Daring to be yourself in a “World of Difference”

Tipărire

A collaboration between the Arden School of Theatre in Manchester, UK and the English Department at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University

Arden Theatre 6Between December 10 and December 13, 2018, a group of Romanian and International students from all levels (B.A, M.A and PhD) took part in Drama workshops carried out by two professors and eleven third year Theatre and Performance students from the Arden School of Theatre in Manchester, UK. This marked the second consecutive year of collaboration between the Arden School of Theatre and the English Department, giving our students the opportunity, not only to learn more about acting, but also to express themselves on stage in a joint performance played on December 13, at 3 PM, at the Luceafarul Theatre in Iasi.

The “World of Difference” performance, directed and created by Debbie Uttley and third year Theatre and Performance students, was inspired by the expression “odd one out” and masterfully explored the themes of difference, oddness, nonconformity, self-acceptance and vulnerability. In the course of the sixty-minutes performance, our students, together with students of the Arden School, demonstrated, with disarming and endearing honesty, the extraordinary power of vulnerability. The courage of being themselves on stage, of candidly exposing their own fears, insecurities or self-doubts, peeled away the audience’s defenses, one by one, revealing the raw core of unfettered emotion and fragility that we all share, even in a “world of difference.”

Many thanks to the Arden School of Theatre, to Wayne Jackson, Debbie Uttley and their wonderful students: Kellie Colbert, Bella Curtis, Georgia Dodd, Rory Kelly, Alexis Maxwell, Lauren O'Hara, Noah Ross, Kayleigh Rough, Daniel Sanders and Jessamine Vowels, for coming to Iasi and making this happen.