Today we are speaking with Rebecca Wield, a current student on the Movement: Directing and Teaching, MA course, about her placement as movement director on Biscuits for Breakfast at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs.
How did you find out about Central and decide to study with us?
The Movement: Directing and Teaching, MA course is what drew me to Central; no other conservatoire offers a movement based course that has produced such an abundance of influential movement teachers/directors that are currently working.
Can you tell us what you have been working on?
I’ve been on a placement through my course at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs, as Movement Director on the production of Biscuits for Breakfast, written by Gareth Farr and directed by Tessa Walker.
What made you want to get involved in this production?
I worked with director Tessa Walker on my first placement as movement director on Ravenscourt at Hampstead Theatre in October 2022, so I was thrilled to return. The space that Tessa creates is so open, joyful, focused and caring - it really is special being a part of her company.
What have you been getting up to?
Biscuits for Breakfast is a play that lends itself to movement so I had a lot to do. I created the physical language of the play; including cooking, eating, hunger, memory, pregnancy, intimacy work, club dance scenes, scene transitions, character work and warm-ups. I also took part in Q&A evenings.
How is this placement related to your coursework?
It has related to the unit on movement direction taught by Ayse Tashkiran, who has inspired my process as a movement director and given me tools to establish my own process and style. The intimacy work with Vanessa Ewan within the Pedagogies unit has also been invaluable on this play.
What has surprised you most about your experience?
The freedom I was given to create work throughout was a surprise. I felt the trust from Tessa and guess I absolutely embraced the opportunity; it was the right play for it. The other incredible surprise has been the audience and critics’ response to the movement work - it is not every day that movement work even gets noticed, or written about, so that has been encouraging.
What are you planning to do after graduation?
I would love to do some movement directing work on film and continue the theatre work as I love the rehearsal process. I hope to bring a trauma aware and resilience-building movement pedagogy to actors in conservatoire training and this is something I am currently developing as part of my Sustained Independent Project (SIP).
Biscuits for Breakfast runs 5 May - 10 June 2023 at Hampstead Theatre Downstairs. Find out more about the production on the Hampstead Theatre website.
Follow Rebecca Wield on Instagram @rebeccawield
