Inside A.C.T.

As part of a two-year summer international exchange program, the A.C.T. Young Conservatory (YC) will collaborate with Scotland's Aberdeen Performing Arts (APA) Young Persons Company to explore actor training in residencies in Aberdeen and San Francisco. Following each summer workshop, the companies will present a co-commissioned work at their respective theaters. For the inaugural session of the program, the YC and APA Young Persons Company co-commissioned Scottish playwright DC Jackson to write [untitled] Reality Project , which brings audiences into the world of reality television. Students from the YC traveled to Aberdeen, Scotland, over the summer of 2012 for two weeks of acting and cultural immersion, workshopping the new play with the playwright and taking part in classes and extracurricular experiences with the APA Young Persons Company. 

posted by Anya Richkind, A.C.T. Young Conservatory student Every other summer, students from A.C.T.’s Young Conservatory go to England to develop a new play written for young actors as part of an ongoing exchange program with Theatre Royal Bath . This year, a group of Young Conservatory and M.F.A. Program students traveled to Bath to work on Riot , a brand-new play by Irish author Ursula Rani Sarma, which will receive its world premiere production at A.C.T. in April 2010. Anya Richkind, a junior at San Francisco’s Lick-Wilmerding High School, writes one last time after returning from her two-week transatlantic theatrical adventure. After a tearful goodbye to Bath, we moved on to London. There was a lot of sniffling on the two-hour bus ride there. In just 12 days, we had all gotten incredibly close with the English kids. But, as they say, the show must go on, right? We spent our first few hours in London wandering around Covent Garden. After a lovely dinner, we headed over to ...

posted by Anya Richkind, A.C.T. Young Conservatory student Every other year, students from A.C.T.’s Young Conservatory go to England to develop a new play written for young actors as part of an ongoing exchange program with Theatre Royal Bath. This year, a group of Young Conservatory and M.F.A. Program students travels to Bath to work on Riot , a brand-new play by Irish author Ursula Rani Sarma, which will receive its world premiere production at A.C.T. in April 2010. Anya Richkind, a junior at San Francisco’s Lick-Wilmerding High School, writes about her first week of making theater across the Atlantic. Gosh, halfway done already. I can’t believe it. On one hand, I feel like I’ve been here for months—The Egg, the theater we are working in, now gives me those warm and fuzzy vibes that come only with familiarity—but on the other hand, we leave in less than a week. In our week here, so much has happened, from learning about new theatrical techniques to exploring the beautifully anc...

posted by Anya Richkind, A.C.T. Young Conservatory student Every other year, students from A.C.T.’s Young Conservatory go to England to develop a new play written for young actors as part of an ongoing exchange program with Theatre Royal Bath. This year, a group of Young Conservatory and M.F.A. Program students travels to Bath to work on Riot , a brand-new play by Irish author Ursula Rani Sarma, which will receive its world premiere production at A.C.T. in April 2010. Anya Richkind, a junior at San Francisco’s Lick-Wilmerding High School, writes about her preparations for this summer’s big trip. Approximately 46 days ago, I started counting down the days till takeoff. “Forty-seven days!” I muttered under my breath. And now, that number has dwindled down to one. ONE. One day till we leave for England. At this point, I am beyond excited. I am dumbfounded, flabbergasted, amazed that this is actually happening. And it all starts tomorrow. I mean, how perfect does this get? Taking ...