Robin Gee Smith isn’t just a final-year acting student. They’re a drag artist too.
We sat down with Robin to discuss what it’s like to study Acting at AUB and how it’s led them to bold, unique opportunities.
What led you to discover your love for acting and performance?
Honestly, there was no sudden epiphany of ‘OMG, I know what I want to do and I’m going to do everything in my power to make this happen!’ For me, deciding I want to be an actor has been a long journey of self-love and acceptance that started very quietly and grew over time.
I’ve always loved theatre, but my answer to ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ had always been ‘a vet’ and I can’t remember ever considering anything else, until my Year 9 drama teacher told me I was a pretty good actor and should do more of it. Someone recognised a passion in me that I didn’t even know I had. For the rest of school, I made active choices to include drama in my curriculum despite worries from my peers that I was missing out on academic opportunities.
I eventually gained the courage to apply to BA (Hons) Acting, twice, and learned my first lesson – learn monologues rather than reading them on camera – and I got in!
Walk us through your creative process. How do you get into character?
My creative process can seem quite unorganised. My brain’s frequently a big tangle of stuff, so it’s a chaotic journey to untangle all of it and form a piece. During Still Here, my fourth and final third-year show, I worked with movement as a starting point.
I can find more from my character by understanding first how they walk around and hold themselves in a space, then by finding where they feel their emotions and how it changes them physically. For instance, my character Moss was very light on his feet, bouncy and free – this was his curiosity and wonder about the world around him. Then his insecurity and anxiety made his shoulders heavy and his chest tight, weighing his movement down and sending him to the edges of the space to breathe and avoid conflict.
I prefer working with impulses and ensuring the process is rich and fulfilling. Our director, Stephanie Kempson, gave us the time and space we needed to explore this and our movement director, Phao May, helped me as a movement captain to work with the rest of the cast on characterising their movements too.
What do you love about BA (Hons) Acting?
AUB has given me more skills than I thought possible.
First year laid a technical foundation, then second year helped me find my artistic voice and style, and third year showed me the industry. The course has a great mix of group work, lecturer intervention and individual/self-sufficient teaching. The technical groundwork meant that by the end of first year, I had the skills necessary to experiment with different forms and styles of work proficiently.
For me, this was most apparent in my actor-creator piece from second year. We used movement exercises and improvisation to create a character-driven story about five dolls that had lost their owner. There was dance, music, accents and a twist ending where my sweet, harmless character turned evil – if there’s one thing you’re going to do as an actor, please play a villain – it is SO much fun.
I want to return to this project and work out the kinks in the hopes of sending it to some Fringe festivals (and hopefully beyond). I wouldn't have that piece if one of my lecturers, Louie Jenkins, hadn’t introduced me to Sh!t Theatre in the hopes of alleviating my perfectionist tendencies. Who could’ve known it would work so well!?
Outside acting and performance, how do you express yourself?
I love music. Drumming is a favourite hobby of mine and one that I want to become more technical in. It’s very useful for alleviating tension or just to stim.
I’m also a drag artist. I started doing funky make-up maybe five years ago in my room at night as a small creative outlet. Turns out I got better over time. Combine that with a night at the club and a friend being impressed with my dancing and suddenly I’m doing my first drag performance in DYMK with two working drag queens – and holding my own too.
Since then, I’ve done several more performances and I’m going to be on a stage at Pride this July. It’s a great way to engage with performance in a silly, fun setting and it allows me to work on skills that can really aid my acting career. I’ll sneak Le Freak the Drag Thing into a theatre production one day.
Where are you planning to take your acting experience once you graduate?
I’m going into the National Youth Theatre in August on an intensive course to hone my skills for the industry, and hopefully I can spring some work with the National Theatre as a result, or cross over to the Rep. I want to keep pushing my movement abilities so I’m looking into degrees and Master’s courses for that. Otherwise, I’ll be auditioning for things that excite me. Oh, and puppets. I really like puppets now too, so I’ll definitely be doing more of that.
If there’s one piece of advice you could offer your younger self – or someone considering acting at AUB – what would it be?
Be bold, be you. Don’t worry about how things will turn out or whether you’re good enough on your first try. Just try! I’d also say to have fun and play. Make sure your passions can continue to be your passions instead of getting stirred up in capitalism and its soul-crushing ways. Live and explore and don't worry so much. And be nice.
If you want an acting course that will make you a fully-rounded creative and artist – this is the course for you, if you’re willing to put in the work. It’s well worth it.
