Show artwork for A Show in Itself
Noah Gullan
Education

A Show in Itself

Work experience student Noah Gullan shares what he learnt from a week in the Così rehearsal room.

Noah Gullan shares what he learnt from his work experience placement in the rehearsal room for Così. 

Throughout the first week of April, I was honoured to be given the opportunity to undertake work experience at MTC to observe the rehearsal of Così by Louis Nowra. The brilliant stage management team, whom were all eager to share with me the workings of a professional production’s development process, supervised me.

Upon arrival, I was greeted by Nick (Education Coordinator), who took me on a tour of the impressive facilities at MTC HQ. I was astounded at the sheer amount of sets, props and costumes that are housed and created on premises. Throughout this tour, I was also introduced to many of the amazing and caring staff members, whom I would be working with for the next week. I was very grateful to everyone who took time out of their day to welcome me.

After the tour, I was taken into the rehearsal room where I would be spending the majority of my week. Here, I met the cast and crew of Così, who were all super excited to have me there for the week and instantly welcomed me with open arms. They showed a genuine interest in involving me, and showing me how professional rehearsals are conducted. Even in the first few minutes, I had already gained abundant amounts of knowledge and insight into the ways in which everyone cooperatively worked together. Sarah Goodes, the director of this production, set the tone for these rehearsals, constantly constructing and refining the scenes, and each individual actor’s performance within her interpretation. Watching Sarah work was a show in itself. Her attention to detail and the way in which she always made decisions collaboratively was inspirational, and progressed my view on how theatre is made. I have learnt so much from Sarah over the week and I will definitely strive to employ her style of collaborative direction in my own work.

Cosi rehearsals

Sarah Goodes, Robert Menzies and Rahel Romahn in rehearsal.

One of the highlights from this week was just watching the actors build and create this story right before my eyes. Each one of them so insanely talented and hilarious in the portrayal of their characters from this classic Australian comedy. I have honestly never laughed so much than I did in these rehearsals! I spent a large amount of my time throughout this week in the company of this gregarious group of actors, who were all extremely welcoming and authentically interested in me and my aspirations. I felt completely accepted and gained a further knowledge of the industry and the actors’ creative process, watching them all trial and perfect their characters’ idiosyncrasies and comedic bits. I can’t wait to see them perform on stage!

It was inspiring to work alongside this group of professionals, who had created an environment similar to that of a close family. I felt very privileged that during our lunch breaks, many of the cast and creatives were eager to have conversations with me and share their vast understanding of the industry.

I cannot emphasise enough how amazingly beneficial this experience was to me. I would like to thank everyone at MTC for giving me this life-changing experience, and for being so welcoming and accepting. I would especially like to acknowledge the cast and crew of Così, who were all friendly and have shared so much professional wisdom, showing me how to work together and create theatre. Everyone needs to go and see this highly intelligent and hilarious production of Così, it is absolutely brilliant and will have you laughing and engrossed in the story all night!

Così plays at Southbank Theatre from 30 April.

To learn more about work experience at MTC, click here.

 

Published on 18 April 2019

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