The spotlight was on Loughborough College Performance Arts for their first production of the year with The Picture of Dorian Gray– and Hair and Media Make Up students helped ensure they had nothing to hide.
Taking to the stage in the brand new Loughborough Arts Academy 250-seat theatre on campus, the actors’ make up reflected the chilling Oscar Wilde tale of two faces, of a man who sells his soul to remain forever young and lead a less than moral life and his portrait in the attic that reflects the ravages of age and his sins.
Loughborough College course leader for Hair and Media Make Up Kerie Mooney said: “Our new students were given picture references by Performance Arts and spent hours practicing techniques on each other and then on the actors themselves, creating in make up the public face of the leading character alongside the horrific version he has hidden away.
“Then they only had half an hour to recreate the look on the cast before the performance. It was a high-pressure environment for students only five weeks into their first term but was valuable training for the industry they plan to go into.
“They then stayed to watch a fantastic performance and felt thrilled to see on stage the part they had played in that. I felt incredibly proud of their achievement.”
But a well-earned rest for the Loughborough College students will have to wait.
After boosting glamour levels in the town centre last Friday with mini-makeovers for shoppers they are now back in the salon to prepare for a busy few weeks of performance in the run-up to Christmas.
“First it will be the Nightmare Before Christmas and then we will have the Loughborough College panto, Jack and the Beanstalk.
“It is a hectic time – but we are all very excited.”