#OnceAMonkey - Nim McQuin & Wish Cadets
As we look ahead to the new training year and prepare to welcome the next generation of performers and creative theatre makers to our London and Bristol drama school centres, we are sharing some #MonkeyMotivation from a member of our talented alumni community to inspire incoming and prospective students alike!
We chatted to Class of 2020 – Two Year Rep (now BA (Hons) Acting) graduate Nim McQuin about her career as an actor and theatre maker since leaving Fourth Monkey, her recent work with touring theatre company SISATA, and how she plans to develop and evolve her own work, Wish Cadets, an original piece of theatre which first started life as an Experimental Performance Project pitch during her time at The Monkey House…
We first spoke to you in December 2020, a few months after you graduated from Fourth Monkey – tell us a little about what you have been up over the last couple of years!
Honestly, it’s been a lot of ups and downs and working things out, but I’ve been lucky enough to be involved with a few really lovely touring productions! I’ve also started working as a LAMDA tutor and have really been loving helping young people find characters and develop their performance skills.
Image credit – www.sisata.co.uk
Is there anything you found particularly challenging, surprising or challenging about the shift from training at drama school to working as a professional performer?
In terms of practical challenges, I’m not a big fan of the maths required when keeping my accounts in order, but I’ve known that for a while now…
It’s been quite the transition and the challenge has really been in diversifying my income as a freelancer, and finding jobs that still fulfil me creatively when I’m not making and performing.
Similarly, do you have any advice for anyone graduating this summer as they start navigating their creative career?
Whether you realise it or not, you have so many transferable skills that can lead to unique and exciting career paths! The most important thing to remember is to celebrate each other’s successes, rather than comparing yourself to others – think community, not competition!
You have been working on a wide variety of projects since you graduated, including working with SISATA with whom you are about to go on tour as part of their production of Wuthering Heights – how did you get involved with this project and what appealed to you about working with SISATA as a theatre company?
I worked with Charmaine K, who is founder of SISATA and was Director of Wuthering Heights, when we performed together in Treehouse Theatre’s pantomime, Goldilocks, Adventures of a Porridge Thief. From there, she invited me to the Wuthering Heights R&D where I discovered we have similar values when it comes to making theatre, accessibility being the main goal. SISATA aims to make the classics accessible and easy to follow and brings them to outdoor venues all around the country, with some performances being pay what you can and all tickets being priced at £15 or under.
Whilst you were training at Fourth Monkey, you took part in the Experimental Performance Project and submitted Wish Cadets as your pitch. Can you tell us a little about the piece and its central themes, as well as the inspiration behind your initial idea and how you went about creating the first scratch performance during your training?
Wish Cadets is all about celebrating the unique you that you are! We followed Astro Sparkles (a Wish Cadet) as she went about granting her very first wish – “I wish I was normal”. She had to ask for a lot of advice from other Wish Cadets such as Professor Moondust (and, of course, a very helpful audience) but she found her way in the end!
It was definitely inspired by thinking what I would have needed (and loved) to heard when I was little, and creating the first scratch performance was born of a lot of play! I encouraged my actors to discover their unique Wish Cadet character, then wrote the script around who they became as a result and began to play with different sensory elements – this is something we are so excited to expand upon as we further develop the piece soon.
(Image credit – Max Curtis; Experimental Performance Project)
Wish Cadets was one of two Experimental Performance Projects chosen to receive support from Fourth Monkey to help them develop professionally. How did this feel and how, if at all, has it inspired and motivated you as a theatre maker?
It felt so exciting and honestly, so motivating to know I had support to call upon! It’s given me the confidence and the knowledge that my piece is worth developing, something that maybe a couple of years ago I wouldn’t have been sure of.
(Image credit – SISATA, Wuthering Heights)
How, if at all, have the central themes and ideas behind Wish Cadets evolved and developed over time?
The central themes remain the same, although I think as we revisit the piece and the story, we will find that we discover a lot more. I’m hoping to add and include a lot more sensory elements and following using some sign language in other productions I have been part of recently, I think integrating sign language into Wish Cadets would be invaluable.
What are you most excited about as you look ahead to developing the piece professionally? What is your dream for Wish Cadets once it has been fully developed and is ready to share?
What I’m most excited about finding out what we haven’t discovered yet! There’s always more to find and playing with Wish Cadets more will be so much fun! The ultimate dream is to take the piece on tour, although there are so many ideas floating around my head, from podcasts to worksheets to books, that I could easily get ahead of myself if I start talking about it.
Finally, what advice would you share with anyone preparing to create their own original piece of scratch theatre? What advice do you wish you had been given at the start of your creative journey with Wish Cadets?
The most important thing is to take ownership of your idea!
Play, collaborate, take constructive criticism but, at the end of the day, it is yours and yours alone so trust your judgement and keep going – you have a unique voice that people want to hear. Your voice is needed.
Keep up to date with Wish Cadets as it evolves and develops – follow @wishcadets on Instagram and @WishCadets on Twitter!
