THE HISTORY OF THOMAS BARNETT

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Thomas James Barnett was born on June 5th 1995, to Claire Elizabeth Tanner and Thomas Paul Barnett. He was born and raised in Milton Keynes by his parents until their divorce following the birth of his sister in 1997. From 2003, Barnett was brought up in a blended family after his mother married Richard Arthur Auty and had two more daughters. Barnett's father would have two more sons with another woman until Barnett lost contact with his paternal family in 2007. It would not be until 2013 that Barnett saw his father again, though their relationship was forever strained from the years without contact, and eventually fell apart again in 2017 after his father failed to maintain contact with his children again, causing Barnett to recognise Auty as his true parental figure. Prior to this reunion, however, Barnett was able to make contact with his brothers in 2012, and establish a more positive relationship with them and their mother than he was with his biological father.

Around the time of 1999, Barnett was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a developmental disorder on the Autism spectrum, though he would not be told about his disability until he realised how different he was from everyone else in 2004, and it would not be until 2007 that he realised just what was meant by him being "special". It was in the following year of 2008 that Barnett would also be diagnosed with Dyspraxia, a neurological disorder that affects his handwriting, and Attention Deficit Disorder, a mental disorder of the neurodevelopmental type that affects his attention span and makes him more liable to procrastinate when uninterested in a task.

Education wise, Barnett acquired two BTEC First Certificates in ICT Practitioners and Sport, and passed his Art GCSE, at Shenley Brook End School in the Class of 2011, and achieved a BTEC Diploma in Performing Arts at Milton Keynes College with NVQ1, NVQ2 and NVQ3 qualifications. Barnett was awarded with the titles of God's Gift and Prom King at the Shenley Brook End School Prom of 2011, and was also nominated for Best Hair and Class Clown.  

Following four years of college, Barnett was accepted into the Bedford University Theatre and Professional Practice course by Dr. Victor Ukaegbu as a late applicant, after he was unsuccessful in getting accepted into the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama. Barnett continued to live in Milton Keynes during his first year with the university, where he received tutelage from Peader Kirk, Johnmichael Rossi, Sam Turton, and Louise Douse.

After commuting between Milton Keynes and Bedford for the 2016 Academic Year, Barnett moved into Student Accommodation for his second academic year with the university. Living on the campus allowed Barnett to explore further education outside his classroom setting, such as by taking part in a paid Internship with the University's technicians, Alex Perry, Jamie Spirito, and David Ball, where Barnett learned how to work and manoeuvre the technical aspects of the stage performances.

Upon returning for the third academic year, Barnett volunteered as a Fresher's Angel to assist with the Fresher's Week events, and won the award of "Angel of the Year" for his commitment and devotion to the cause. It was also during his Third Year that Barnett took on a mentoring role as one of the Peer Assisted Learning Leaders for the new First Year Students of Theatre and Professional Practice unit, after witnessing another classmate doing so the year prior and befriending many of the students in their P.A.L. class. Though he was not the strongest at giving speeches and advice on criteria, Barnett was able to win over his students' trust and admiration with his warm demeanour and concern for their wellbeing, even assisting them with matters outside of the P.A.L. classroom, such as Networking and how to stay safe on Student Nights Out. Barnett was also elected by his peers to serve as a Student Representative during his third academic year, a role he took with the utmost seriousness, always making sure their views of the university were heard at the Student Representative meetings that he attendant. For his work as a P.A.L. Leader, Student Representative and a Fresher's Angel, Barnett was chosen as the winner of the 2018 Beds SU Executive Award at the 2018 Beds SU Award Show at the Luton Campus.

For his final undergraduate year, Barnett chose to do a dissertation that looked at character interpretation, specifically studying how an actor got into character. Looking in to method acting, Barnett, under the guidance of Victor Ukaegbu, researched the theories of Konstantin Stanislavski, Sanford Meisner, Max Stafford-Clark, and Lee Strasberg, and looked at the histories of Orson Welles, Marlon Brando, & Daniel Day-Lewis to build a case study around them. After completing the essay, Barnett used the techniques he had learned from his studies in his final undergraduate performance of "Cassie", fully committing himself to the character to bring the reality of the fiction to life.

After completing three years of undergraduate study, Barnett graduated with a 2.1 Bachelor of Arts with Honours Degree in Theatre on July 26, 2018. Following his graduation, Barnett was accepted by Dr. Maria Wiener to join the Screen Performance and Communication Technique MA course at the Luton Campus of the University of Bedfordshire; Barnett had planned to do the Theatre MA course, but it had been cut by the university due to lack of full-time staff, thus the need to change courses. Specialising in voice over, Barnett was given practical lessons by Margo Annett, and had his theory classes with Maria Wiener. Remaining in Bedford in a Student Accommodation, it was during his MA year that Barnett also took on employment, doing volunteer work as an Usher for the University of Bedfordshire Theatre, and being a Quizmaster for the Student Union Bar quiz. Barnett also partook in his first non-University aligned play during the early parts of his MA year, with the relevant information available on the Projects page.