Felsted Sixth Former Murphy M has been offered an acting place with the National Youth Theatre. This is a remarkable achievement for Murphy as she has been selected from 1000s of young people who auditioned all over the UK.

The National Youth Theatre is a world leading arts organisation; established in 1956 it commissions new writing and reinterpretation of classics for young people in the company, like Murphy to work on and perform in iconic venues at home and abroad.  Once Murphy has completed her induction, she will join the company and audition further for one off unique theatre, film and television projects that happen around the country in the school holidays.  Murphy intends to complete her induction this summer.

The NYT has launched the careers of many aspiring actors and designers, alumni include Helen Mirren, Daniel Craig, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rosamund Pike, Daniel Day-Lewis, David Oyelowo, Orlando Bloom, Andrea Riseborough, Gareth Pugh, Catherine Tate, Ben Kingsley, Ashley Jensen, Matt Lucas, Hugh Bonneville, Matt Smith and many more.  It seems that Murphy will be following in the footsteps of some impressive figures in the British film, television and theatre industry.
 

Murphy is delighted with her recent achievement, and shares her reaction below.

Wow, this news is still so surreal to me. When I first found out that The National Youth Theatre was opening auditions at Felsted, I honestly didn't know if I could do it. I thought about how competitive it was seeing as 5,000 people were auditioning and only 500 were going to be accepted. After some persuasion from my father and my LAMDA teacher, Mrs Charters, I recorded my audition tape of a monologue from the play "Taking Care of Baby" by Dennis Kelly.

I chose a play that I was thoroughly familiar with (as I performed it for my Year 11 GCSE exam) and gave it a go. A few weeks later, after submitting my audition, I was told that I was being called in for a recall. At this point, I was in pure shock because I honestly didn't think that I would make it that far because of all the technical issues I faced when submitting my audition.

I was then transferred into a Zoom Meeting with the other people who also got into the second round. I was put into a breakout room with a very welcoming lady who asked me questions about my hobbies, whether I like taking risks, and what drama is for me. She then proceeded to ask that I perform my monologue from my Audition tape but deliver it in different ways to change the context of the narrative. A few more weeks after the Easter Holidays and I got a notification during my Media Studies class saying that The National Youth Theatre is offering me a place!

I stared at my screen blankly for a solid 5 minutes and I forwarded it to my father straight away. I was beyond excited and shocked. I genuinely can't express how happy I am to be given this once in a lifetime opportunity! 

Find out more about Drama at Felsted.