The Actors Workshop Nottingham 15th Anniversary Open House Event 2025: Looking Back, Travelling To Costa Rica & Showcasing The Memories!
- Lucy Moon
- Jan 9
- 6 min read
Hello world! Welcome back to another blog. In this blog, I will be taking you through an event I took part in, celebrating 15 years of when the workshop was founded by the brilliant Tim Bryn Smith and saw many actors achieve great things. This is a long one, so strap yourself in, where I take you through how it began, my pieces, the rehearsal process and the day itself.
Beginnings:
Honestly, I don’t really know how to start this, so I’ll write this in a way I see it. It all started when we thought about the previous open house event (which you can read all about it here: https://www.theautisticactress.com/post/open-house-2024-the-event-that-had-anything-everything) and how we can make it better. We then discussed what we want to add, with one suggestion being abit of immersive theatre as a way to spread a message to the audience. But whilst that idea as a whole didn’t make the cut, it was still great to at least have a play around with it, and somehow it helped with the improvisation part of it too. For myself, I made a list of what I wanted to do, then narrowed it down to my top three choices. It was difficult, don't get me wrong, but I had to think about my strengths and weaknesses whilst also challenging myself. Tim also got the idea of having a group video of a speech from the film “Network”, but him adapting it to make it relevant in today's society and dedicating it to the workshop’s milestone anniversary. I liked this idea, and was keen to jump on this idea, knowing that not only could it be something to send to casting directors who work in film and tv, but to be part of something that was one of the very first pieces performed by a last workshop member is such an honour. And after having to go on an online session due to feeling ill, I was then involved with an online project directed by one of Tim’s colleagues, and this was another thing for me to do.
Rehearsals:
Monologue:
For the rehearsal process, it was different for each of what we were doing. In classes, we worked on mainly improvisation and our monologue.
Monologue:
For my monologue, I got a lot of good feedback, and plenty of notes to add each week, which include interacting with the audience and using props. And I got a few laughs in when I made a joke towards Tim which I'll implement on the day, but he warned me too use it on certain people just to avoid any offence. Which is fair enough I guess.
Impressions:
For my impressions, it was mainly a rehearsing job at home, and showing my teacher each week. I even also had the idea of having a chamble and cutting my impressions altogether, by Tim’s suggestion to combine the two worked brilliantly, and soon I was rehearsing them like no other.
Network:
For the adapted speech from “Network”, it was the case of repeating over, and over and over again. It was hard I won’t lie, but somehow I miraculously did it, getting into a flow and using the element of Practical Aesthetics to really enhance my character, and also linking it back to when I did a scene from Gladiator 2 at the beginning of 2025.
Online:
For the online project, it was mainly down to improvisation and going with my gut. What I meant by that was writing the first thing that came to my head following the initial idea in the session, and trimming it down. But you know what, sometimes the first thing is often the best thing, and once I got rehearsing, I was on a role.
Event:
The event itself was chaotic but also memorable. I was surprised I'd managed on the amount of sleep I had (which I'll mention in "Challenges During The Event & How I Got Through It") Here are some of the highlights from that day.
My Performances:
Impressions:
My impressions actually went better than expected. I got a big reaction for Gemma Collins in particular, and despite a voice break during Craig Cash aka The Narrator for Gogglebox, I also got a laugh out of the joke I made. That along with a joke I made about being autistic beforehand also got a reaction in a positive way, and I definitely felt like I pushed myself out of my comfort zone, especially because that was the first time I performed as myself to anyone. See the full video below and let me know which impression is your favourite.
Monologue:
My monologue also went down well, and there were moments when I looked at the audience, playing along with the joke the character makes in the speech. Yes, there weren't as many laughs as I hoped there would, but I just went with how I felt, and knew that the prep I did was enough. And I definitely got something to at least send to the Theatre casting directors. See the full monologue by clicking the link below.
Improvisation:
I got to participate in three of the improvisation games. These were "Brands", "Make A Date" (which is like "Blind Date" but the contestants can see the people), and "Things You Wouldn't Want To Hear". I was tricky, I won't lie, and for "Make A Date", I had to get my head around my quirk. But ultimately I had a lot of fun, and some of the suggestions from the audience were, let's just say, out there. But the main thing was that we got a laugh, and I won the game, which for me is an achievement as I never win anything lol!
Online Performance:
The results of the Online Performance look fantastic. I got praise for my clip, and the other videos shown also had some wacky but brilliant scenarios. Here is a link to my performance, and let me know in the comments of the video if my character definitely deserved to be on the good list!
Network:
Whilst I didn't see it on the day due to a technical fault, I got to watch the full video on the Youtube channel a few weeks later. All I can say is... wow. wow. Wow! My version combined with others' interpretations really set the tone for today's society, and it's gained a good number of views. Here is my version of the full monologue from this iconic film adapted by Tim.
Here is also a link to the video on the Actors Workshop Youtube channel where each member did a section of the speech.
Other Stuff:
Whilst I was there I got to watch more amazing performances and a film shot in Costa Rica in 2024.
Other Showcases:
For the other showcases, it was brilliant to see everyone’s interpretations of what they performed, and they all did a brilliant job. I won’t lie, I couldn’t watch all of them due to a mixture of overstimulation and also how I had to get ready for my performance. But I’m sure they all did a great job, and based off of the audience reaction, they all had a brilliant reaction!
Pura Vida:
I got the chance to watch Pura Vida, which was absolutely fantastic. I can see why it got selected for the festivals it did, and I’m glad to see it just before I got picked up by a family member. Click the link below to see my thoughts on it along with my final instalment of films I saw in 2025, all of which feature Actors Workshop members!
Things That Didn't Make The Cut:
Whilst I was focusing on my stuff to perform live, I decided to also pre-record stuff I also had listed down to post on my social media. That way I still had something to post over the Christmas Holidays, but also gave me the motivation to keep working on my self-taping skills and also keep my muscle memory going. Here are those things as seen below for you all to view:
Anniversary Reflection & An Unusual Gift (starring Sooty): https://youtu.be/R6PjeWBfzms?si=LipwyabBEgtQNPOa
Open House 2025: Narrowing Things Down, Calming Remedy & Karaoke Chaos: https://youtu.be/v2wRAHrAUtA?si=t37_qkUlMxy6dBQn
Byron's Speech from "What It Feels Like For A Girl": https://youtu.be/LDskQIvwvas?si=0zcEBcanH4KIlkel
Challenging During The Event & How I Got Through It:
There were a few challenges I had to face during the day. These included only getting 4 hours of sleep the night before follows by working at my day job (as I couldn’t get the time off during that period). But somehow I managed to get through it, knowing that I’d be full of adrenaline (and eat a lot), which really helped. I also couldn’t watch everyone’s performances as mentioned before due to a mixture of getting myself ready, and also being abit overstimulated throughout the day after my performance. But as mentioned before, hearing the audiences reaction meant that they must’ve done well, so at least that was okay.
And that is it for my experience of performing at the 15th anniversary Open House Event. Click the link below to see a full vlog of the day itself.
Here is also the website to the actors workshop for anyone based in Nottinghamshire and wanting to develop their skills!
See you soon for another blog. Until next time…
This is The Autistic Actress signing off :)
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