Annabel Marlow's Lower 6 Lecture Talk

How to make money from your passions and how not to panic when it feels impossible

Report by Marie (L6) - 

On Friday 9 February, Lower 6 had the delight of hearing an inspirational talk from Queen Anne's alumnae Annabel Marlow. Annabel joined QAS in 2010 as the first ever 11+ drama scholar at the school, and she began the talk by showing us some photos of her time at the school. The photos included her as a member of the choir performing in Westminster Abbey, and also her during the student-led production of "Annie", which she helped direct and choreograph. A previous speaker of the lecture series, Rosie Dart, also made an appearance on these photos. Annabel mentioned that she always knew that she wanted to do something creative in the future and QAS pushed that without a doubt, which helped boost her confidence dramatically.

After she had completed her A Levels in 2018, she had planned to go interrailing with friends. However, at the time, her brother Toby Marlow, was in the process of writing the hit-musical "Six", and she was invited to the audition. She was the youngest person there, and she felt so innocent and naive as she had previously only ever participated in school auditions. As part of the audition, she had to seduce her brother, but no one else in the room knew that he was her brother, so she pretended that he was her celebrity crush at the time, Robert Patterson. This resulted in her getting the part of Catherine Howard, the youngest queen, and the first appearance of the musical was at Edinburgh Fringe festival, where it was a total success. Therefore, the show proceeded to go to the West End, and although Annabel auditioned for the West End cast, she didn't get the part.

Instead, she went to do acting training at LAMDA, and after completing her time at LAMDA, she went to the University of Leeds in the hope of being around 'normal' people. In Leeds, she did a foundation year where she did voice, movement, acting, improvisation, and singing classes. Whilst at university, she often spent time performing outside of her academic studies and she sang with the Leeds Big Band at clubs, while also continuing her song writing and comedy.

After her time in Leeds, she went to the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (CSSD) in London, which she loved as everyone there wanted to act. Annabel gave us an insight to drama school by listing some of the pros and cons; the pros included great opportunities with industry professional and agencies, however the cons included that it is expensive, at times brutal and very competitive. During this time of her time, she also participated in the musical comedy awards and came in the top 3, which is amazing, and also wrote her one woman show "Is this okay?", a stand-up comedy and pop song mix. She went back to Edinburgh Fringe Festival, this time with her own show instead of her brother's, and the show was a success again. The first preview was half-full, and all the following performances were sold out. This has not only inspired her actor friends to write their own shows, but also perhaps some of our Lower 6 students who listened to her talk.

Annabel recently finished a show at The Watermill Theatre in Newbury, where she played Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Although this theatre is not Hollywood or the West End, she is still grateful for every acting opportunity she receives. In her lifetime, she has had many different part-time jobs such as working at a bar or dog walking, but she was very honest to us and said that she has hated all of her non-acting jobs so far, and cannot wait to get back to doing something creative, which will be working at the Regents' Park Open Air Theatre.

To end the talk, Annabel gave us some very helpful guidance to anyone thinking of working in the drama industry. She advised us to plan ahead as acting jobs can be extremely spontaneous and she has had to miss multiple family holidays as a result of last-minute acting jobs; to find an agent that truly loves your work; to find out who your true friends are as there can be a lot of jealousy associated with this industry; and to learn how to deal with rejection as this is something almost everyone will encounter at some point and you must learn how to come back stronger.