Student of the month: Rebecca Barton – BA (Hons) Drama

Meet our Student of the Month! Rebecca tells us about her time at SED so far

Irish lady moves to London and now, does not sound so Irish anymore.

Tell us about your time at QMUL. What have been your highlights?

By far, my time at QM has been made incredible by the people. I know that I have met people here who will be my friends for the rest of my life. And that’s something you always hear will happen at university and hope it’s true! I’m very glad it became true for me. And it’s not just the people themselves, it’s the way they inspire me as well. The art that is being made here, particularly in the sense of theatre, is something I have never been exposed to before.

How has your course at Queen Mary helped you to progress into the world outside? What’s next?

My course has helped me in a lot of ways. Before coming here, I definitely saw myself as a strict theatre maker but I know now that’s not the case! Performance art is a whole new kind of theatre in itself that I have been exposed to through the Drama degree at Queen Mary and a kind of theatre that I find so compelling and thought provoking!

Aside from course content what have been your favourite elements of the experience of studying here as a whole? (societies/friends/community/values)

Definitely the Queen Mary Theatre Company. QMTC has been the highlight of my whole first year. I’ve been involved in it since the first festival in September and basically haven’t slowed down since then! The theatre being made in QMTC and the standard of student written work being produced there is just astounding. And the welcomeness and friendships I have made inside of QMTC are going to stick with me for life.

Tell us about your life outside Queen Mary including any projects, ambitions or jobs you’ve had.

Well, I’ve been involved in a bit of theatre outside QM. I performed in ACT 2, which is the new title for the London Student Drama Festival. That was incredible, because I got to do some great work with theatre people outside of QM. Expand my horizons, shall we say. I also worked with a fantastic company called SHITE Productions, which was making a play in a day. And I am working as FOH staff for Jeff Wayne’s The War of the Worlds The Immersive Theatre Experience, also getting to be a standby for some of the acting roles. That opportunity has been an incredible one for me. There are so many opportunities for experiences in theatre outside QM – you just have go look!

What could be improved to enhance future students’ experience at Queen Mary?

I think less of a segregation between arts and sciences.

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