Well hello there,

Merry Christmas you beautiful people. Ordinarily, I'd apologise for being a shit blogger and not posting for what feels like forever but, as it's Christmas, I'm going to take it for granted that you're all too cheerful and/or drunk to mind. I know I am. Having had little reason to post for a while, I decided that (just as I did last year), I'd try and compose some kind of end-of-year farewell post, and wish you all a Happy New Year in the process. So. Sit rep. "Where's my life at?" I hear you ask your computer screen. Well...

Drama School auditions have begun again. Having deferred an offer of a place at a beautiful school last year - I'm actually realising now that I don't think I ever filled you in on that, but it's another blog post in itself so nevermind (for now) - I'm back auditioning at a few schools again and am actually really enjoying getting stuck back in to some meaty text. It helps that I've chosen some killer speeches; my favourite of which is a speech by Constance from King John and it just tastes like grit. I'm also working on a new pilot TV thing with an old tutor from Rose Bruford, and am keeping my fingers crossed that 'The Ruby in the Smoke' (the play I did this summer) will go back on tour again in the Spring. I finally fulfilled the classic jobbing-actor stereotype as I'm now working as a waitress in a cocktail bar (that much is true); and I resigned from my other "part time" job at a tuition centre. I'm back living at home again now that the play is over and, in all honesty, I really love it. Being so close to my family brings me more joy than I could begin to describe, and I'm really trying to keep up with my friends and their astonishing achievements. It's not always easy, but it is continually worth it.

A lot of people have said that 2016 has been "the worst year ever" and shouting about how they're "so glad it's over". Aside from the Donald Trump, Nigel Farage, Alan Rickman and Emma Rice fiascos, I don't really know how I feel about this year. I don't doubt that there have been plenty of political and societal tragedies in the last twelve months, but I'm starting to learn that trying to view everything from above is hard and destructive. Sometimes, you just need to take stock of where you are at personally. So the question now becomes: how does the end of 2016 compare to the end of 2015? Well, some thing's haven't changed at all. My sister is still growing into the most remarkable young woman and I maintain a huge amount of envy and admiration for her everyday. I'm still in awe of my parents and their ability to juggle life so seamlessly and graciously, and I still drink far too much tea. I still check my ex's Facebook accout to see if he's still with that weird looking girl and I still hate running. I still tweet way too much and I still know nothing about film. I still have the same headshots even though I'm definitely due some new ones. I'm still an avid atheist and I am probably still a little too proud of it. I'm still shit with money, I still drunk call the people I love whenever I drink red wine and my dog still doesn't do anything I say.

So what's new? Well, in 2016 I painted my bedroom a different colour. I started making an effort to have breakast with my mum in the mornings of my days off. I changed my perfume and started learning how to make cocktails. I shared deep political discussions with a real variety of people, and cared more about all sorts of national and international issues than I ever have before. I stayed with a character across 35 performances and wept like a child when friends and family from all over the country so generously came to see the show I was so proud of. I've gave myself a dangerously fast growing coffee habit and I mastered a couple of card games. I read a couple of genuinely life changing books. I started throwing the word "cunt" around like it means nothing, and had the priviledge of seeing some of the best theatre I've ever seen. I was totally showered with kindness by the people of several new and enchanting cities - Edinburgh, Cardiff, Oxford and Brighton to name but a few - and I finally learned what the phrase "instant and unconditional love" meant when my cousin had a baby.

In all honesty then, it looks like 2017 has quite a lot to live up to. I think I'm finally starting to feel like a grown up. I've learned over the last few months that it's okay to mess stuff up. It's okay to not know what to do. It's okay to be overwhelmed, and it's okay to cry down the phone at your mum in the middle of the night after work. It's okay to feel lost and lonely; and it's okay to be single for as long as you like. It's okay not to have an opinion on everything. It's okay to reserve judgement on someone until a few dates in. It's okay to compliment all your customers, because you might just make somebody's day. It's okay to be proud of something and give yourself a pat on the back. It's okay to feel inadequate and miserable and like you're never going to get to do what you love ever again. What I've learned this year is that it's okay to do all these things, because your loved ones will take care of you. As long as you prioritise the health and wellbeing of your family, your friends and yourself, everything else will just happen. As long as you are kind, kindness will find you back.

So here we go. I'm choosing to move into 2017 with a killer Shakespeare speech, a brewing coffee addiction and a reminder that, unlike so many others, I'm fortunate enough to have another year ahead of me; another trip around the sun; another chance to get it right. Wish me luck. In return, I wish you clear skin, financial stability, and happiness. I wish you health, love and joy. Together, let's wave goodbye to 2016 and as we hug hello to 2017, let's christen it the Year of Kindness.

All my love and, of course, Merry Christmas.

Sydney
xxx

Well, fuck.

I had so much hope for the blog this summer, because I've done a lot of stuff, but alas none of these hopes have come to fruition and I'm now sat staring at an empty page template, trying to work out what to write. My tea has gone cold, so I hope you'll agree that I've paid a damn harsh price for missing a month of blogging. The last few weeks have, for me, been filled with a desire to culturally educate myself. For example, it is not news to the people that know me that my repertoire when it comes to "films I've watched all the way through" is embarrassingly small; and since I spent August immersed in the world's largest Arts Festival, I decided it was time to change that. I've now left Edinburgh and I'm back to reality: the land of proper jobs and early morning dog walks and tax, but I definitely learned a lot this summer. I still couldn't claim to be clued up enough to host the Oscars, or even to be able to complete the Film round in a pub quiz, but adopting this attitude in recent weeks encouraged me to investigate; not just culturally, but in all aspects of my life.

And so, to make up for my silence over the last few weeks, here is a list of 50 new things I've experienced and benefited from since I last blogged. They are in no particular order, but they have all enriched my life in some way. Some of these may sound downright bizarre; some will be things the rest of the world got on board with ages ago and it's just taken me 20 years to fall for; and some may surprise you; but encountering them has very much enhanced my life. I really do hope you investigate some of them too. 

1. House of Cards
2. 'Let It Loose' by The Rolling Stones
3. Jagerbombs
4. Jogging
5. Desert Island Discs
6. Measure for Measure
7. Horror movies
8. 'Heroes' by David Bowie
9. Instagram
10. Deep fried mars bars
11. 'The Catcher in the Rye' by JD Sallinger
12. Edinburgh
13. Keeping my bedroom tidy (mostly)
14. The comedian Ed Gamble
15. Dropping a dress size
16. The 'Hamilton' soundtrack
17. '44 Scotland Street' by Alexander McCall Smith
18. Spending time with my friends and their parents
19. Spending time with my own parents
20. Interior design magazines
21. 'Closer' by The Chainsmokers
22. Investing in a second phone charger so that I can now have one at home and one in my bag (This one may sound mundane, but you can go a lot further when you're not worried about a dead phone battery)
23. @Pinter_Quotes on Twitter
24. Drinking a pint of water first thing in the morning
25. All scenes involving Emma Thompson in the new Bridget Jones movie
26. The works of Tom Stoppard
27. Sainsbury's Basics Jaffa Cakes
28. Apple Music's 'Mellow Days' playlist
29. Laughing at the obscene overreaction to the Great British Bake Off debacle this week
30. The word 'debacle'
31. Investing in a new pair of earphones which BOTH WORK
32. Having a bedside table
33. The use of the phrase 'I will dick you flat'; used to express a desire to beat someone at cards
34. The ios10 update
35. 'The Perks of Being A Wallflower' by Stephen Chbosky
36. Playing 'Fuck, Marry, Kill' with my friends at any time of day or night
37. Stephen K Amos
38. Richard III
39. Irish Switch
40. Honest conversations with my Mum
41. The view from the top of Arthur's Seat in the middle of the night
42. 'Bull' by Mike Bartlett
43. Using tote bags as handbags
44. Performing every day for a month
45. Unashamedly refusing to engage in small talk with other dog walkers in the park. Head space matters. 
46. Tasty Buns coffee shop, Edinburgh
47. Old Ed Sheeran tracks
48. Black coffee
49. Purchasing a chalkboard for my room, on which to write writing meaningless motivational quotes 
50. Making a conscious effort to take more photographs

Looking back over this list, I've realised just how many of these things came to me as recommendations from people I love - something which it seems has really defined the last couple of months for me. Maybe there's a lesson there: your friends know you better than you think. Trust them. They know what you like and, more often than not, what you need. 

So there it is. A gift from me to you, my friends. 50 things to explore, mess around with, attempt and, with any luck, enjoy.

All my love,

Sydney
xxx

​Well hello there,

My last few blog posts have been pretty serious and political, so I decided that it was time to write one that was a little less grown up. 6 days ago I packed a suitcase and got on a train to Oxford to spend 2 weeks in rehearsals for my new play ‘The Ruby in the Smoke’. To say it’s been quite a week would be quite the understatement, so I knew I should write something about it. I considered, briefly, writing a blog post about the stunning views from the Boathouse we’re rehearsing in; the incredible education in imagination and rehearsal etiquette I’m receiving every day from the entire company (except you, Martin: you can fuck off) or even the absolute and unfaultering generosity of my director for letting me move in with her for the duration of the rehearsals due to my being absolutely broke. I could even have told you all about the excitement of getting to take over the company’s Twitter account, or reading a play written by my immensely talented cast mate. I could have written for pages and pages about the play being featured in the London Evening Standard, or how cool the posters looked when they arrived. I promise I really, really did consider it. However, I soon realised that what I really, really, really want (to zig-a-zig ahhh) is to fill you in on the frankly bewildering parts of this week. Here are the 10 times this week that I have felt the most baffled, humiliated and even, on occasion, pained:

1. I befriended several ducks, before being chased by some geese.
2. I told my producer to “Calm the fuck down” IN MY SLEEP. This could be indicative of the stress level in the house I’m living in. Perhaps, kind of, maybe, a bit, a little?
3. I angered several Oxford University porters; including, at one point, by stealing a wheelie bin to manoeuvre set through a meadow.
4. I went into a Catholic Church in the middle of the night and asked them if I could store my obscenely large piece of set there overnight when the angry porter kicked us out.
5. I accidently gate-crashed the Oxford Role Playing Society’s house party in the house where I’m staying, and spent the evening sat on the landing learning lines and listening to 2 role players “pretend” to nearly have sex on the stairs.
6. I was stung by a wasp (through my jeans) rehearsing in a forest.
7. I played more games of cards than I think I’ve ever played in my life. This even included spending an entire lunch break arguing over who would win in a fight: a lightsabre wielding Justin Bieber or a 100 story tall cheetah who can only see out of one eye. If you haven’t played ‘SuperFight!’, I suggest you don’t start if you wish to be even remotely productive for the rest of the month.
8. I cried down the phone to the man at the bank because he put me on hold.
9. I ate satsuma pieces dipped in Nutella for dinner.
10. I rang my parents and told them it was all going swimmingly. Honest, Mum, we got dis.

 
In spite of this, I promise we will have a show ready for opening night, even if it kills us. We didn’t go through this for nothing! Tickets here:
OXFORD (almost sold out!!) - https://reprint.tixato.com/buy
LONDON - http://www.thecourtyard.org.uk/whatson/705/the-ruby-in-the-smoke
EDINBURGH - https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/philip-pullmans-ruby-smoke#overview
 
All my love,
Sydney xxx






​

Well, fuck. A week ago, I (along with a very Scottish friend of mine) put up a post about the importance of remaining in the EU. (If you haven’t read it yet, DO). Needless to say, it didn’t work and we’ve got an economic crisis on our hands, a Prime Minister who is abandoning ship; a disintegrating opposition; the guarantee of an unelected leader on the way; the prospect of another Scottish Independence referendum, led by the only political leader who is currently doing any political leading; a lunatic UKIP leader who thinks he’s suddenly in power and even an England football manager who doesn’t want to play the country’s games anymore. This is unlike anything anybody in our generation has seen before and, I don’t know about you, but I have absolutely no idea how to deal with it.
 
Someone smart once said that there is no such thing as a “new problem”. Human beings have been making the same mistakes for so long that it is inevitable that somebody, somewhere must have written down some kind of solution. “Some kind of a solution” is more than our current politicians seem able to conjure, so it would appear that this is our best hope.
 
Shakespeare is almost unanimously agreed to have been one of the most insightful people of all time in terms of understanding the human condition. Whether or not you’re a fan of the bard, he wrote many lines of timeless wisdom that I think this country’s politicians could do with being reminded of. Somehow, he is always relevant: whether we put him into the Battle of Agincourt or the Battle of Farage. Here are ten occasions in which Shakespeare proved he knew more about our politics than we do:
 
 
1. On trustworthiness: “The purest treasure mortal times afford is spotless reputation—that away, Men are but gilded loam, or painted clay.” (Richard II)
 
2. On resilience: “Wise men ne’er sit and wail their loss, but cheerily seek how to redress their harms.” (Henry VI)
 
3. On authenticity: “This above all, to thine own self be true, and it must follow as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.” (Hamlet)
 
4. On clarity of leadership: “How, in one house, should many people under two commands hold amity? 'Tis hard; almost impossible.” (King Lear)
 
5. On claiming responsibility: "And oftentimes excusing of a fault doth make the fault the worse by the excuse." (King John)
 
6. On the media storm surrounding events: "It is a tale…full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." (Macbeth)
 
7. On decision making: "Strong reasons make strong actions." (King John)
 
8. On wisdom: “There is no darkness but ignorance.” (Twelfth Night)
 
9. On earning respect: “Let none presume to wear an undeserved dignity.” (The Merchant of Venice)
 
10. On optimism: “True hope is swift, and flies with swallow’s wings. Kings it makes gods, and meaner creatures kings.” (Richard III)
 
 
All my love,
 
Sydney
xxx

Well hello there,
 
Long time no blog. Sorry about that. I don’t really have a good excuse, besides nothing very important having happened to me for a few weeks and I figured you’d rather I waited until I had something even remotely engaging to talk to you about. So here goes…
 
Now unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last six months, you’ll know that tomorrow the UK will vote as to whether we would like to leave or remain a member of the European Union. The lead up to the referendum has been eye opening to say the least. Frankly, if I’ve learnt nothing else from it, it’s that most of the people I know over the age of 40 are a little bit racist (not everyone, but a staggering majority) and that the British media cannot be trusted to present any clear, honest facts. It may not surprise you to know that I will be voting to remain in the EU and I’ve been trying to write a blog post on it for a while, with little success. No amount of tinkering over my keyboard seemed to sufficiently result in an eloquent piece about my reasoning. It just makes me too angry. The best I could come up with was the idea that making ‘Britain stronger’ as so many seem desperate to do is not the point. Peace is more important than power. To travel and search for new ideas and experiences is the backbone of what makes us human. Open borders and common markets allow us the freedom to explore and to understand the world that we have a responsibility to share and take care of. The EU is a living testament to these principles, and something that should be celebrated.
 
My problem, however, is that the Leave supporter’s I’ve spoken to don’t seem care about culture or travel, or even security so in all honesty, I had started to give up trying to engage in conversation about it with people who have already made up their mind. Yesterday, however, 2 things happened that absolutely convinced me that I needed to write a piece on it. Firstly, I taught a debate lesson at my tutoring job to a class of 9-11 year olds. It may be hard to believe, but I was as unbiased as possible. After an hour of thorough research, even more thorough debates and a few awkward questions, every single one of them voted to remain. Secondly, I ended up having what you could call a “strong debate” over the issue yesterday with some older family members. I’m staggered by the generational gap in the voting predictions and wanted to write something that would address the issues my debate “opposition” had raised. However, as I was scrambling together a rash, ill thought out post, a good friend of mine popped up. I don’t think I’ve ever been more grateful to hear from my third favourite Scottish actor (after David Tennant and James McAvoy, of course) - Tom Higgins. It's very rare that I would say he his right about anything, but with this post I think he might be onto something.I sincerely hope that his wit and verbal dexterity will convince you where my pretentious waffle could not. This is what he had to say on the matter…
 
 

 
 
Hello! I’ve now been sitting here for about half an hour trying to think of a better way to start this piece, I was hoping for something sharper, wittier, and possibly with the musky whiff of sex. Alas, my dull, sexless brain has drawn a blank and we’re stuck with a mindless “Hello!”. I hope you can forgive me, it’s my first piece of writing in a while, and, like a virgin fiddling with the clutch of a bra, I’m a bit nervous. Recently, scrolling through the endless parade of ‘Game of Thrones’ spoilers and pictures of successful friends on my News Feed, I uncovered some genuine entertainment in a post preaching for Britain to leave the EU. After taking a brief, giddy and dramatic pause (I’m an actor so these things come naturally) I decided to have a closer look at what this man had to say. Everything that follows stems from his wisdom, I’ve decided to call him Moses.
 
The first argument I took issue with was regarding Immigration and freedom of movement across EU borders (this topic is where our Great Prophet came his closest to blatant racism, but with precision and thought he avoided it, like a drone strike avoiding children). Moses believed that, because of the EU policies on immigration and freedom of movement between European countries, our proud landscape was being filled to bursting, our NHS crumbling and our customs and traditions being overrun. He said so with a smidgeon more tact and some slightly bigger words (I’m Scottish so I’m afraid I don’t know any big words). This is where I first began to lose faith in his arguments (I should point out I’m yet to make up my mind on the Referendum and really was looking for guidance). In terms of our landscape, Scotland alone has less than 2% of itself classified as “Urban”, we’ve plenty of room as long as those pesky undercover terrorists don’t mind horrible weather and food majoritively made up of boiled sheep intestine. When it comes to the NHS, however, Moses might be right. It seems our health service is under a lot of stress. Last year the BMA talked of “Unprecedented levels of pressure” on out National Health Service. I just can’t help but wonder if maybe the way to save our genuinely fantastic healthcare system, isn’t to “reduce welfare payments to non-UK EU citizens”, as Moses claimed, but perhaps to not cut over one billion pounds from the NHS repairs budget (an unrelated point here, the cost of our Trident Missile programme is estimated at about £31 Billion). In case you’re wondering, I do hear your shouts and acclamations “You idealistic fool! But that money needed to be cut! There are more important things like bombing those aforementioned evil terrorist children! You socialists are all the same!” and perhaps you’re right. I suppose the only point I’m trying to make is that it’s not immigrants to blame for pressure on our NHS (The ever wise David Cameron blames the elderly), and just maybe we need to re-evaluate our countries priorities instead of scapegoating non UK nationals, and hoping that’ll solve everything (I’ve heard scapegoating doesn’t usually end very well, something about a man with a funny moustache).
 
(I thought it would be a nice here to take a new paragraph even though I’m not finished with my previous line of thought, my reasoning was that the last paragraph was getting too long, and I know it’s something that would severely upset all my old English teachers, Fuck you Mrs Muir!) As I read over Moses’s words about how leaving the EU would help save our British customs and traditions I couldn’t stop myself jumping to my feet, saluting the picture of the Queen above my bed and screaming “By Golly, he’s right! I’ve finally been converted to the ways of the Farage (the British nationalistic married to a German)!” What a massive truckload of bollocks. Being open to new beliefs and traditions is something exciting to be celebrated, and does not mean the loss of your own culture unless you have the brain capacity of a dead goldfish. Here is also where a friend of Moses chipped in with a comment (I couldn’t think of a clever name for her so I’ve just gone with “Gorbels”, don’t look for a clever reason why, there isn’t one). Gorbels stated her support for Moses “Here here”, and that it didn’t matter whether or not we were in the EU, Britain was renowned for taking in refugees and helping those in need. Again, a prime example of bollocks. In 2015 less than 0.2% of the worlds refugees where living in Britain, and the argument exists that many of these where only accepted under pressure from the EU, a pressure placed far more firmly on countries like Germany, who take the brunt of refugees (let’s remind ourselves these are people not just annoying space sucking mouths to feed) from war torn countries like Syria. Moses then tapped her out and jumped back into the ring himself with the rather solid point that “Charity starts at home” and “the solution isn’t to let everyone in it’s to give them a reason to stay where they are.” This is genuinely very wise. The only problem is it is the one and only time focus is placed on the importance of people outside the UK. He doesn’t give us these golden words as tenements to live by, he gives them as an excuse for choosing not to give a shit about the rest of the world while he focusses on the great trials and tribulations of Britain (we do have it tough).
 
(Notice this time I’ve used paragraph spacing properly, go me!) Moses then began to discuss the monstrous European People’s Party, the fact they were sending everything good and industry based away from our Sovereign lands, how the EU is undemocratic (much like the House of Lords or the fucking MONARCHY that no one seems to be questioning or even discussing!) and how, although it’s a good idea in theory, the EU just doesn’t work in practice. Things are only going to change in the EU if we heroic Brits take the plunge and leave that bunch of mainlanders to sort it out for themselves. To this I was utterly confuddled, Moses had me by the balls. He was right, the elected EPP did sound pretty evil, we did seem to be losing all our heavy industry (although I did wonder if perhaps this was a sign we should be turning our eyes to more scientifically inclined endeavours) and perhaps the EU is just a broken mess of a political system that the plucky English (and all those other less important countries in the UK) need to rip themselves away from, like Cameron did from the allegations of his sexual encounters with livestock. That is when I discovered statistics on the average turnout for European parliamentary elections. Altogether for Europe the most recent average turnout for the European elections was 42.61%, in Britain it was 35.6%. Just over a third of the British population thought it worth their time to vote. Perhaps the problem with the EU isn’t that it’s inherently un-democratic or broken, perhaps it’s that, for all they’re grumbling now, people like Moses didn’t bother to make their opinion heard democratically and now they’re throwing a hissy fit that things haven’t turned out best for them anyway. Perhaps the best thing now isn’t to say “Oh! We haven’t done very well with this whole, grand democracy thing, let’s just give up!” maybe it’s time to pull our heads out our asses and actually try to make the EU work. To invest in a union of countries trying to work together to make the world a better place. Alternatively, we could do some grand and British like dig up Thatcher from whatever circle of Hell she’s decided to ruin and restart the good old days of the British Empire, hell, we’ve already got an entirely undemocratic family of elitists ready to lead us on, All Hail the Queen! (That was a joke, please God no one bring back Thatcher).

​ 
 
 
 
Tom, I adore you. People keep talking about wanting to go back to the "good old days". I'll tell you when I want us to go back to: Summer 2012. The Olympics were a remarkable event, and proved to me and to the rest of the world that Britain could be simultaneously patriotic and proud; and forward thinking, open and compassionate. People talk about wanting to “make Britain ‘Great’ again”, but I’d like to propose that maybe greatness isn’t about wealth or power; maybe it’s about kindness and humanity.

Just something to consider before you vote tomorrow.
​
All my love, as ever,
Sydney 
​xxx

Well hello there,
​
This weekend, I started rehearsals with Reprint Productions for the first ever theatrical adaptation of Philip Pullman's remarkable novel 'The Ruby in the Smoke'. It's a fantastic play and I'm super excited to finally get started. As such, I stole my sister's camera for the weekend and headed to Oxford armed with just highlighters and nerves and tried to vlog as much of our first rehearsal weekend as possible. Saturday was spent meeting and familiarising ourselves with each other, our characters, the era and the script; and Sunday was just Maddie (the director), Martin (who I went to Bruford with) and myself, looking at how to play children. I didn't get to film as much as I'd hoped to, but here are a few clips of our first weekend together. Enjoy!

'The Ruby in the Smoke' will be on tour around the UK this summer. Tickets will go on sale soon. I'll keep you posted and, as we go through rehearsals, will try to vlog as much as possible.

​Check out 'The Ruby in the Smoke' on Facebook and Twitter here for more updates:
https://www.facebook.com/Philip-Pullmans-The-Ruby-in-the-Smoke-Edinburgh-Fringe-2016-526720767510598/
​https://twitter.com/ReprintProds

​Lova ya! xxx

So exactly one month ago I moved back in with my parents. I left Sidcup and returned to my childhood bedroom in my parent’s house and, in all honesty, I still haven’t fully unpacked. To say that it’s different to be living at home again is a real understatement. It’s not all bad and it’s not all good, but it’s definitely both strange and very revealing. Here are 15 things I’ve noticed about my life now that I’ve moved back home…

1. I don’t want to justify my day. People are constantly asking “what are you doing now/tonight/today/tomorrow/this weekend?” and I just want to shout at them “I DON’T KNOW.” But that’s unacceptable, so I smile sweetly and recite the to-do list I have absolutely no intention of completing.
2. I appreciate my parents more than I ever have before. Whether it’s for bailing me out of my overdraft, dropping me at the train station every morning for a week or making better mashed potato than I managed to make in six months’ worth of attempts, I always feel like I owe them.
3. I still love what I do. I kind of hate myself for it, because I know what I’m letting myself in for, but it won’t change. I miss it so much. I could get all sentimental and soppy over this one, but I won’t. That’s an entire blog post of its own, and it’ll be kept for another day.
4. I cannot rely on myself to make appointment and nobody should rely on me to keep appointments. I’m useless and I’m sorry.
5. I should not be in charge of my own bedtime, especially if I have work in the morning.
6. My tastes are constantly changing. Music, food, alcohol, coffee, art, theatre: the lot.
7. I’ve started napping again.
8. I wear so much make up that you’d think it was war paint, but I still can't bring myself to paint my nails.
9. I don’t want children, and I definitely don’t want to be asked when I plan on having them.
10. I don’t need a boyfriend, and I definitely don’t need to be asked why I don’t have one.
11. I’ve started colouring again. Don’t judge me. Someone told me it’s a stress relief thing and I like it.
12. I say the words “I’ll deal with that later” way too often.
13. I won’t get up early to go for a jog and if I say that I will, I’m lying to you and to myself.
14. I have an unhealthy dependence on my mobile phone. This is one my Dad spotted a long time ago and I ignored, but I’m finally admitting defeat. He’s right. I have a problem. I need help. But only after I’ve finished this game of Facebook Messenger Basketball.
15. I have decided that I’m going to consider myself an unfinished product. And I think that’s okay.

​
All my love,
Sydney
xxx

Dear Rose Bruford College,

So that’s it. I’m packed, and this time tomorrow I’ll be sat in my parents’ living room, reminiscing over the last six months. When I load up the car tomorrow, I’ll probably cry. I always knew that it’d be hard to say goodbye to this part of my life, but I could never have predicted this. The Foundation Course itself ended a week ago and that’s meant a week long goodbye because every day I’ve hugged somebody else and waved after them as they’ve headed home. I still don’t think it’s hit me that I don’t know if I’ll ever be back, but on the last day I gave each of my classmates a letter. I love them and I owe them so much, just as I do you. So this is your letter.

All I really have to say is thank you. You gave me the happiest six months of my life, and for this I will forever be indebted to you. You gave me countless moments that I will never forget, and the best training I could have dreamt of. You gave me perspective. You gave me confidence. You gave me humility. You gave me the best friends I could have hoped for. You gave me the chance to play with my beloved craft and I adore you for that. You gave me space and support, and challenges and coping mechanisms. You gave me the methodical system for “how to act” that I’ve been searching for for years, and the self-assurance and sense of readiness vast enough to make me want to ignore it. You gave me countless inside jokes. You gave me the beautiful outdoors and let me rehearse in it, admire it and relish it for six glorious months. With you, I learnt who I am, and saw glimmers of who I could be, both professionally and personally. You surrounded me with intelligent and immensely tolerant tutors, and it is not lost on me how truly lucky I am to have been around them for six months. If even a tiny part of their brilliance has befallen me, I am incredibly blessed.

More than anything, however, you gave me time with Aline Epp, Annika Kordes, Alice Bloomer, Clare Noy, Rachael Rooney, Edward Lappage, Nikihita Lesler, Winnie Arhin, Tom Higgins, Ellie Wilson, Lea Pedersen, Jana Petrova, Anastasia Benham, Katerina Carney, Ben Noble, Tommiee Grout, Elizabeth Earhart, Enzo Seminerio, Lorin Merhart, David Llewellyn, Andre Bullock, Martin Coates, Lauryn Jamieson, Sarah Ridley, Bethanie Cole, Luca Molinari. These 26 beautiful people have changed my life and I love them all. It doesn’t matter that we are the clumsiest group of people I’ve ever known. It doesn't matter that it's over. Not really. I'll see them all again. And it doesn't matter that most of us have yet to work out where we will be in six months time. It doesn’t matter that someone new was in hospital every week, either broken, concussed or drunk. I’m not going to remember them for that. What I’ll remember is that when I was sat in A&E, I was crying with laughter at the people holding my hands. I’ll remember playing a ridiculous number of card games and drinking prosecco on the set of an advert when were extras for the day. I’ll remember rehearsing in the grounds late at night, improvising an argument between two characters who don’t even have a scene together in the play, just because we weren’t ready to wrap up for the night and head home. I’ll remember it taking 8 of us to cook a roast dinner, and then heading up to the roof terrace with a bubble wand and some shot glasses. I’ll remember the endless hours we spent on the underground, bouncing from show to show each weekend. I'll remember hearing Shakespeare performed in a dozen different accents, each one of them beautiful. I’ll remember falling in love over and over again, not only with acting, but also with these 26 people every single day.

So, Rose Bruford, you have given me the best training I could have hoped for. I hope that you believe me when I say that you have taught me a staggering amount about this ridiculous profession. You have deepened my love for it and for the rest of the world. You will have to trust me when I tell you that I really would be a different actress and human without you, and that every piece of work I do will forever be influenced by these crazy few months. Thank you. I hope, just as I said in the letters I gave to my friends, we will get to work together again someday. Regardless, however, I hope you know that thanks to you, I will always see the world a little brighter than before.

All my love,
Sydney
xxx

Hello everybody!

This week I was joined by not one, but two special guests: Tom and Ben. Tom, as you may know, tried to do my make up in my last video with very little success, and has come back to see if he's any better at this challenge instead. Ben is another Foundationer at Bruford and very kindly agreed to take Tom on head to head with The Whisper Challenge this week. An enormous thank you to you both for giving up your Saturday for this! I love you.

​Enjoy...

I'd also like to give a quick shout out to my sister Emma for bringing her camera, filming the video and making a guest appearance. Em, it was super nice of you, even if you did spend a lot of time messing around with the zoom function. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this challenge - we definitely did! I'll be back soon with (hopefully) even more fun challenge videos from the team here at Bruford. 

Love ya!

Hello everybody!

Me again. So as you may or may not know, one of my new years resolutions was to introduce you guys to some of the beautiful, kind, intelligent, talented people I've met at Bruford over the last few months. I adore them all and can't wait for you to get to know them. Last week I was joined by my Course Director Pat O'Toole and this week I'm joined by a truly brilliant friend of mine: Tom Higgins. Tom, like me, is on the Foundation Course at Bruford and he very kindly volunteered to be the guinea pig for my very first video post. In the video below, he attempts to do my make up with absolutely no guidance at all. Enjoy!