Laura Ferrin (England) BAPP Blog

 Just come off the Skype feeling a bit more 'raring to go' after a full on day at work... It's always helpful to check in and find out although we all have different approaches we are all on our own track in terms of this module. As always, it has to come from us! 💫🙏 Key themes (themes* how appropriate!*)  - When referring to interviewees, it may be appropriate to cite them like a source, or articulate what they've said within your analysis  - We are looking for relationships between different sources: not necessarily total agreement or hugely contrasting opinions from sources/literature/ interviews. We can very much live in the grey areas! - Although the essay is in first person and about our professional practice, we need to make sure we still attain the formality and try to balance the sentences so it doesn't get overly casual/informal. - Relate personal experiences to theme - Be wary of both too many themes and too few (balance)  And finally, this is just a st

 I've always found it interesting that we often explore deeper issues around sexism and gender imbalance within theatre and society as a whole through humour. Often, I find myself making jokes around topics which are actually quite toxic and pervasive within the industry. It's quite sad, really: because laughing about them sometimes feels like the only way to broach them in my mind.  When this BBC sketch came along in 2018, I found it hilarious... but only because it was so accurate and deeply relatable! The comments seem wild and ridiculous... but I guarantee you, a lot of female actors and creatives will have heard these types of comments whilst auditioning.  I've been in the game for seven years now and trained for three years at drama school, so as you can imagine I have anecdotes galore, as do a lot of my peers.  It's apt that as I conduct and analyse the data from my inquiry into female representation within the arts it's at the forefront of my mind!  Sharing

Through my research in to gender roles in the theatre industry for my inquiry, I have really found it fascinating to read so much in the wider sphere of 'feminist theory'.  Perhaps due to the fact I went straight from doing my A Levels to what was essentially a vocational course and read mostly fiction, listen to 'The Guilty Feminist' podcast and saw a lot of theatre, my knowledge of 'feminism' as a concept stems mostly from real-life experience. General awareness and study are really two wildly different things! However, through study I am discovering so much depth within feminist theory that I'm finding so interesting.  We are so quick to call ourselves 'feminists', especially within our generation who have grown up with the waves pretty much behind us. There is an inherent privilege (in my opinion) to be fighting for pay equality as a movement- but also able to live in a Western society, with the ability to be independent and forge our own paths s

 As we start the new term and Module 3, I am feeling quite capable and ready to explore my research topic. This post will be a little abstract, a dash fractious and very reflective, but at the end of the day that is strongly encouraged on this course so I’m going with it!  It’s strange that in a time which involves a ‘whole world’ crisis and a more specific crisis in our industry, I feel so strangely equipped to move forward.  Even though everything changed overnight back in March, I recently realised that the friends I had that were used to performer life or freelance life adapted and flourished even amongst the absolute chaos around them. My belief that ‘adaptability’ is the key factor to sustaining a career in the arts (and quite frankly, just as an attitude to life!) feels even more relevant now. After all, performers never know where they’ll be in three months, or six months in- between jobs. They can deal with finding a job in-between, making their money work, starting up a home

In Conversation! Lisa Kron:   I didn't start out as a writer. I was an actor. But I was told from the very beginning that there was no place for me in the theater. Lucy Simon:  Who told you that? Lisa:  My college theater professors who said, "You either need to lose fifty pounds or gain fifty pounds." As I like to say, I was told I was a character actress , which was a code word I realised later for "lesbian"…This professor said to me in a completely matter-of-fact way, "Well obviously, as you know, you don't convey any sexuality onstage." Why you would say that to a nineteen-year-old girl— Whilst researching further in to my topic for the inquiry in Module Three, I found this incredible article which facilitates a discussion between a group of prominent writers in musical theatre. What strikes me is that so many of these female writers have stories about being actors first and writing their own work because they have been told there'

During a conversation with Adesola today, I had a bit of a lightbulb moment. I have been an actor and writer most of my life, but I had never undertaken the role of a ‘researcher’. Today, I realised that I had always seen research as this clear cut, clinical, unattainable thing. What I hadn’t quite understood was that research is just a means to develop understanding and doesn’t have to be closed minded or structured and clear cut.  The conversation made me revisit my favourite Ted Talk with fresh eyes, ‘The power of vulnerability’ sees the brilliant Brené Brown talking about vulnerability as a strength, human connection and her research in a lot of depth.  Upon rewatching, I realised that she approached her research with the same feeling I had: she wanted to break down ‘shame’ and understand it fully, putting it in to a neat little box that made total sense and wasn’t messy in any way. Of course, then she discusses how that year long project became six years of study, thous