How to continue your training after drama school

After leaving Drama School and all the hype of showcases and "who got an agent and who didnt" has died down, you find yourself facing the industry standing alone. All that training and preparation puts you in a very capable position but it is now up to you to continue down that path.

I heard a phrase recently which really struck a chord with me: "luck is just preparation meeting opportunity". The key here is preparation. It is very important to keep yourself in a state of readiness for when these opportunities come up, and they will come up.

There are many ways to do this. You have great resources such as The Actors Centre and The Actors Temple which offer classes and short courses to hone your skills and improve on others. Membership to The Actors Centre is around £75 for a year or £50 for 6-months and then each class is individually but reasonably priced. Not only does this offer you an avenue to stay sharp and ready but it is also a great way to network.

There is another option however. If like most actors coming out of Drama School, the thought of shelling out £75 seems painful you could do what I have done personally and gather graduates that you know and trust and form weekly meetings (or as often as you like) and go over everything yourselves. Finding a venue that supported our cause we did not have to pay for the space and each week a group of 10 or so of us meet and go through massages, vocal and movement warm-ups and then look at different subjects such as sight-reading, monologues, songs and improvisation. We even worked towards and produced our own version of "A Christmas Carol".

If you have had any audition experiences worth-sharing you can recreate the event and all learn from successes and failures as a supportive group. This means that when you get that opportunity you are ready to grasp it with both hands and show them exactly what you are capable of doing!

These are just a few options, but a little creativity goes a long way. The most important thing is continuing all that training and staying in a constant state of readiness that works for you.

Break a leg.