Final year BA (Hons) Acting students and MMus and BMus Composition students at the London College of Music (LCM) at the University of West London (UWL) recently collaborated on a moving and imaginative adaptation of A Monster Calls.

The play is based on the acclaimed novel of love, loss and hope by Patrick Ness and inspired by an original idea by Siobhan Dowd. It is about a 13-year-old boy called Conor who has the same dream every night after his mother falls ill with cancer. One night, when he wakes, there is a monster at his window. It is elemental, a force of nature, and it wants the truth from Conor.

“A Monster Calls is emotionally charged and raw,” explains Director Sam Edmunds. “It’s incredibly ambitious in creating the duality between Conor’s day-to-day life, the expansive world he disappears to in order to hide from the truth, and the nightmare which plagues him.”

“Through Sam’s expert leadership, the students have been supported in exploring this physically demanding, and beautifully moving play,” comments Course Leader for BA (Hons) Acting Isla Hall. “Their dedication, talent, and passion for the work has been evident, and I am proud to support them as they take this final step to join the industry as professional actors.”

“A Monster Calls was an eye-opening experience,” says BA (Hons) Acting student and cast member Ellis Basford. “Having done research into the effects of cancer, I felt it was my duty to handle the play with as much sensitivity as possible to pay tribute to those affected.”

“This was an incredibly fun and enriching experience,” says BA (Hons) Acting student Nyah Henderson who played the Monster. “Physical theatre is a passion of mine, and this was the perfect opportunity to play with that.”

BMus Composition student Lorenzo Barreras says, “I really connected with the play. It is very emotional and quite abstract, so I tried to write music for it that sounded like a combination of anger, sadness and all the weirdness and confusion that comes with Conor’s situation.”

“Composing for A Monster Calls was a fulfilling and meaningful experience,” says MMus student Tingrui Peng. “It not only enhanced my professional skills but was also a valuable collaborative journey, teaching me new music production techniques.”

BA (Hons) Actor Musicianship student Archie Carman created music and lyrics for one of the songs, with support from BA (Hons) Acting student and singer-songwriter Matthew Potter.

ArtsFest, which showcases the creativity and coursework of final year students from the London College of Music (LCM) and the London School of Film, Media and Design (LSFMD), has been taking place during May and June.
 
Read more about studying at UWL’s London College of Music here https://www.uwl.ac.uk/study/music