This story was originally published May 21, on Medium where you can follow Ian and read more of his writing. My high school theatre teacher called me into her office in the early spring of my junior year. She said it was decision time. Will I decide to pursue acting as a career, or will it continue to be just an after-school fling. And then I saw the words, Normandy, France. Berridge Programs offers an experience like no other pre-college summer acting or film , or program. What largely sets them apart is their ability to bring together a group of professional instructors from all over the world and offer you four weeks of dedicated, intense, conservatory-style training.
You live in the Chateau. You act in the barn. By the end of my time there, I knew without a doubt that acting was going to be my life from then on. As we blasted through France, music playing and the wind filling the van we all knew we were in for an adventure. Arriving at the Chateau, we were introduced to the rest of the faculty and our lovely Chef , James, and shown around the Estate. I shared a room with two other high school juniors and we were equally amazed at how this was all panning out so far.
While most of my time was spent at the Chateau in class, or working on lines and assignments, weekends were generally free and that meant we had some time to explore. Berridge had scheduled a few excursions for all of us during some of these weekends, the best being a trip to Omaha Beach and the nearby town of Bayeux. It was a perfect opportunity to practice the French I learned in high school, and to try some actual, non-touristic French food.
We also made several trips to the local market near the Chateau to pick up any snacks or essentials we might need for during the week. By the end of the four weeks, my roommates and I had developed an evening routine using the extra baguettes and Nutella James had kindly left for us! Besides my high school acting classes, which largely had to bridge the gap between those with little interest to the hardcore theatre kids, I had no serious training up to this point.
Berridge was created with this in mind, and offers a fixed curriculum of daily classes, along with an elective of your choice. Like most pre-college programs, it offers a snapshot as to what your day-to-day would look like in a conservatory program which I continued on to do at Syracuse University. One of the areas where Berridge really excels is its Shakespeare training , led by Simon Purse.
