1646 – Issue 4

12 Natalie so nice to see you again!! Look how far we’ve come since our days in the Octagon!! So, tell me what pathways you took when you left Reading Blue Coat to get to where you are now. I auditioned for drama school the year after leaving Blue Coat. I initially had a place at Cambridge to read History, but completely misread a question in one of my A’ Level History exams which messed with my grade. I retook the exam the following year, in the room with the year below me, at RBCS. Tanya Van der Werff and the History Department were very supportive and I wanted to prove to myself I could get that ‘A’. But it was just personal unfinished business getting it; because by then I had a place at Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, one of the top drama schools in London at that time, which sadly no longer exists. I did what they call a 3 Year ‘Classical Training’ in theatre, and got an agent upon graduation. The rest as they say (ironically here) is history. It was an early life lesson that things don’t always go to plan, but also that there is no shame in ‘Plan B’ : it might ultimately be your destiny for good reason. Is there a standout memory from your time at the school that you feel influenced your career choice? The truth is, I knew I wanted to be an actor before Sixth Form but I very much enjoyed my Theatre Studies course at RBCS; the many theatre trips we took, and remember studying the likes of Stanislavsky and Antonin Artaud in the RBCS Drama Studio. I enjoyed House Drama and was also on the Public Speaking Team lead by the wonderful, late, Paul Holleley (or ‘Mr H’ as we affectionately called him). He was our Head of Sixth Form, and I was lucky enough to have him as my form tutor. Thequalityofteaching IexperiencedatRBCSwasvery high, especially in the English Literature Department which stood me in great stead. When it came to studying and performing, say, Shakespeare at drama school I had a strong foundational understanding. This is where I give a specific ‘shout out’ to Sally Lambert who did my English interview to attend RBCS. I remember vividly breaking down the Lady Macbeth soliloquy of Macbeth Act I Sc V with her (‘The raven himself is hoarse/That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan/Under my battlements’). And, memorably, Harold Pinter – having studied a Pinter play for English A’ Level, I was well ahead in my understanding of him as a playwright for my actor training and how to play those… pauses. What did you enjoy most about your time at RBCS. The people. Teachers that positively influenced my life – I have already cited Miss Van der Werff and the English department. But mostly, my classmates. I have friends that I formed at Sixth Form where we helped each other through the trials and struggles of our 20s , when you are determinedly trying to form yourself as an adult. One of my closest friends to this day, Stefan Kaday, now a budding screenplay writer, was one of my best friends in Sixth Form. He was one of my Public Speaking team cohorts, and we travelled internationally twice to compete. Amusingly, he likes to remind me that I was ‘2nd Player’ to his ‘Hamlet’ at RBCS! How did your time at Blue Coat prepare you for the next chapter do you think? I had a partial Bursary in order to attend Blue Coat. I think it developed a faith in me on the concept that hard work will be noticed. There are opportunities in life for meritocracy to pull through if you apply yourself and are committed. BBC Journalist Sophie van Brugen (1998), caught up with Actress Natalie Dormer (2000) Natalie with her teammates (William Erskine; David Bevans; Jon Parkin; Stefan Kaday and Andrew Peterkin) at a Public Speaking competition hosted in Vancouver in 1998.