LAMDA

lamda sessions at langley

Langley Park School for Boys is offering this fantastic opportunity to be coached by an actress at the top of her field.

The sessions will run throughout the school day on a Tuesday or Thursday. With 10 sessions a term, in these one-to-one 20 minute lessons, students will analyse texts, learn a variety of acting techniques and rehearse monologues to prepare them for their LAMDA exam.

Having passed with a distincion in her ‘Gold Medal’ LAMDA exam – Alice has an intricate knowledge of the LAMDA course and the best way of accessing the top grades. In the years 2019-2022, 100% of Alice’s students who took their LAMDA exam received a distinction (highest possible grade). In the most recent year with now over 32 students of varying ability, we have 100% of students all achieving a merit or higher.

Please head to the contact page to find out more.

WHAT A ‘LAMDA EXAM’ CONSISTS OF…

For Grade 1 to Grade 5, we will prepare two monologues for you to perform. One taken for the LAMDA Acting Anthology and one which we will source ourselves. We will stage both scenes, working on accents, performance and creating a contrast between the two.

With Bronze medals, we will prepare two monologues (selecting one from each)

  1. Ancient Greek, Elizabethan and Jacobean, Restoration and Post-Restoration, 1800-2000
  2. Post 2000

With Silver and Gold medals, we will prepare three monologues (selecting one from each)

  1. Ancient Greek, Elizabethan and Jacobean, Restoration and Post-Restoration
  2. 1800-2000
  3. Post 2000

With our medals we will discuss practitioners, learn more about breathing techniques, look deeper into different drama methods and learn about our characters within the context of the play as a whole.

ALICE’S TOP TWENTY TIPS

  1. Bring your laminated copies of the script and any props.
  2. Keep eye contact with the examiner as you enter the room and SMILE. Say hello, listen and speak naturally.
  3. Direct your pieces to the examiner unless we have decided otherwise.
  4. Breathe and project your voice (always better to be a little louder)
  5. Make the introduction clear and full of energy. Say the title and author, take your position, sit or stand in your character for a few beats and start.
  6. STAY IN CHARACTER AT THE END OF THE SCENE (hold the final moment for at least three beats)
  7. Think about the punctuation: fullstops, commas, exclamation and question marks (always ask the question)
  8. Stick to the staging we have done 
  9. Use facial expressions to exaggerate how your character is feeling (especially in moments of silence)
  10. Keep your diction clear 
  11. DON’T RUSH
  12. Don’t be distracted by anything. Focus, even when the examiner is writing amazing things about your performance and not looking up, give them time and be ready with your eye contact when they do
  13. Do not fidget or play with your clothes 
  14. Keep arms relaxed by your sides (no hands in pockets)
  15. Feet flat and still on the ground
  16. Have hair off your face so they can see your eyes
  17. Do not wear long sleeves that hide your hands or that you will play with
  18. In the discussion, listen well and talk freely and naturally with clear diction
  19. Play the different characters and try to create a real contrast between the two
  20. Have confidence – you’ve got this!

Things the lamda examiner may ask

The location of each scene

What is happening in each scene

How the characters are feeling in each scene

Mood of the scene

What does the character want out of the scene (what they are trying to achieve)

Why you used your voice in that way (creating a contrast in each scene)

Staging (know the staging and why we have staged it this way)

Appearance of character 

DO YOU KNOW THE WORKING STAGE AREAS?

(CENTRE STAGE, DOWNSTAGE, UPSTAGE, STAGE LEFT, STAGE RIGHT)

Remember… in theatre, stage directions are ALWAYS written from the perspective of the actor facing the audience.

In Shakespeare’s time, stages use to be built on an incline so audiences could see the action taking place. The front of the stage was lower physically than the back of the stage, so the term “downstage” meant front of the stage (closest to the audience) and “upstage” meant back of the stage.