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MT25.1 Freshers' Special · The Downing Arts Podcast

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Welcome to the Downing Arts Podcast.
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We're back for our second series and today is a special edition
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for all the freshers out there. We're looking forward to welcoming you to college and
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sharing our vibrant creative art scene with you. I'm Louisa Downing's
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Director of Music and every week I'll be bringing you all the creative arts news
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from the Downing community, as well as conversations with students, staff fellows
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and alumnae. This week we'll be hearing from the Freshers reps, talking about drama
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and creative writing and the Heon Gallery at Downing, and also the Music Society,
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who'll give us a glimpse into their plans for the year.
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There's a huge amount of creative art stuff happening at Downing and I'm delighted
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to have some of the Freshers reps in the studio to talk about some of
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the things they're involved in in college. Welcome, Mia, B Ed and Mercedes.
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Hi, Louisa. Hi, Louisa. Hello. How are you all doing? I expect
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you're pretty busy right now, sorting out stuff for Freshers Week.
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Yeah, it's quite a busy period, but we're really looking forward to
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welcoming everyone and we're kind of. Everything's falling into place now.
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It's really exciting. That's great. So what sort of stuff have you been setting up
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for our incoming Freshers? Yeah, we've got lots of events lined up beyond
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just the regular sort of clubbing events that people see in Freshers Week.
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We've got lots of theatre screenings, outdoor cinema nights,
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craft nights, museum visits and also trip to the botanical gardens
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lined up. Wow. So, I mean, I guess it must take a lot of planning
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quite a long way in advance to sort out the Freshers Week. I mean,
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you were all freshers last year. So do you sort
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of. You learn from what you had your own experiences and so on? Yeah,
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we sort of built upon like our own experience, like thinking what
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was great, what we would have loved to have had and what we wish we
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had known as. Well, it's kind of quite an adjustment coming
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to going to any uni and especially Downing and Cambridge with
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the whole college system, but we just want to make sure it's like as friendly
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and welcoming as Downing is for all the freshers.
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And yeah, we started prepping in May sort of time,
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actually, maybe even a bit before that. It's been a bit of a blur
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the last few kind of months with exams as well, but it's been
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really great fun prepping it with Mia and all the preps. Great.
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So you're head frep with Mia. Is that Right, Yeah. So Mercedes and
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I are the head freps together. There's a team of about 15
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of us with 13 students who
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have also volunteered to assist with Freshers Week generally.
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So that includes welcoming students, taking them to their rooms,
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as well as assisting for the event coordination,
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sort of escorting them to club nights and things like that, just to make sure
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that there's always there someone there for the students to speak to, as well as
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to ensure that everyone feels safe and welcome for the entire period.
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Fantastic. So, for all the freshers who are about to arrive this weekend,
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what would you say if you had to sort of give them some distilled
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advice? What would you say? Probably that it's okay to
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feel anxious and that it's not something that you need to hide
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or feel like, you know, you're the only person experiencing that it's a
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new experience for everybody. And the good thing about it is that everybody's
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new. Everyone's going to be searching to make new friends, join new
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societies, figure out not just the academic side, but the
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social side of university and all that encompasses. So just
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to sort of not be too hard on yourself, allow yourself to make mistakes,
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try new things and, yeah, just really jump into the experience.
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Fantastic. So, Bea and Ed, I know you've been involved
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in creative art stuff in college, particularly drama. Do you want to
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just give us give the freshers the lowdown on what's going on in college?
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Sure. So at the Freshers Fair, there's an opportunity
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to sign up to loads of things and my advice would be try
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as many things as possible, because if it weren't for a friend saying,
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should we draw in drama together? I wouldn't have thought of
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doing it at all. And I'm really glad I did. Great. And, Ed, how about
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you? Yeah, I mean, the great thing about Downing is there's so
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many drama productions to get involved with.
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And specifically sort of aimed at the Freshers is
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the DDS Freshers play in Lent Term,
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which Bea and Mercedes and I were
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all involved with. And that's a great way to kind of get to know your
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cohort a bit better and just be involved in something.
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A play that's really fun. And, yeah, it helps you
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kind of get into the Cambridge theatre scene if you. If that's something you're looking
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at. But it's also, if you're not and you just want a more
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kind of chilled production to be involved with, that's also
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a good, fun way to get involved in drama at Downing.
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So when you say get involved with drama, is this just acting or are
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there opportunities for sort of behind the scenes stuff and lighting and tech and all
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that sort of thing? Yeah, I was just going to say. So we've got,
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especially with the Freshers play, there's a lot of production team
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like behind the scenes. So I directed the freshest play last
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year and I had a producer and people to help
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with marketing and a costume designer and a tech designer.
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So we kind of had someone to do everything and really
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test their skills. So we had someone that does computer science doing the
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tech during the production for us. They've never kind of operated on that sort
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of system before, but had it as an opportunity to really like hone in
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and use their skills elsewhere and apply that to drama, which is really
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good fun. And Mia, I know you've been involved in the Hyung Gallery,
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which is another great asset that we have here at Downing. Do you want to
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just tell us a bit about that? Yeah, sure. So Downing is really
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fortunate to have this amazing space. That's the Hyung Gallery, which is named after
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a Downing alumnus who then funded the project.
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We've got lots of really cool installations which are free not only to
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students, but to the public as well. Currently we've got one called
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Revealing Invisible Lines, which is all about material dialogue and
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sort of. It looks at reclaiming and reconstituting fabrics to
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sort of look at invisible labor and bring that to light in day to day
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experiences. So there's things like aiming to present time spent in
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hospital waiting rooms, the hours spent every day by individuals performing
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acts of care or domestic labor. And they've even got things portraying
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the time spent carefully stitching something as a military parachute.
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And these are really just sort of lovely ways to
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have artistic expression in Downing itself. So especially
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for busy students or for those who are really in touch with art,
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especially for art history students, it's just,
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yeah, a really lovely space to have right on campus. Brilliant. And I mean
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the various events and things that go on in the gallery. I know that we
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do a lot of kind of cross arts collaboration. Have you been involved in
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any of those sorts of things? I myself haven't personally, but I know it's very,
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very active with the student population. Yeah, Even sort of the exhibitions
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themselves, they're not very necessarily typical portrayals
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of art. They always try to include sort of sound installations,
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sculptures, participatory elements. There's also a
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lot of workshops that are undertaken there, as well as
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just sort of other bits and bobs throughout the year. The space is Utilized in
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lots of different way. Fantastic. And how do you find the creative arts
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activities that are on offer at Downing? How do you find that they balance your
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studies or help with your studies or just generally keep you sane?
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Yeah, I mean, I think these sort of creative elements are really important alongside
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academic studies. We've obviously spoken a bit about the social side
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alongside the academic, but I think the artistic sort of expressionist side
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is also very important and something that students may forget about
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sometimes. I think a lot of students find it to
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be sort of very like mindful experience to attend not just the Hyung Gallery,
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but also the DDS play. I attended that myself and I thought it
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was amazing to not just see a production, but to be involved in something
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that your fellow students and friends are also
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participating in. I think it's very important and definitely
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something that we'd like to sort of showcase
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to the Freshers more this year. Well, it sounds like you've got plans to do
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just that sounds great. Ed and Bea, you were involved in the Freshers
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play last year. How does it happen every year? I mean, obviously it's directed by
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freshers and acted by freshers and all that sort of thing. But presumably
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there has to be a bit of long term ish planning. I mean,
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has it been decided what it's going to be this year? Or I might just
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jump in here as I directed it. So in terms of like long term planning,
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the applications for Direct open in December and
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then we decide who it will be. Ed Senya and
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I. Senya is the president this year, Ed is the vp. So. So we will
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all decide on the new director for the Freshers play and
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that will be announced in January and then the
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play takes place at the end of February. So they've got a very short
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time. We all managed to put a play on in a month and how we
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did it, I don't know. Lots of rehearsals, lots of prep behind
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the scenes, but we managed to put it on. And the great thing as well
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is the director gets to pick the play. So I got to pick a
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play that I've wanted to kind of perform for five years, since the moment I
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read it. I picked London Assurance,
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which is a comedy, but there's a lot of different kind of plays
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everyone puts on every year. There's been dramas, there's been a
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lot of tragedies. I think they've done a lot of Shakespeare as well. So you
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can really kind of tailor it to what you're good at as a director and
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what you really love. And what you think the audience will love as well.
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Brilliant. So for any freshers who are listening, who might be thinking they'd
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like to get involved with the Freshers play, what sort of advice might you have
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to them have for them if you have to apply to be a director?
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I mean, do you have to have any experience or do you have to have
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an idea of what play you want to do or what, you know what,
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what could they be thinking about if they want to want to apply
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to do it? Yeah, I mean we've obviously got a really friendly and supportive kind
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of committee at DDS and. And now that it's being head up by
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Senya and Ed, I know it's just going to be brilliant. So everyone can
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apply. I personally had some experience directing at school.
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I took drama, GCSE and A levels,
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so I had a lot of experience writing my own plays and directing my own
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plays. But even like if you, a lot of people come forward in
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previous years I've heard this and they don't really know kind of what play they
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want to do and it just becomes a bit more of a discussion between the
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committee and the oncoming director and we kind of like will help
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you out to find the play that you would really like to do and that
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suits you. Brilliant. Yeah. And the sort of philosophy of
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DDS with the Freshers play is to get as many freshers involved
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as possible. So DDS try and pick a play
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with a big cast and opportunities for technicians
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and crew to get involved as well. So really it
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doesn't matter your level of experience, just get involved and you'll
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hopefully find it really helps build strong relationships with your cohort
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as well and you have a great time and lots of fun as well.
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Yeah, I know certainly from previous years that that is exactly
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what happens and you have a lot of fun. I mean, we've talked a bit
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about the acting side of it and the directing and the. And the tech side.
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But presumably you need someone to design a poster and do all the marketing and
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all that sort of thing, which I guess is another way that freshers could get
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involved. Yeah, absolutely. And I think there's a lot of opportunities
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at Downing generally to kind of get involved with post making and
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marketing. Same goes for Downing College Music Society
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for the Jazz Night Band. I know that for
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even the May Ball they needed people to make posters.
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So that's a really nice way as well. If you're like artistic and practically
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artistic to kind of be able to do that at Cambridge.
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I mean you say you put on this play in a month. I mean,
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how on earth did you fit that in around essays and example sheets and supervisions
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and lectures and all sorts. It was challenging,
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but it never felt like a chore because we had such a great time at
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the rehearsals. We really, like, just made it a fun environment.
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I know everyone had a really lovely time. We sort of.
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Oh, gosh, it's a while back now, but I think we had about three rehearsals
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a week. It might be more than that. Correct me if I'm wrong, team.
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It might be more. Sometimes four, sometimes mostly three.
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Yeah. So evening. Evening rehearsals
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after a long day of academic work. But as we kind
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of spoke about earlier, it's really important that you take time away from your academic
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work. And I know that we all just kind of found that our time
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to relax and to have fun and it didn't
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feel like tedious or something, that it
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just felt like your release. And I think as actors and
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directors and people that love art, being able to do that in amongst everything else
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is a real privilege. And the great thing was as well, it was such a
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fun play. So we just had loads of laughs and,
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yeah, just the rehearsal atmosphere was lots
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of fun and it was very kind of chilled. It never felt intense. It always
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felt like something we were doing because we enjoyed doing it, not because it was
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a laborious process. That sounds exactly how it should be, I think.
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So what are your plans for this year? Do you have anything exciting in the
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pipeline for dds? Yeah, there's loads of stuff in the works.
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So the Festival of New Writing and the Freshest play
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will be happening in Lent, and then we'll have the May Week production in
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Easter. And in terms of Michaelmas, we're kind of formulating ideas
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for about three shows that are yet to happen in Michaelmas.
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So keep an eye out and see if you can get involved. It'd be great
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to have some freshers involved in those shows. Oh, brilliant. So. So freshers
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can get involved right from the off. I don't have to wait for the freshers
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play. Absolutely, yeah. So my first show at DDS was
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called Tow Patrol and it was in Michaelmas term, so I got.
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I got involved straight away. And I definitely recommend freshers
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look out for those early opportunities because you can get
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involved straight away. And there's so many opportunities from
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the beginning of Michaelmas to get involved. So if you have a real passion for
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theatre, then keep an eye out straight away
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and they'll come up brilliant. Well, it sounds like, as always,
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there's an Awful lot going on. A lot going to happen this coming term.
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Thank you for everything you're doing to welcome the freshers and make them feel at
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We've heard from the freshers reps and DDs and I'm now joined by the Music
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Society President Rhea Sood and Vice President Lola Peskin. Welcome to you
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both. Hi, Louisa. So you must also be very busy
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gearing up for the new term. Have you been busy organising stuff over the summer?
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Yeah, we have. Me and Lola have been in contact trying to create
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some really cool and fun events for DCMS this term.
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Yeah, we want to talk about creating opportunities
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for people to share the music that they love in, like, relaxed settings and
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open mics and then also like jazz band
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and the things that we've always had put down in that make it such a
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fun space. Yeah, I think our first event coming up actually
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on the 12th of October is with Jazz.
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It's an easy jamming session. It's just going to be a space where everyone's invited
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to come and sit and just enjoy some iconic jazz
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standards and also some new and interesting pieces that
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we're trying out. The week following, we're going to be hosting an open mic
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in the JCR and all are welcome to come and sing
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or share music that they love or poetry or anything
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that they fancy doing. It's going to be a really relaxed setting and we hope
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as many of you as possible will join us for that. Brilliant. Well, I'm sure
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we'll have a. We'll have freshers who are interested in all sorts of different types
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of music. So we've got jazz, we've got open mic. Have you got any other
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plans for this term? Yeah, we've got a poetry recital that we're
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hoping to have. Then the third week that will be also a very
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relaxed setting and we want people to come and talk about poetry just to show
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that music goes beyond just performance and playing. But you can also come and
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talk about any of your favorite pieces or just share something
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about that you've done musical that week. Because we'd love to make DCMS a really
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diverse and inclusive kind of setting for all people to get involved within.
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So, Rhea, you're a music student and Lola, you're English, is that right?
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Yeah. So I guess being a music student lends
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itself to being involved with music society. But Lola, what's your background in music
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and what's kind of led you to take on the mantle of vice president?
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Well, I played the piano since I
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was really young and I did jazz grades, so I've
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enjoyed being able to get back to that because I haven't done it for a
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while, but I've done singing to a grade
17:31
eight standard, and that's something that is quite a big part of my life,
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I feel, because I also write music. And I'm
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really excited to be singing in the jazz band this year because it's
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such a lovely center, I feel like, for the community at
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Downing. And I remember when I joined, one of the first events I went
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to was an open mic. And everyone was just so attentive and thoughtful
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and really, really kind. And I think when you first join somewhere
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like a university, especially Cambridge, where you really expect to feel
18:04
intimidated, to be in a space that felt so
18:08
welcoming and relaxed was really nice and, like, made me feel. Yeah. Part of
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the community. So I'm excited to help with creating those kinds of
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spaces for the pressures that are starting this year. Brilliant. And,
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Ria, you've been. Obviously, you're doing music as a degree, but are you involved in
18:24
much practical music making? I think one thing I like about being obviously heavily
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involved with DCMS this year, what I'm looking forward to is the practical side of
18:31
music, because I kind of avoid that within my degree, something that I enjoy doing,
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and I want to continue to enjoy that. So DCMS is kind of the perfect
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balance of getting involved and doing some music without having,
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obviously, that academic pressure on top of it as well. So I think that's really
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nice. As it balances my degree. It's something different to what I'm doing academically,
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obviously. Brilliant. And in the past, we've had sort of collaborations between
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DCMS and DDS and so on, and Downing's a really great place for creative
18:58
arts to kind of intermingle. So do you have any plans for any
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of that sort of thing this year? Yeah, I think we do. I think,
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especially given that, obviously, between, like, I think Lola does English and ID music,
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I think that kind of lends itself to some, like, collaborations between
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different societies. And we were talking about potentially a
19:16
joint event with DDS and the Hong Gallery. That's obviously still a work in progress,
19:20
but we're definitely keen to do some of that throughout this year.
19:23
Brilliant. And I suppose the poetry recital is sort of part of that.
19:26
Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah. And we can also build links between
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the leaves of the literary magazine and the music and
19:35
find interesting ways of combining those disciplines, because I'm
19:39
also editing that, so I'll be able to hopefully, in the launch
19:43
party, be like, you. Know who we should invite? TCMs.
19:47
Fantastic. Lola, I mean I've heard, you know, I've heard you sing some
19:51
of your own songs and as you said, it's obviously a very important part of
19:54
your life. But how do you find, well, I mean the two of you,
19:57
how do you find that being involved in creative stuff outside of your degree,
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how do you find that that affects your, your own work? I mean, does it
20:04
give you a different approach to your studies or. I think it helps that.
20:08
I mean, I really enjoy my degree and I also find it quite creative as
20:13
well as analytical. And I think it actually helps me keep my mind more
20:16
free though, because if I'm being creative, I feel like, I feel
20:21
like I'm in a more relaxed state. And then it's also easier
20:25
to learn and be focused because like to have different parts of your brain
20:29
feeling active I think makes you feel more energized as a whole
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person. Cool. And things are kind of gearing
20:36
up for Freshers week in college. The freshers reps are zooming around the place doing
20:40
various things. I mean, what would you say to any freshers listening to this who
20:44
are perhaps feeling a little bit anxious or wondering how they're going to
20:48
continue to play their instrument or whatever they like doing?
20:51
Is there anything you would say to them?
20:54
Well, even if you're not doing music, you can still be really involved in,
20:58
I mean in music as a degree, you can still become very involved in
21:03
the musical culture at Downing. And I just say don't be scared to
21:07
try things out that maybe you haven't done before or that you think might be
21:11
fun or you might meet like minded people through. Because of
21:15
all the places to kind of try things that feel scary, like university is
21:20
it like you can go to an open mic or join a band at such
21:23
low stakes and then see. Yeah. Where it goes. Yeah, I think definitely.
21:27
I completely agree. And I mean for me, I was obviously very nervous when I
21:31
first came and the previous president, Hannah really encouraged me to get involved
21:35
and you know, like playing in the jazz band as a pianist is one of
21:38
my favorite things. And Lola and I actually became really close friends through music in
21:42
the first like few weeks because it's like, as you said, it's such a nice
21:45
place to meet other people who have kind of got similar interests. And you have
21:48
to also remember that everyone's in the same boat as you. Like everyone's nervous,
21:51
so just go for it. And if you have any questions at all, you can
21:55
always like feel free to get in Loda and I and we'll be happy to
21:58
help and tell you different ways you can get involved. Brilliant.
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So how can Freshers get involved? I mean, we've got some social media and things
22:05
like that. What's the best way? If someone wants to get in touch. With you,
22:08
email me so they can that you're very welcome to drop
22:13
an email or to message the Instagram or get in touch through
22:18
anyone. I mean, most people in college will direct you towards the right people,
22:21
so they can always ask anyone they know who will tell them
22:25
places to go. And we'll soon be having some advertisement of our term card and
22:28
events coming up so that they can have a bit more direction as to what
22:31
there is on offer for Michaelmas. Brilliant. Great. Well, I'll put your
22:35
email address and so on in the show notes so people know where they can
22:38
go to contact you. I really looking forward to seeing you back in college and
22:42
looking forward to a great time with dcms. Thank you. Thank you for having us.
22:45
Thank you.
22:50
As you've heard, Downing is a fantastically creative place to be
22:54
and we hope all new members of our community will enjoy the opportunities available
22:57
here. This coming week is busy with Freshers welcome events
23:02
and the current two person exhibition in the gallery runs until the 19th of October.
23:06
The freshers fair will take place in the dining hall on Tuesday afternoon.
23:09
It's a chance to explore all the different societies we have here and
23:13
chat to the students who run them. On Tuesday evening at six in the chapel,
23:17
the undergraduate Freshers Evensong takes place, finishing in time for pre dinner drinks
23:21
and the same on Thursday for postgraduates. All are very welcome.
23:25
If you're interested in becoming involved in any aspect of the creative
23:29
arts in college, check out the show notes for contact details. And if you'd like
23:32
to audition for the chapel choir, details are also in the show notes. I hope
23:36
you have a wonderful time at Downing and enjoy everything that's on offer. And don't
23:40
forget, you can contact me at any time on artspodcastao.cam.ac.uk
23:46
thanks for listening.