As part of AFTT’s partnership with the prestigious Belvoir St Theatre, AFTT Acting students have the opportunity to go along to some of Belvoir’s incredible shows.
This gives them the chance to observe performances in a world-renowned venue, and allows them to meet and consequently learn from the actors themselves.
AFTT students recently went along to Belvoir’s performance of “The Rover”, a classic 1677 battle of the sexes play, by the first professional woman playwright, Aphra Behn.
Acting student Bella Ridgeway discussed how “The Rover was intelligent, hilarious and captivating with a very talented cast and intriguing set. The old English dialogue encouraged me to pay attention to understand what was happening, and the modern language used was not only humorous but helpful to keep up with the fast-paced movement of the play.”
Ridgeway further commended the performance of the cast, expressly praising Megan Wilding. “She was humorous through her dialogue but also in her silence. Her facial expressions seemed to say it all. She had many different characters and she differentiated them well. Many of her characters were juxtapositions to the rest of the characters in the play, often relating and reflecting today's society.”
Another AFTT student Bodie Larden applauded Toby Schmitz who stood out “through his experience and charisma and great ability to connect to the audience, his confidence in his ability and knowledge of the play came out in his acting.”
Tier 2 Acting student Molly McCrann discussed how "Nikki Shiels was very controlled the entire time with her voice and her movements. She responded to the dialogue very naturally making her character extremely believable. She owned the space and was very captivating."
Students further commended “The Rover’ for its unique set. “The pool in the middle was very eye capturing and minimal plants and chairs were nicely placed. The lighting also worked very well to portray the emotions of the actors during scenes.” reviewed tier one student James de Freitas. Bella Ridgeway agreed, discussing how “It was great to watch how the characters utilised the water and how they dealt with the many challenges the water brought to the play. The back wall was another stand out as it created many different levels and spaces for the characters to utilise and explore.”
Director Eamon Flack brought an element of physical comedy to the performance, which James described “added a bit more of sudden unexpected humour to the play so it worked well to help the story look more realistic and also make the characters more interactive together.”
‘The Rover’ continues to show at Belvoir St Theatre until August the 1st. You can get tickets here.
Find out more about studying Acting at AFTT or apply now.