University of Chichester students take to the stage

Second-year triple-threat students from the University of Chichester are taking to the stage with a double bill of performances at the University’s Assembly Theatre in Bognor Regis.

First up is The Drowsy Chaperone from Thursday, November 12-Saturday, November 14 at 7.30pm, with a matinee performance at 2.30pm on Saturday, November 14.

Molly Windsor will be playing the character Janet Van de Graff, the famous Broadway starlet giving up her career to marry Robert. Lewis Young will be playing Robert, Janet’s dashing, cheerful groom-to-be who loves to tap dance and roller skate.

Both are loving their time on the course.

Molly, aged 21, from Corsham, feels Chichester has been absolutely the right choice for her: “I had a friend who was in the third year. I was looking for somewhere to study that was going to be supportive but that would also push me. There's a lot of focus on dance, and my friend was loving it and I could see him improving.

“It has been really, really good. I've enjoyed myself. I loved the ensemble presentation that really pushed us, and the whole thing gives you a range of experience throughout the industry and also it allows you to have a level independence which is really important for when you come to leave.”

Lewis, age 20, from Plymouth, feels exactly the same: “I had always had an interest in theatre, and I was given the advice going to audition that if it feels right then you should go for it. Some places you go, you walk in and it's almost too professional but Chichester felt a little bit more relaxed and a little bit more comfortable, and the great thing is that there's a heavy emphasis on the triple-threat course. I'm not a dancer. However at Chichester you do ballet and jazz and tap, all the main disciplines, and I feel that I've really developed.”

As Molly says, the piece itself is set in the 1920s: “I am playing Janet. She is your stereotypical 1920s Hollywood starlet. She tries to have a modest way about her but she really doesn't. She is confident but the plot is that she is giving up being a starlet to marry Robert who is played by Lewis.”

Lewis explains: “I am a tooth-paste model wanting to be an actor. I imagine it's that celebrity thing of being brought into a show. He is very, very showy-offy. He wants to be heard in every scene. I like to describe him as a bit of a Prince Charming in the show. He's always got a glint but he is a terrible actor. There's no connection with the character that he is playing. It is just him on stage.”

And that's an interesting challenge – to play someone who is bad at acting: “It means you have just got to play the actor playing the character. It's tough but it means that you've got to make some bold choices and go with it.”

Next up from the students in the double bill of performances is The Mystery Of Edwin Drood a week later from Thursday, November 19-Saturday, November 21, again at 7.30pm each evening plus a 2.30pm matinee performance on Saturday, November 21.