We spend a lot of time on this blog talking about our BA(Hons) Degree in Performing Arts – it’s an evergrowing and exciting course that deserves a lot of recognition. But ICTheatre also runs an Extended Diploma course that is equally as fantastic.
Some of our students use the skills learnt on the diploma course to progress up to the degree course and continue their career development. To find out more about the diploma course, I’ve been speaking to Georgia Godsmark, an ICTheatre Brighton diploma Graduate who is preparing to start the Degree course in September.
I couldn’t start this interview without introducing our ICTheatre student Georgia. “Hi, my name is Georgia and I will be starting the Contemporary Musical Theatre pathway at ICTheatre Brighton this coming September.
A fun fact about me is that I worked at Tulley’s Scream Park as an actor in 2019 before covid hit” I’ve been to Tulley’s Scream Park, and it was pretty scary stuff; which I can only take to mean that Georgia is secretly terrifying. Better watch out…
Your first impression of a school is pretty important, as straight away it gives you an idea of whether or not it’s going to be the school for you. After all, the school could have an amazing curriculum or location – but if you don’t feel at home there, you might not enjoy your studies.
Luckily, this wasn’t an issue for Georgia.
“As soon as I walked into the ICTheatre building, I felt incredibly welcomed by the amazing tutors, and I knew from then this was where I wanted to be for the next two years.”
“Having a warm welcome made all the difference; the teachers were enthusiastic and drew me into the ICTheatre atmosphere.”
Unfortunately, Georgia’s year group were affected by the Covid-19 Pandemic, meaning the students experienced remote learning as well as in-person tutoring. But this didn’t affect the enjoyment of Georgia’s studies.
“Despite having to have a lot of time off college due to lockdown, the ICTheatre tutors made huge amounts of effort to make sure our online training was the best it could be, and made sure we received the best training possible during such a difficult time.
Overall the two years on the diploma were hugely beneficial to my training and extremely fun and exciting. I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
With every course, you will face highs and lows throughout your training.
“My favourite part of the two years was definitely the last six-week intensive process, where we put on contemporary musical ‘Heathers’. This was extremely exciting; being able to put on a show in person and performing to a live audience.
Because of the pandemic, this was the second time in the two years we’d been able to put on a performance of this scale, so it was a huge highlight to use all of our skills combined to create a production we were proud of.
Alternatively, something I really struggled with was finding motivation when we had to train at home due to lockdown – not being in the room with our tutors and peers made it harder to enjoy the course.
however, the teachers were very understanding and pushed us all to work through those barriers, because they knew our potential and wanted us to be our best.”
As I mentioned, Georgia is now progressing from ICTheatre’s Diploma course to the BA (Hons) Degree in Performing Arts on the Contemporary Musical Theatre pathway.
For someone who had already been supported by the ICTheatre faculty for two years, this was an easy decision to make “Deciding to progress on to the degree course wasn’t too hard, as I already knew ICTheatre runs an amazing course; the tutors and supporting faculty are very unique, and they truly do have everyone’s best interest at heart.”
“It’s an incredibly positive university that I want to continue to be a part of. I am mostly looking forward to meeting new like-minded people.”
“as well as furthering my training and becoming the best performer I can be; focusing on bettering myself and becoming more confident as a whole.
I’m also excited to see what the next three years have in store for me, and where my training at ICTheatre can take me.”
Hearing what Georgia has to say about ICTheatre, it’s easy to see why she chose their degree course over other drama schools. If you’re 16-18 and looking for a place to study, that not only develops your performance skills but also prepares you for the intensity of drama school training, maybe ICTheatre has the Diploma course for you! You can find more information here.
Author: Charley Morgan, ICTheatre Graduate 2020
