ALICE LEVINE:'I'm Alice Levine and I'm most definitely not an actress. but I've been asked to perform for one night only in Warhorse on the West End. I have no idea what I'm doing'
ALICE LEVINE:Oh lord.
ALICE LEVINE:'So I have to learn everything I can before I take to the stage.'
ALICE LEVINE:Go Warhorse!
ALICE LEVINE:'And today is all about preparation.'
ALICE LEVINE:So today is the actual day, the day that all of my lessons have been building to. Today is my West End debut. I can't actually believe I'm saying that. Don’t really know what I'm supposed to be doing. Have no idea how I'm supposed to prepare for this. So I'm gonna go get some last minute tips. Come on.
ALICE LEVINE:'Before I head to the stage, I'm gonna to get some top tips from Warhorse's lead actor, James. If he can't help me, no one can.'
ALICE LEVINE:Hi James, I'm Alice.
JAMES BACKWAY:Hello. James, lovely to meet you.
ALICE LEVINE:Can I come grill you?
JAMES BACKWAY:Of course. Of course.
ALICE LEVINE:I need some help.
JAMES BACKWAY:Grill away.
ALICE LEVINE:I want to just pick your brains a bit because I've never done anything like this. I just wondered what I should be thinking about before I go to play this part of Annie.
JAMES BACKWAY:You've just got to enjoy yourself, take it slow and just know what you want in the scene.
JAMES BACKWAY:So, you'll be looking after Albert in the scene, who I'll be playing. And you've justgot to think about what do you want from Albert? So, if you want to look after him, play that. Or if you want to, maybe, put him in his place,
JAMES BACKWAY:that could also be an objective. It's up to you which decision you make, and you can talk to the director about that when you get to meet him.
ALICE LEVINE:So I can interpret those lines in any way I want, really, with the director's permission, of course.
JAMES BACKWAY:One hundred percent.
ALICE LEVINE:I wanted to ask you about costume as well.
JAMES BACKWAY:Yeah, it's just a part of preparing I suppose. 'Cause you do all the rehearsals and you do all those kinds of things, but once you're fitted into your costume that, kind of just-- It separates you from the outside world. It feels weird being modern in those kind of clothes.
ALICE LEVINE:Yeah. I'm actually quite nervous, so do we have some time to get in the right headspace or…
JAMES BACKWAY:As much as I wanna say we've got a lot of time, we are literally about to go on.
ALICE LEVINE:Okay.
JAMES BACKWAY:We've got to start getting ready.
ALICE LEVINE:Alright then, so let's do it.
ALICE LEVINE:'We might be about to go on stage, but we can't do that until I'm in my costume.'
AMY SIMPSON:Nice to meet you.
ALICE LEVINE:…Or the nurse.
AMY SIMPSON:The nurse, Annie Gilbert.
ALICE LEVINE:Hello. This is my favourite room in a theatre, how exciting is this?
AMY SIMPSON:We're gonna be putting you into our Annie Gilbert costume. An apron, a headscarf and some gauntlets.
ALICE LEVINE:So, Annie Gilbert, I will become Annie Gilbert.
AMY SIMPSON:You will become Annie Gilbert, yeah.
ALICE LEVINE:Will you help me? That sounds like a lot of layers.
AMY SIMPSON:We will help you.
ALICE LEVINE:I can barely get myself dressed, never mind with a nurse's outfit.
AMY SIMPSON:That's fine, no worries. We can keep undoing you.
ALICE LEVINE:Do you see a real transformation once you've done the hair? Do you feel like that's the character in place now?
RACHEL LIDSTER:I think with certain characters, yes. We're very good at working as a team, everyone together. You know, wigs, wardrobe, actors.
ALICE LEVINE:It's amazing as soon as you even did the hair before the headscarf, you're immediately not you anymore.
ALICE LEVINE:'Okay, so I've got some preparation tips from James. I've been in hair and make-up. I've got my costume. There's just one thing left for me to do.'
ALICE LEVINE:Okay, I better get learning them then. There's more than three lines, I was told three lines. Come on, people. Do you think I'll be okay if I've never seen this before until now?
RACHEL LIDSTER:Oh yeah. All of our actors are great, and they'll make you feel very comfortable.
ALICE LEVINE:That's my main concern, that next to all of the fantastic actors I will stand out like a sore thumb.
RACHEL LIDSTER:Not at all.
ALICE LEVINE:Going, "Gas" and you'll all be like, "No, no you're not on EastEnders."
ALICE LEVINE:'So today I've learnt to work with clear objectives, and know what you want from the scene.
ALICE LEVINE:'Use your costume to help with characterisation. Rehearsals will help you feel prepared. And don't forget to work as a team to get the best out of everyone.'
It’s the day Radio 1 presenter Alive Levine has been building towards - her performance on stage as Nurse Annie in Warhorse.
She's feeling nervous, so she finds lead actor, James Backway, to run through some preparation tips before she takes the stage.
We see Alice transform into the character of nurse Annie Gilbert as she goes through hair and make up.
Teacher Notes
Students could research the social, cultural and historical influences on their character.
They could create a collage of images that reflect the life of the character and design a costume for a character that they are studying.
Students could experiment with costume and could be encouraged to reflect upon how this influences their performance.
They could annotate their scripts to reflect on the objective of their character for each scene and the play as a whole.
Students could be encouraged to consider how their characterisation is influenced by a variety of dramatic elements and how these elements come together to support their overall portrayal of a character.
Curriculum Notes
This clip will be useful for teaching Drama, particularly performance skills at Key Stage 4 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and National 4/5 in Scotland. It could also be useful for people of any age preparing for an acting role.
More from Alice's Journey to Wonderland
Developing a character (pt 1/8) video
Alice visits the set of soap opera Hollyoaks to find out how the actors there create their characters. She learns to think about her character's backstory and the influences that affect her.
Using your voice (pt 2/8) video
Alice takes a voice lesson from Ben Aldridge, star of BBC One's Our Girl to learn more about using her voice in performance.
Set and costume (pt 3/8) video
Alice visits the set of hit West End musical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, to find out how the elaborate set was designed, and how set and costume help tell the story.
Improvisation techniques (pt 4/8) video
Alice visits the Comedy Store in London and learns some improvisation techniques from actor / comedian Isy Suttie (Dobby from Peep Show).
Working with multimedia (pt 5/8) video
Alice visits the set of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time to find out how working with multimedia can help her on her journey to become a West End actress.
Working with a Director (pt 6/8) video
Alice visits the set of CBBC drama Wolfblood and talks to actor Jacqueline Boatswain who plays Victoria Sweeney about how to get the most out of working with a director.
The big performance (pt 8/8) video
Alice is finally ready to rehearse for her West End debut in War Horse. She works through her lines and character with the director and other actors, before performing.
