Tips and advice for making the most of your time at drama school, including common mistakes students make and how to avoid them, and how to keep improving your acting skills after you graduate.

Why diversity is important in the entertainment industry, and more information about MAC Cosmetics’ collaboration with Spotlight and the Diverse Squad.

What you need to know before applying for drama school, including different types of training, advice for auditioning and the importance of inclusivity.

We explore what interactive film is, how to break into it, and what work opportunities exist for actors in this exciting new genre.

How to navigate the world of performing when you don’t have an agent, and how to make the most of Spotlight as a self-represented performer

Zoë Alba Farrugia shares her story about moving to the UK as a Maltese performer to follow her acting dream, the challenges she faced and how they inspired her to co-found female-led theatre company Prickly Pear Productions. Prickly Pear Productions champions underrepresented stories and artists and we discuss how that work comes about and the importance of telling stories that are inspired by different cultures and human experiences. In this hour-long episode, we also talk about: Who...

Voice coach Nic Redman gives tips for keeping your voice on top form over the winter and shares advice to help your vocals recover after a cold.

In the episode, we discuss tips to improve your voice over skills, goal setting and how to meet your career objectives, when to say no to work,  how to start your own podcast, the future of AI and lots more. Listeners to The Spotlight Podcast can also get a discount code to buy VO Social’s ’The Voiceover Career Planner’ in the episode so be sure to listen out for that!

We speak to theatre-maker and performer Robert Softley Gale about working in Scottish theatre and making the Arts accessible for disabled creatives and audiences.

In this episode of the Spotlight Podcast, we chat to actor and comedian Jonny Weldon about auditions, theatre, making your own work, comedy and social media.

This meditation is designed to help you feel more present and connected to what you love doing so you can bring your best self to your self-tape audition.  

This 30 minute meditation is inspired by the idea of togetherness and what gets created when we come together. It’s designed to calm and soothe the nervous system and can be helpful to listen to when things in our lives (and the world) are feeling out of control.

There may have been times when things didn’t go to plan. Maybe there were some days when you felt like giving up. But you didn’t. You’re here. So in this 20-minute meditation we gently invite you to celebrate all parts of you. Because all parts of you are worthy of celebration. We recommend listening to this meditation with headphones.

This 13-minute meditation is designed to support young performers to feel more confident in themselves and their abilities. It’s designed to help them to reconnect us to the part of them that knows that anything is possible and to keep trying - even when things don’t go to plan! This meditation is suitable for ages 8+ and parents and guardians are encouraged to listen to this meditation along with their child. We recommend listening to this meditation with headphones.

This 35-minute meditation is designed to help you to unwind and let go of the day, helping to aid a restful night’s sleep. We use a progressive muscle relaxation which is a deep relaxation technique to help release stress and tension out of the body. We recommend finding a cosy and comfortable place where you can lie down for this meditation. You may also like to have a blanket or a cover over you. We recommend listening to this meditation with headphones.

This 12-minute meditation is designed to support young performers who might be feeling a bit nervous or worried - particularly if they have an audition, self-tape or performance coming up. We spend some time relaxing the body and then we go on a short journey where we discover some very special magic clouds. This meditation is suitable for ages 8+ and parents and guardians are encouraged to listen to this meditation along with their child. We recommend listening to this meditation with...

This 25-minute meditation is themed around the idea of ‘New Beginnings’ and is designed to calm a busy mind by gently guiding you back to yourself. We get curious about how each new breath creates space for new awareness by bringing us back to the present moment. We recommend listening to this meditation with headphones.

This meditation is recommended for ages 8+ and is designed to help calm and centre young performers before an audition or self-tape. Parents and Guardians are encouraged to listen to this meditation along with their child. We recommend listening to this meditation with headphones.

This is the thirteenth of our guided meditations from our Powerful Pause series. This 18 minute meditation is designed to help with envy. Feelings of envy or jealousy can come up a lot when you’re an actor or performer but it’s usually just a sign that you care deeply about something. In small doses envy can actually motivate us to move towards what we want. With conscious awareness we can use this energy of envy to help us to move forward. And that’s what this meditation is all about.

This is the twelfth of our guided meditations from our Powerful Pause series. In this meditation we get curious about what choice means for you as an actor or performer. We also explore where we make choices from and how just by choosing to listen to ourselves we are much more able to honour what’s really important to us.

In this episode of the Spotlight Podcast with Ilayda Arden, we're talking to Tommy Jessop. Tommy is the first actor with Down Syndrome to play the lead in a primetime TV drama, he's also been in Line of Duty and is the first actor with Down Syndrome to be professionally cast as Hamlet, and become a full voting member of BAFTA.

This is the eleventh of our guided meditations from our Powerful Pause series. In this meditation you will be guided by Presence and Impact Coach, Su Mee Tan. Some of you will know Su Mee from our regular Powerful Pause meditation sessions. In this 20 minute meditation, Su Mee invites you to connect to the full range of who you are and to get curious about who you are when you give yourself full permission to show up, and to be everything that you are. We recommend listening to this...

This is the tenth of our guided meditations from our Powerful Pause series. This 30 minute meditation is designed to help you to grow and expand your creativity through connecting with the breath and the body. We’ll also get curious about the range of our creativity and how this can be expanded by the connection we have with ourselves. We recommend listening to this meditation with headphones.

In this episode of the Spotlight Podcast, we speak to Aisling Groves-McKeown and Emma Read, members of the five-star, award winning, all female, improvised musical comedy: Notflix the Musical.