NESCol acting students get into character for RGU healthcare training
December 10, 2024
HND Acting & Performance students from NESCol recently had the valuable opportunity to participate in a week-long training event for aspiring healthcare practitioners at Robert Gordon University (RGU).
At the start of November, eleven students acted as patients in simulated real-life scenarios for RGU first year nursing students. The experience allowed the College students to work closely with the healthcare students and apply their craft in a professional setting.
For the healthcare students, the aim of the training was to build on communication and assessment skills essential for their future careers.
Hannah MacBeth, Drama Lecturer, NESCol, said: “This was a challenging but invaluable experience for our students.
“They were able to develop their performance abilities in a realistic environment while fostering a deeper understanding of character work and empathy. It was vital that the healthcare students felt like they were interacting with real people, and this encouraged our students to focus on believable performances.
“The feedback from the lecturers at RGU was extremely positive, reporting that the HND students had been outstanding. We are so proud of the group’s hard work and look forward to collaborating with RGU in the future.”
HND Acting & Performance student, Demmi Ewen, portrayed a difficult gender-based violence scenario six times a day during the week, alongside her classmate and close friend.
She said: “We were given our characters and their situation and had to improvise our interactions with the students, based on how they responded to the situation.
“This was a different form of acting than what I’ve done before. It felt like a live interactive performance where we had to be completely in tune with our characters as the situation could change at any moment.
“Due to the severity of the scenario we had to remain professional and compassionate at all times, which is good practice. I feel that the experience has only added to my ability as an actor and the way I get into the mindset of my character.”
The training event was a success for both sets of students, with all of those who participated from NESCol requesting that they be included in the next event.
Demmi said: “My highlight of the week was being told by two separate students that they felt they were watching an episode of EastEnders while we were acting out the scenario. It was a massive confidence boost!
“It was incredibly intimidating as it’s all improv and unscripted, but it truly was an amazing learning experience!”
Study Acting & Performance at NESCol
Our drama courses often include learning opportunities that extend beyond the classroom, such as workshops, theatre trips, specialist training and live performances in our basement theatre. Full-time applications are open now for the 25/26 academic year.
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