I’m pleased to find out that I received a high Distinction in my LAMDA level 3 Shakespeare Performance Exam. I performed scenes from Othello (Desdemona) and Richard III (Lady Anne). I also performed Sonnet 130. I’ve found Shakespeare acting quite a challenge because it’s all about representational acting and I’m primarily trained in presentational acting (via screen acting). I am very much interested in Brechtian acting, however, which is something I explored in my PhD. It’s been great to finally put some of my academic research into practice with these Shakespeare pieces. I’ve learned so much more from feeling the difference between the representational approach and the presentational approach.

I’ve also been training to be a LAMDA examiner this year, so this examination process was very interesting and secured my examiner knowledge as well as my knowledge as a learner taking these exams. Also, by taking these exams myself, I can better inform my own students when I prepare them for their own LAMDA exams. Here’s a nice image of the LAMDA Shakespeare logo:

Below are some stills from me performing the Shakespeare pieces which you can view on my YouTube channel. As requested from my acting students, I’ve included a series of performed monologues on my channel as learning aids for students searching for audition and exam monologues.

Something I learned during my exam, actually: sonnets are traditionally performed sitting down. I did happen to do this during the exam, mainly because I had too much nervous energy and standing looked too distracting. My teacher suggested I should sit down, which inadvertently impressed the examiner. What luck.