Eve Best: How drama school changed my life

"That feeling of fear when you’ve just finished your last job never goes away. I’ve had some amazing jobs, followed by six or nine months of twiddling my thumbs and whistling to the air. I did a lot of panicking, a lot of going down the rabbit hole. Then you buy things like The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, start setting up your own work and writing your own plays. As the actress Maggie Steed once told me, it’s just the creative void and you’ve got to go through it."

Common audition mistakes

Truly, you can reveal yourself, show vulnerability and shock without stripping down to your smalls. Also, if you’re auditioning over 250 people in a day, being shouted at for eight hours straight can become a bit jarring, know what I mean?

Simon Stephens

“God, I don’t understand why anyone likes my plays, other than my mum.”

Upstaged: Resting

For the love of crisps, just because you’re not working doesn’t mean you’re under house arrest. Hanging around in your dressing gown doesn’t make you Noël Coward. It doesn’t even make you Hugh Hefner. So, have a shower, eat something that isn’t beige, put on some shoes and get the hell out of your home.

Hofesh Schechter

“You know, I never really decided that dance is my career. It still feels like something I’m trying to do.”

Dramaturgy: The Lowdown

"As Katalin Trencsényi, a freelance dramaturg and president of the Dramaturgs’ Network, explains, 'There are no productions without dramaturgy. But there may well be productions without a dramaturg.'"

Lyn Gardner: Theatre Critic and novelist

“It seems to me there are so many areas of theatre that are under-covered, which get very little coverage and which are up for grabs, and where it would be very easy to make yourself both an expert and a voice of authority.”

David Harewood: Homeland star

“I can do a bit of telly, a bit of radio but I can also belt out a bit of Shakespeare, and you’d find that very difficult if you hadn’t gone to drama school.”

How to set up a theatre company

“When we set up fanSHEN, we knew very little about budgeting, websites, flyer design, accounts, video-editing, tour booking, tax, contracting and lots of other things. But more experienced companies or venues with a commitment to emerging artists will be able to support you, or at very least answer your questions.”

Lloyd Newson: DV8 Physical Theatre

“Don’t be seduced by the consensus of the masses. Just because you’re told that things are done a certain way, don’t necessarily believe them. Think for yourself.“

2012 Selection Box: Film

2012 Selection Box: Writing

2012 Selection Box: Photography

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