct classes commences on Wednesday 12th September 2012 from 7.30pm to 9.30pm for a 10-week term. They take place at The Drama Studio, Hinchley Wood School, Surrey. For more details please email PlayAct on playact.org@gmail.com or ring Chris on 07917 124451 or Lottie on 07767 204544.
Pictured left to right: Lottie Gazzard, Christine Humphreys, Pauline Crisp and Julie Baker
