New Vic

The last letter is “j” and it stands for Julianna, so now it’s my turn.

I’ve landed in Liverpool on 20th of September,

so I still had 2 days for sightseeing and to tidy myself up.

In Liverpool I ran into Biennial, so for a whole day I was visiting galleries and talking with artists.
That was a very good start.

In the evening I went to Stoke-on-Trent where I met my lovely landlady. She took me to my beautiful house (I’m speaking like the English, but it’s actually true, my landlady is lovely and my house is beautiful)

For the whole next day I was exploring Newcastle-under-Lyme (that’s my town, here is my Theatre and my home). It’s a very nice, small town with all the facilities (shops, swimming pool, library, promenade, restaurants, pubs etc).

On Wednesday I went to the New Vic Theatre (that’s where I work) where I met two Olas, Sue (my boss and British mum), and Penny (first Ola’s carer). We went all together to the University for an introduction meeting:

10.00am Introduction and introduction to the University . Sharing aspirations and answering
any initial questions
10.15 Registering correct local contact details/ emergency numbers etc and copying police
checks (Susan) General questions about orientation.
10.30 Talking through the aims of the of the programme and the general picture of how it will
work.
10.45 Health and Safety and keeping safe during the placements. Responsibilities of the
individuals and of the placement agencies. (Mark)
11.15 Introduce the individual projects (Penny, Paul, Sue)
11.30. Learning Objectives and recording learning
12.00 Talking through the Joint timetables. Any other organisational issues. Communication Etc
Lots of information, lots of people, but in a good atmosphere, and with a happy end.

We went back to the theatre, where we had lunch. After lunch I went with Charlotte (my new friend from work, Borderlines administrator assistant) round the theatre. I was introduced to all staff members and I saw all workshops, stores, offices, stages. The theatre is on a circular plan so after this trip I felt dizzy.

Next day my work began.
1. preparation of workshop for next week
“OK, so what is your way of working? Give us some warming up games/exercises”...
2. Two workshops with youth theatre.

I was thrown into the deep end, but that’s good. I’m learning fast. No time to hesitate.

On Friday I went to a high school with a group

working on All our daughters  project about forced marriages.

I was helping with lighting and all technical issues.

I saw a very moving performance,

and then I was watching how Borderlines team lead workshops - I’ve learned a lot. 

For the whole next week I was leading workshops

in Newcastle-under-Lyme College with
Chris (Borderline theatre practitioner)
and two volunteers (Sid& Whitney).

It was very hard, but also a very important week.

I learned a lot, I met lots of interesting individuals
and found self-confidence
even though it was the last thing I expected.

Entertainment:

singing, parties, snooker, long walks, stilt walking, poi spinning, talking...

As OlaW wrote in the evening we went to see

Desire under the Elms - old school, naturalistic performance

(as my friend said “it was a good, old fashioned, sit back and relax and watch night”)