Actress LAURA BUHAGIAR speaks to Lara Zammit about her experience at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Having just finished her Bachelor of Arts degree in musical theatre at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Laura Buhagiar read for a programme focusing on acting, singing, dancing and music.
Asked about how being trained in all these disciplines contributes towards the quality and breadth of her acting ability, Buhagiar noted that, having been trained in four disciplines allows her to approach theatre more broadly.
“It allows me as an actor to explore storytelling beyond the average way, which usually includes spoken text or song. This training makes the artists capable of telling stories using whichever discipline suits that particular story best. Some things cannot be spoken but can be expressed through movement and music, for example.”
Asked whether there was any performance theory she encountered during her degree which she felt may have left an imprint on her, Buhagiar noted that the course did not focus directly on theory as this was a vocational practical programme.
“The only class that involved theory was our musical theatre history class which focused on learning different artists and styles throughout the years and seeing what caused these eras to be influenced in the way they were.
“What I found most fascinating was the way in which every type of musical or form of theatre was always influenced by what was going on at that point in time. For example, the Golden Age musicals normally provided pure entertainment and comic relief for members of society who were all passing through difficult times along the way. That is why we find a lot of older musicals more unrealistic nowadays, for the simple reason that this was their main intention – to take the audience out of the real world for a moment or two.”
When asked about if she felt her degree prepared her to tackle the real-world requirements of a career in musical theatre, Buhagiar said that she feels she has been sufficiently prepared.
“I do feel like I have been prepared for this industry well enough and am excited to see what gets thrown my way. It is a very tough industry, so to a certain extent, no one can prepare you for the shock that is the real world.
“I do see myself performing for a few years, mainly in the UK, but am happy to see where this journey takes me! I’d also love to get into choreography and higher education in the future.”
Louisa Buhagiar is a beneficiary of the Malta Arts Scholarship Scheme.