Actor, Luca Rawlinson, a LAMDA Drama School student, shares his literal nightmare situations and tips on getting enough sleep while performing.
London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is one of the UK’s most prestigious drama schools. It is less like a university course and more like a full-time job. 9-5 training every day of the week is exhausting, so sleep isn’t just rest for a LAMDA student; it’s an intermission between rehearsals, auditions, and self-taped scenes.
But how do you sleep when their brain is still choreographing movement on stage and memorising lines? Luca Rawlinson, 21, one of LAMDA’s final year students, has been through three years of intense acting coaching and knows what it takes to make it through.
I sat with Luca while he was waiting backstage for his scenes in a Central Saint Martins original film to find out when the spotlight dimmed so he could get enough rest to perform to the best of his abilities.
“I actually had a dream about this shoot last night.” Luca laughed, “I had a dream that I got here and they put me in loads of black eyeshadow. It was quite funny, really. They wrote my lines on someone’s cheek and I had to read them off it.”
Luca knew how tiring drama school would be, but balancing a social life, looking after himself, and dedicating himself to his practice took him by surprise.
“When I was younger, about 11, I really struggled to sleep. So for about three years, I slept about three hours every night, which is crazy.”
Luca explained that he soon grew out of it and developed healthy and consistent sleep patterns. However, since beginning at LAMDA, his sleep schedule has taken a hit.
“It’s the tech days really,” says Luca “They’re really long, so by the time they are finished, you feel you could fall asleep on the spot.”
Luca says that he envies his classmates who are able to nap for half an hour backstage or kip off quickly in the wings for a few minutes, “I just can’t seem to do it”, says Luca.
“Everyone just sleeps all the time, it would be very handy if I could. People are falling asleep during lessons all the time. When you’re that knackered, it’s so hard to keep your eyes open. “
He says that performing is taxing not only on the whole of your body, from dancing full out to heavy costumes, but also on the mind. “I don’t really get stage fright anymore, it’s adrenaline more than anything. But even though I have been at LAMDA for three years now, I still get nervous. I still have to mentally prepare for a show; it takes it out of you. The fear of getting it wrong.”
Anxiety can have a huge impact on your quality of sleep and sometimes seep into your dreams. For Luca, the night before a big performance, it is especially important to get enough rest; however, sometimes the lines get blurred, and dreams seem to become reality.
“I’ll be sleeping and then suddenly I’m on stage and then I realise, I don’t know where I am, I don’t know what play I’m in, I don’t know what character I am, I don’t know my lines. So I’m standing there. Frozen. All the lights are on me, and everyone starts laughing at me.”
Dreams about being on stage are often linked to performance anxiety, but Luca thinks it could just be the anticipation of the next show. “Opening night is the worst,” says Luca. It’s the first night of what you have been working on and rehearsing for weeks, so the anticipation is enough to keep you up.”
Luca finishes off by mentioning that balance is key and despite his own routine being rehearsal heavy, he explains that it is essential to have down time, to enjoy yourself and take time in the evening to relax and break up each day.
For drama students like Luca, sleep may not always come so easily, but when it does, it’s more than rest—it’s recovery, rehearsal, and sometimes, a sneak-peek of the next day’s show.
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