Year 13 Drama student Max Williams had the honour of being accepted onto theatre company Frantic Assembly’s ‘Ignition’ Workshop at the Norwich Theatre Royal during February half term. Max says he was quite nervous being the youngest member of the group, but that it was “good to get out of [his] comfort zone”.
During the two-day workshop Max took part in numerous physical theatre activities designed to focus and stretch the group, and was part of the process of devising a short piece of physical theatre around an interpretation of the word “shattered”. Max reveals that his group undertook 7 separate lifts throughout their final piece, which after 3 hours straight of rehearsals was enough to make anyone’s arms ache. After two days of tiring rehearsals the pieces were performed on the Theatre Royal stage to an audience of friends, family and the head of Frantic Assembly.
Max said of the experience: “The workshop was so fast paced and energetic it left me exhausted, I never knew how draining drama could be! It did however give me the skills to develop ideas in my own work, in a more dynamic and physically interesting way. It was an unforgettable experience and I’m glad I took the time to apply”.
