Over the last seven months, Vamos has been running a fortnightly session with Belgrade Theatre’s Asian Youth Theatre, as part of celebrations marking the 50th Anniversary of the Belgrade's Theatre in Education Company. The sessions culminate in a performance at the Inspiring Curiosity festival from July 9th-18th. Youth Theatre member Miya Jarvis tells us about it...
Hello I am Miya Jarvis and I am from Belgrade Theatre, over these past months me and my group have been working with Vamos. We have been working with Honor to make our piece called ‘somewhere to belong’ this is because we’re celebrating 50 years of Belgrade.
Throughout these many months I have experienced loads of things. I have learnt that not only facial expressions are important but also body language has a lot to do with drama. Even though I am in mask I still find myself doing facial expressions, but I think it’s a good thing and makes me feel more natural and in character. At the start it’s not the easiest thing to do because you get hot in the mask and try to take it off, it’s also difficult to see through the little holes. It can get irritating and sometimes I’ve felt like I wanted to rip it off my face, take a deep breath and just say it instead of my body telling it. But once you understand, and start to love your mask and feel confident you’ll never want to take your mask(s) off! I’ve learnt that with mask work you have to be very patient and always keep going and stay positive because if you don’t it drives you crazy. At times I’ve wanted to quit and I’ll find myself in bad moods, but Honor has always pushed me and kept me going, also Rina and Leon! I think that it’s very important to think about the end of it, what you’ve achieved and how proud of yourself you can be. It shows that all them long hours in a small room pays off after everything and drives you to do more amazing shows. I know I will be upset after I and my group have finished our shows. It’s going to feel so strange not working with my mask and it will take time for me to get used to it again. One day I hope to work with Honor and Vamos again!
Miya