A word from Hunter…

I came across the prince's trust 12 week team programme and started in January, as a part of this course, I had to partake in 2 weeks of work experience, as a result of this, I came in contact with Mercedes and started my 2 week work experience.

It was hard to find somewhere to do work experience as I want to be an actor, but with Mercedes I got the chance to plan, teach and observe drama workshops which focused on wellbeing in drama which was a great experience! 

I got to work with new people with different personalities, backrounds, and interests and got to learn about new plays, poems and research more drama games and learn more about poets and playwrights such as 'Roger Mcgough' and 'Willy Russell' 

 On the first evening of my work experience, I got the opportunity to sit in a sound and lighting box to watch how it's done during a show at Wickham Theatre (Theatre 62), which really interested me and led me to the conclusion that I want to possibly train to do sound and lighting for plays and musicals which I didn't think I wanted to do previously. 

The next day, I helped out at the 'Community Cafe' and spoke to different people and handled the raffle table to raise more for Quest which was very enjoyable (plus the cake there was delicious which was a bonus!)

Throughout each day, Mercedes explained to me what happens when running a drama business and explained how funding and money works in her business, this was a great insight for me! 

On the 2nd to last day of my work experience, me and Mercedes went to a care home as the characters 'Brenda and Danny' and performed songs to the people there, and done some activities with them, we also done a duet to 'Anything you can do' from 'Annie get your gun' which was very funny and presented as a challenge with the timings and notes of the song, but I really enjoyed this day.

Overall, I have learnt so much from this experience and feel much more confident in leading groups, performing, and in my abilities to plan lessons and this was all thanks to Mercedes and everyone I met over these 2 weeks, but also from my dedication and willingness to try new things. I'd like to thank Mercedes for allowing me this chance to experience her work and for being incredibly patient with me, only high praises from me for her work at Quest Soul Theatre!