Guildhall

Guildhall (Acting):

Firstly, I didn't really like Guildhall, it didn't really feel right. It was almost slightly hostile upon entering. I arrived half an hour early for the audition (which in total takes about 30 minutes for the workshop and then about 15 for your individual audition, then you wait around for the results for about three hours) and was met by three students who promptly told me they were leaving for some food in a very "how dare you interrupt my lunch" way, so I sat down with the others. There were fourteen of us total, ranging from the age of 17 to 25. This is a school where age matters, clearly, as next to our names the panel had our ages written down in bold. Everyone was really nice and the workshop was relaxed, it was mostly for warming up and it was fine, but there seemed to be an emphasis on not performing but 'saying'. 

We all did our individual auditions to, and this particularly put me off, recent graduates. Everywhere else you audition for teachers or staff, not here. This made me feel like I was being given subpar treatment and not being seen by the people who would ACTUALLY TRAIN ME. I did my first speech (modern) and it went really well, then they asked me to do my second. They literally hated it. Keep in mind I was performing a Shakespearian comedy - it was supposed to be garish and loud and silly, but they didn't want that. To be honest, they didn't want us to perform at all. They wanted me to literally just say my lines as myself and not act. This, for me, took away any real emphasis on character development I had worked on.  They were also quite big on looking at them, so be prepared to say the speech to them rather than at nothing.

In the small 'interview' they asked if I had any questions and I asked "what is it you're looking for?" and they told me it couldn't be worded. This was clearly a lie, because they'd emphasised that they were looking for something 'very specific'. I deduct that they ultimately want someone who doesn't perform but rather says the lines naturalistically as themselves.

No one out of the fourteen of us was recalled, and where others looked sad I left smiling. I'd had a fun day meeting new people and it had been a triumph to travel to London and not get hopelessly lost. I'd enjoyed performing and the workshop but, ultimately, I didn't like Guildhall. It was clearly not right for me and I not for them. I didn't even feel disappointed.