My name is Grace Sankey and I am a 2018 graduate of the Bachelor of Creative Arts (Theatre). The USQ Theatre course has had a profound effect on my life both in a personal and professional sense. The theatre course and coordinators allowed for the creation and production of my own youth arts festival, Scope Theatre Festival. Scope started as a concept and with the help of the tutors and course flourished into a live theatre festival in my final year of study. Post-grad, Scope continues annually, engaging local businesses and artists as well as continuing to open further pathways for myself in the Queensland festival and theatre scene.

The theatre course has also allowed me to find a permanent role as a Speech and Drama teacher at Speak Up Studio where I teach children who want to learn more about the craft. I also teach young people with learning disabilities as well as children whose primary language isn’t English. The course undeniably equipped me with the necessary skills to best teach all my students, and I regularly find myself basing my teaching on what I learnt throughout my degree, both in terms of the actor training and theatre theory. I would recommend the USQ theatre degree to future students as it teaches such a wide variety of content and builds young artists who are proactive and unique, while it strategically equips students for the reality of working in the arts industry post-grad.

Theatre to me means community and stories. It’s a place to connect audiences and build community around an organisation or group of creatives. Connecting on an emotional level between colleagues, mentors and students, family, friends and strangers. 

The degree at USQ taught me how to work autonomously, diligently, collaboratively and professionally. USQ provides an opportunity to work on theatrical productions from all angles thus offering a variety of technical and interpersonal skills. 

I would recommend USQ for theatrical studies because of the staff and student support. USQ provides a safe place for young artists to start their emerging career by studying and exploring a range of subjects in this field. 

There are many different attributes of an employable actor including, but not limited to talent, dedication to work, compatibility, amiability, knowledge and much more. The best thing an actor can do to increase their chances is work to develop as many skills as possible through hard work and experience – two things in which the University of Southern Queensland has helped me to develop, enhancing the previous attributes. Through these attributes I believe I have achieved employment as a full-time actor.

Moreover, my ability as an actor extends further into independence and the ability to create, develop and perform my own work including writing, resulting in an understanding of theatre on more levels than acting alone. Hence malleability as an actor is a very important trait taught to me in order to maintain work in this industry. The University of Southern Queensland is a wonderful destination to study a theatre degree because of its extensively proficient lecturers who impart masses of knowledge to their students. Through these lecturers and their classes, I have become a much more capable, talented and knowledgeable actor and professional. My practical ability has become far, far greater than when I first began university, as has my theoretical knowledge.