Our current theatre course AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS is the 44th written and directed for Networks Theatre by Nick Moore, our Artistic Director. Over the past 24 years, 100s and 100s of young actors have trod the boards at our two venues. The first courses were held in our old theatre in Calle Reyes Católicos, Orihuela. Who can imagine now that we packed so much into that small space? Legendary theatre director Peter Brook wrote a book called The Empty Space about the different places that have been home to theatre and we think he’d have liked to have known we produced so much in our original tiny space. 60 shows to be precise! The theatre might have been small but the potential was enormous and we certainly knocked it out of the park show after show in that venue.
Image: Around the World in 80 Days, 2009, in our original theatre.
In May 2012 when we moved to our new theatre it was an enormous release for the director Nick Moore. Suddenly the walls were that little bit further apart and the possibilities of what we could produce so much more exciting.
The theatre courses made the most of the enlarged space and two entrances on either side of the stage were an absolute luxury. Added to that changing rooms at the rear and no toilet flushing overhead. How wonderful. The first theatre course in that space was TITANIC: ALL ABOARD FOR AMERICA. Don’t worry, the show didn’t focus on the icy end that sadly many of those passengers met on that fateful night in 1912, instead it looked at the passengers and crew who were sailing off to America to pursue new lives full of hopes and dreams. One hundred years later after Titanic sunk it was a privilege to tell these, albeit, fictitious stories with our brilliant young actors. Theatre is not only about entertainment it can also educate and the theme of the show certainly gave the actors a sense of history.
Image: Titanic: All Aboard for America, 2012, in our new theatre.
So now it’s 2023 and another 50 student actors are mid-rehearsal for our theatre course. The show is Around the World in 80 Days, it’s the 3rd time we’ve produced it.
When Nick is working with them, there is a simple process. Each day, 1 or 2 pages of the script is translated and then the actors read their parts as a “listen and repeat” with Nick saying all of their lines to help pronunciation. Then they stage the scene and repeat it several times. When the songs need rehearsing, Nick pre-teaches the songs with the kids all sat down, then he positions them on stage and each line or part of line has a hand action or body movement associated with that line. This association of movement with text helps the young actors to remember the lyrics. In just over 2 weeks of 10 2-hour rehearsals, at least 45 minutes of dialogue and multiple songs can be remembered.
We are always so proud of our actors. Many of the younger actors are often dealing with vocabulary and language they’d not see in the classroom for a while yet but the methodology works! We know after so many courses! It’s full immersion and repetition. This repeated practice that the rehearsal brings locks the language in their long-term memories.
At the end of the day, we’re not only helping the student actors remember English but we are also creating an unforgettable experience. Memories that will last a lifetime.
Image: Nick Moore rehearsing with a group of young actors in Networks Theatre, Orihuela
