A STUDENT from Launceston College has been chosen to become part of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s (RSC) first ever young acting company — RSC Next Generation ACT.

Daisy-Mai Wade-Hall, 13, from North Tamerton will join 19 other young people who all demonstrated exceptional talent, focus, commitment and passion, when they took part in a series of masterclasses that took place across the country earlier this year.

The masterclasses involved 180 students from the RSC’s Associate Schools Programme, and were held in Cornwall, London, Kent, Newcastle, Middlesbrough, York, Hull, Bradford, Blackpool and Stoke.

The 20 members of RSC Next Generation ACT are all aged between 12 and 16 years old, and were selected by a panel of RSC actors and representatives from the RSC’s casting and education departments. Alongside an obvious talent for acting, they were looking to recruit young people who might ordinarily find it hard to break into a career in the theatre.

Daisy-Mai joined the rest of the RSC Next Generation ACT company members when the group came together for the first time in Stratford-upon-Avon last month (September 14 to 16 September).

During their inaugural weekend as a company, the young people were introduced to key staff and departments at the RSC, as well as attended skills-based workshops and classes run by some of the world’s most experienced actors, directors, voice, movement and text experts. The group also attended mentoring sessions with established RSC actors and began to familiarise themselves with the play they will perform at the end of their first year together in July 2018.

RSC Next Generation ACT is one strand of RSC Next Generation, a unique talent development programme that gives gifted young people, who might ordinarily find it hard to break into a career in theatre, the opportunity to gain experience in acting, directing or backstage, and explore whether a career in the theatre is for them.

Kimberley Wade-Hall, Daisy-Mai’s mother, said: “When I was growing up there really wasn’t much going on for young people, and at that time youth groups had a bit of a bad reputation so I didn’t really get much of a chance to do this kind of stuff. I am also dyslexic so would never have managed with scripts or things, so would have been more interested in the behind the scenes areas of theatre. But we want our kids to have every opportunity and play to their skills, and are willing to back them all the way in what they want to do.

“Daisy’s first experience was when she got involved in the RSC’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Play for the Nation, and through her school she got picked to go on stage when the show played Hall for Cornwall in May 2016, as one of Titania’s fairies. She was so excited and has since been involved in all her school plays from Jesus Christ Superstar to Julius Caesar. She didn’t realise at the time how ‘big’ the RSC project was until she looked on social media and then saw Ayesha Dharker — who played Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and is one of the Next Generation mentors — on the TV in Holby City!

“She has always been into singing and dancing, performing really — and is always copying people and their accents, whereas her older sister is planning to follow her dad into the forces — he was in the military for 22 years. He is now a recent convert to Shakespeare after seeing Daisy in Dream — although it took him a few scenes to get the hang of the language!

“Daisy’s school has been great at helping with transport so she can attend rehearsals and things, as I am disabled and her dad is a long distance lorry driver so is not often available — and they and the RSC are helping with transport when she goes up to Stratford in September, and later for the rehearsals for their play. Just because I cannot do stuff, it makes me determined that she can — and we will definitely get up there to see her in the play next July.

“In the past, as a military family, we have moved around a lot and so she has had to move schools quite a bit — the good thing about that is it means she is resilient, but I am so glad that this is something stable for her and the fact that the project is long term, it will hopefully help her when she is making those big decisions about her future. It has had such a great influence on her self esteem and she has grown tremendously as a person. She has already been online looking at how to get into RADA — I keep having to remind her that she has another few years of school yet as she is still only 13! “

Talking about the announcement, Robin Belfield from the RSC’s education department, said: “The RSC has trained generations of the very best actors, directors and practitioners, but for a long time we’ve been aware that, for a variety of reasons, some young people really struggle to break into the theatre industry. Our Associate Schools programme works in partnership with schools and theatres nationwide, often in areas of significant disadvantage. Those schools work with us for a minimum of two years so we get to know the students really well, and have a clear sense of who has the talent, focus and passion to benefit most from a programme like RSC Next Generation ACT. We are thrilled that we can now offer a potentially life-changing opportunity to some of these young people and help them to hone, develop and make the most out of their extraordinary potential.”