Lemonade Sorbet /// Screen Acting first-years write, direct and star in online show

When life gives you lemons, make Lemonade Sorbet! Read all about our Screen Acting Certificate students’ triumphant recent online theatre performance, in which they showcased all they’ve learnt in their challenging first year of study.

We knew this year’s Screen Acting Certificate students would have something special. Moving to a new city to kick-start a creative career in the midst of a pandemic takes courage, resourcefulness, persistence and, above all, a massive zest for life. Their triumphant final project proved they had all of that in pitchers. When life gave them lemons, they didn’t settle for making any old lemonade. They wrote, directed, starred in, promoted and presented Lemonade Sorbet, a tantalising online menu of 11 live performances which mixed the fizz of theatre with the sharpness of creative technology. 

Hundreds of viewers tuned into Lemonade Sorbet on the evening of the 7th of May to discover the up-and-coming international talents – many of whom will stay on at Catalyst for another two years to further hone their acting skills and earn a Bachelor qualification. And, wow, was the audience impressed with the diversity, range and creativity they were served. 

“It was a real trip,” says Merlina Scheffler, who opened the line-up with Manon Magnet in their striking performance Inside. “Collaborating on writing, directing and acting gave me more awareness and respect for the amount of work that happens behind the scenes.” The performance was the culmination of an intensive year of learning by doing. “Throughout this year, I have become more confident in myself and my body and I am aware of the amount of work and preparation that comes with becoming an actor – the process before you actually get a job.”

Laura Majid and Dagur Ingimarsson’s piece Broken World was stunningly visceral. Laura – who was also one of the witty Lemonade Sorbet presenters – describes her performance as “an emotionally, mentally and physically challenging journey projected through my vessel.” She says the “great learning experience and exciting collaboration” gave her “a much bigger understanding for filmmaking as a whole. I feel better equipped to work as an actor and even more curious to try other positions in the industry, such as screenwriting and directing.”

At the end of the line-up, viewers were treated with a live Q&A session, where they were invited to ask the actors all of their burning questions. They touched on the highlights of the project and the challenge of being both in front of and behind the camera, as well as revealing the next steps they’ll be taking on their screen acting journey. 

Kristers Ozols, who performed brilliantly in The Boat and presented, closed up the show with a beautiful reflection on his experience: “You’re a team. You’re a little family working together...and it’s really fun and nice to solve problems together...That’s the key.”