Chapter 55 Dread
" Is that famous Director George? Wow"
" I have seen that lady somewhere before."
" See them holding hands; they must be a couple."
" Look at the child, aww, he is so cute."
" OMG, you are right."
" Angel"
With Edith present, they dare not approach them and admire from afar, but you could hear their conversation.
" I guess, It is my fault to receive you at the front gate. Please don't mind them. They are just excited; It is not every day we host famous people, though you could argue that we have many high-profile people here, their reputation pales compared to you guys. " Edith said.
" You are embarrassing us, teacher. It's been a long time since I visited, so I tagged along with Amelia and Sami. It's nothing special." George said.
" Uncle studied here? I don't remember you mentioning it. " Samuel asked to avoid his mind from hearing embarrassing applause from the students.
" Your Uncle is famous here—one of our youngest alumni. You can ask your teacher all about it. She also taught George a few classes, but her speciality is acting. I am sure She remembers all the embarrassing stories from that time. " Edith said with a slight grin on her face.
" She? Don't tell me she is still here. I guess I will leave early. " George does a total 180 on stop trying to flee, but Amelia caught him first.
" Why are you running away? This is an important day for Samuel, and you should at least meet this 'person'. " Amelia said, but the smirk said otherwise, which brought a sense of dread inside George. He knew that Amelia understood something from Edith's signals, which is a bad sign.
" No, I don't want to meet that Lunatic. You can go ahead if you wish to, leave me here. " George pleaded to no avail.
" Lunatic? Melanie is one of our best teachers, and I have heard that you and she got along great in the past." Edith said.
" Yeah, I don't think Lady Edith would assign this teacher without thinking. We should trust her. " Oscar, with his simple character, got sucked into Edith's scheme.
Everyone nodded and agreed with him and stared at the struggling George. With tremendous pressure from every direction, George has to fold and follow the group inside. Edith begins describing different facilities and places in detail to Samuel and others.
"Our teaching and performance facilities aim to mirror industry standards and provide students with wide-ranging experience, so they graduate feeling confident working in a variety of spaces, from small black box theatres to large-scale international productions, through to film sets and recording studios.
Our theatres and workshops are fully equipped to train students in areas including stage management, stage electrics, lighting design, sound design, production sound engineering, scenic art, scenic construction, prop-making, costume-making, wardrobe supervision, video projection, and the manipulation of digital imagery, video production, introduction to scenic and costume design, radio production, technical management, production management, and technical drawing. We facilitate training and performance on stage, screen, and radio for acting students.
We also create partnerships with several leading suppliers in the Industry. They provide additional equipment and training, giving our students access to the latest sound, lighting, and video equipment developments and other coaching and networking opportunities from experienced professionals. "
" Wow, It deserves its name as the topmost Academy of every entertainment industry facet. It contains everything, but I don't see many people wandering. They must be in class." Oscar said with admiration.
Edith wanted to explain, but Amelia went ahead with her explanation.
" Heh, you didn't know there are less than three hundred students scattered around the whole campus. They take a meagre twenty-eight student for Acting Bachelor every year. " Amelia said, which made Oscar dumbfounded. He is not very knowledgeable about the Academy. He vowed to learn more once he got back to prepare better for the future.
Samuel already has some knowledge about it from his stored knowledge, but he always accounts for discrepancies, realizing that both worlds are different. He could learn from the past, but he understood recently that knowing everything is somewhat dull. So he tried to experience it first-hand to enjoy the moment. He is taking in different scenarios while others talk.
Edith continued--
" We have four on-site theatres. All acting and theatre production students will work on a public show in at least one of these theatres during their training. Each of them serves different purposes.
For example, Jerwood Vanbrugh Theatre is a fully flexible theatre with 183 seats.
It offers a range of staging options and state-of-the-art equipment that enables theatre production students to practice and stretch their technical and creative expertise to professional industry standards. The theatre is also used for film screenings, exhibitions, and other events. Samuel is free to explore in his free time. "
" We have a range of studios and workshop spaces across our buildings on Gower Street and Chenies Street.
Acting students use our many studios for classes and production rehearsals. We have specially equipped studios for dance and fight training and a sound studio and film equipment for microphone technique and screen acting training.
You will probably spend most of your time in the Studios, and lastly, we have the Library. It houses over 40,000 items, including 12,000 plays with many rare and out-of-print scripts and recent releases. There are also books on other aspects of the performing arts and broader culture, including theatre history, poetry, drama training techniques, social history, photography, film, technical theatre disciplines, and dances.
Ah, we are here. I guess I have to cut our tour short. Next, I will introduce you to your teacher."
Edith stopped outside Melanie's office door. Mixalis came forward and knocked on the door.
" Come in " A female beckoned the visitor to enter.