Arts
Sharing what they love doing best with budding actors
Learning all about drama
Tasmin Anthonisz
At the end of this year the students of the Wendy Whatmore Academy drama class will put on a production of their own. The drama classes conducted by Chalana Wijesuriya and Tasmin Anthonisz that will begin shortly at the Wendy Whatmore Academy of Speech and Drama are for children between 8 – 18 and designed to be practical and hands-on, to foster their creative spirit.
“I want to go into teaching because it makes me a better director. The best directors I’ve worked with have also been teachers, and as an actor it was rewarding to work with them because of their willingness to share knowledge,” says Tasmin. “You play a huge role in someone’s life when you are teaching them, especially something like drama because you are essentially teaching them how to relate to people and how you should treat them. You might get a shy child who might be just bullied a lot and you play a part in bringing them out of their shell and show them that they can be appreciated.”
With a BA (Hons) in Drama and Screen Studies from the University of Manchester, an ATCL in Performer’s Speech and Drama and currently reading for an LTCL in teaching Performance Arts, Tasmin is certainly well qualified. She started her own journey as a shy six-year-old at the WendyWhatmore Academy and drama class was a place where she felt like she belonged, she recalls. She directed the production Chatroom back in 2017, and her company Studiolusion will be doing a production this July, which she will be directing. She is also the drama coach at Wesley College.
Starting off at the Wendy WhatmoreAcademy Chalana went for a random audition and loved everything about being on stage. In 2013 he directed Visakha Vidyalaya at the Shakespeare Drama Competition, and subsequently worked as a drama teacher at the Elizabeth Moir Junior School in 2017 and 2018, and is now a drama consultant there. He and Tasmin have had many requests to have a drama focused workshop – hence this initiative.
They will have five classes each with only 15 students and designed for their age-groups. The course is comprehensive for beginners as well as helping children who know a bit about drama, they say.
Beginning with warm ups and games, students will also learn key skills such as breathing techniques to hone their breath control. In addition, vocal strengthening, acting and reacting will be taught. They will also be doing extracts from plays and encouraged to learn the background of the scenario they will be acting.
In addition to method acting techniques, the classes will also focus on modern techniques. Character development and theoretical aspects of drama such as the different types of drama– naturalism, modern contemporary drama and epic drama, among many others– will also be explored.
Anyone interested can register at the Wendy Whatmore Academy at No 5, 13th Lane, Colombo 3, Sri Lanka and call Tasmin +94776975657 for more information. Adults keen on participating in a similar class could also contact them as they will conduct adult classes based on demand.