If I knew then what I know now

September sees the fresh faced arrivals at many drama schools and colleges throughout the UK and means that the streets of Covent Garden are adorned with the latest intake of students at the Royal Ballet school. None of which is a bad thing of course.

What is worth pointing out to the same drama students though is that although the quality of teaching that they may have might well vary a little from institution to institution, they industry may well regard those venues (and their teaching) as vastly different. As I'm sure you've all been told before, Life isn't fair. Deal with it.

I was sitting and thinking about what I wish I knew when I started my training at City Lit? What would have made my life, not easier per se, more perhaps productive? What traps I could potentially avoid I guess.

The short answer is that I wish I realised that I had one mouth, two ears, and sometimes only half a brain. I admit that I was one of those students who needed to understand the reason behind the exercise that the teacher was putting us through. If, as often was the case, I didn't grasp the point of the exercise then I would spend a huge amount of energy trying to fathom it out rather than just getting on with it and seeing what followed.

My end of term reports often intimated that I was being too analytical and too cerebral and that I needed to not fear the visceral response sometimes. What crystallised the lesson for me was when a teacher, the immensely talented and hugely patient Jonathan Dawes, took me to one side and said "Imagine you're standing on a kerb or a wall. Balance right on the edge of it. Allow yourself to fall and deliver your lines in that moment of uncertainty and freedom." To this day I often find myself taking a character I've got trouble finding and, using bits of dialogue, I go and balance on the steps by the Renoir cinema and I play. Just play. With the words, the meaning, the timing. In that play I find a huge release of my own expectations and preconceived ideas about the character. As I topple forward, or backward if standing that way, off the kerb my instinct kicks in and my focus is not on me, or the character. I cease to exist. My attention is on the fall. The journey if you like. And in those moments the first glimpses of a character can sometimes be seen.

It's worth saying that Drama School, any Drama School, will be the most supportive, inclusive, welcoming, safe space for you to learn your craft in. So don't get caught up in petty squabbles between students and especially not between students and staff! You may or may not wish to include 'Romances' in the category of 'Petty Squabbles'.

Having seen relationships blossom and die between students in the same acting class I would suggest that although a dalliance might well be fun, be aware that if the relationship sours you may well have two and a half years of having to sit in the same room with, and reveal the deepest darkest secrets of your soul to, someone who you previously adored but now wouldn't pee on if they were on fire. Needless to say this added frisson can bring a useful element to some examples of scene work but may well interfere with others.
Let's not forget that the relationship may well have an impact on others in your class too. It may be that you and your partner want to work almost exclusively with each other on scenes too. But that would limit the learning that you both have ultimately.

We learn by being exposed to other actors. If we repeatedly, and misguidedly, seek to work with only someone we love, or even just 'fancy' in some cases, then we are limiting our own experiences. It is an actors  job to seek out new experiences and to challenge ourselves by, perhaps, working with the people we feel least inclined to work with. After all once you've left the safe environs of the drama school you will inevitably be faced with the situation one day of turning up to the first day of auditions and finding someone standing there you really would rather wasn't. If you don't have that experience of working with all sorts whilst at college you may find that you are thrown when the cast doesn't all gel perhaps. Even if they don't, and sometimes even with the best will of all concerned they just don't, you still have a show to perform so you have to behave professionally and in a civil manner. At least until the final curtain falls on the run.

To sum up this post, drama training should be fun. A play is called a 'Play' for a reason after all, so play. Play with character, with emotion, I would say play with yourself but I fear that may be misconstrued.

Be aware though that the start of training is precisely that. I loved my time at City Lit and I learnt loads. I also now know that I've learnt infinitely more about the business since graduating than I did in my time there.

Most drama schools seem to skirt around the 'Business' side of the business so I want to say a few words about that but I think that'll have to come in the next post.

Twitter and How to Use It

Sometimes life has a habit of getting in the way of even the most well planned of things. That is what has happened with my blog of late. Life, in the form of my own insecurities and foibles, has left me rather distracted of late so I have neglected my blog for almost two months.

I shall try, but won't promise, to provide a blog post at least once a month from here on in.

This particular post is being written at the request of one of the most highly regarded headshot photographers around, Mr Michael Wharley.

He is off to the NSDF conference this year and has asked if he can feature me as an example of an actor who uses Twitter effectively. Once I was over the shock of being asked if he can use my Twitter page as an example we talked the topic over a little and I decided that I would blog on the slightly wider topic of "How to Use Twitter if you're an Actor"

Not meaning to sound like I know what I'm talking about, and absolutely not meaning to lecture but it does strike me that there are some very simple rules to follow when using Twitter as a professional tool no matter what your profession.

Firstly there is the little matter of picking your name. Pick it carefully.

As much as your Equity and Spotlight names are your brand name so is your online presence part of the same brand. The fact that your schoolmates might well have called you Wobblybottom or that you really did have an email address that was "punanimaster@...." is something that you need to leave behind you.
Nothing, and I mean nothing, smacks of a lack of professionalism more than having an unprofessional online name. Your email address, even if it's a free web-based email, and your Twitter account are professional tools and need to be treated as such. The simplest solution is to just try to get an account that matches your name as closely as possible. If you have to veer away from that because some other person has already nabbed your name then so be it but don't veer off into the inane or profane.

If you want brand consistency across all platforms then I would suggest looking into sites like NameChk which allows you to check name availability on almost all forms of social media or Know'em which does something very similar but also allows you to check domain name availability and then gives you the option to pay for a service which will register your chosen name on up to 300 websites in one go. Personally I didn't much see the point in the pay service when you really only want to grab the top sites anyway but the option is there to use if you so desire.

Now you've got your page reserved what do you do with it?

This is Twitter we're talking about here so I will stick with that, although these can be extended to other social media sites too of course. Twitter allows you to change the background to your page. So change it. Even if you just tile your main headshot over the page that is something. And use a professional headshot as your avatar too.

I know these may sound like idiot guides but heigh-ho... Now you've set up your page you need to start to follow people. Personally I think there is limited mileage to be gained from following the celebrity Twitterati as you will not really be able to engage them in conversation. (Even if you do you will probably be speaking with the web manager employed to Tweet on behalf of the celeb anyway.) When I started out I found the Twitter accounts for as many of the London Fringe theatres I could find and then followed them. I looked at who they followed and followed them. That way I quickly built up a list of people I was following who were at least interested in theatre.

Read their posts. Reply. Ask questions. And above all else be prepared to help out too. If people need a retweet of one of their messages then retweet it. If you're stuck for something to say then ask who you can help.

I treat Twitter as part of the job of being an actor. Of course it doesn't improve my acting per se, nor will it get you auditions but if you follow film and theatre production companies, directors, and above all else casting directors, then you will hear about things in the pipeline often before they are public knowledge and that gives you a chance to be helpful.

There are some fringe producers out there who will look at a Twitter presence and if you've a growing following on here and someone else has none they will tend to offer parts to the actor who can readily market an upcoming show to their following.

Twitter isn't just about getting bums on seats though. Acting can be a very lonely profession at times and online social media can provide you with support and guidance in those times when you are ready to quit. And everyone has those moments sometimes. If you have engaged with people and shown compassion then you will get compassion back in return.

Speaking personally and entirely subjectively here I can say that there have been times when Twitter has given me room to vent and let off steam and others when it has given me strength and succour to continue. It has also put me in contact with some wonderful people who produce work that I truly admire. Of course, overtime, as you build your own online presence your personality will start to shine through. That is a good thing. You cannot expect to be entirely business focussed all the time and it's to be encouraged to have opinions on things and to Tweet them too.

I have seen people use paid-for Follower tools on Twitter. I decided long ago not to go down that path as even though they would generate a large kick in follower numbers it is doubtful that many of them would be even vaguely interested in theatre, film, or acting in any form so what would be the point of having the number for the sake of the number. I would rather quality over quantity any day.

As I've said before, spend time reading the Tweets from people who you follow. And reply. Twitter is a modern day version of the chat over the garden fence and it's going to be a very dull conversation if only one person talks all the time.

Be proactive. Be helpful. Be mindful too.

By mindfulness I mean don't flood your timeline with a million tweets about your undying love for Justin Beiber/One Direction/Twilight etc. It might well be that you will marry one of them but it gets very dull, very quickly when all you do is tweet about them. So think about what you post. Share the things you like. Share the things you really don't like. Share enough to allow people to see who you are beyond just being an actor.

Showcase Shmocase

Well it's been almost a month since I was here last and what a month it's been!

I've been to lots of drama school showcases, some of which have blown me away with the display of raw talent on stage, others of which have made me wish for a lightening bolt descending from the skies to strike the director who deemed their ideas worthy of being a showcase. I can't stress enough how terrible some of them have been.

Back in the day when I was approaching my own showcase it was drummed into us by our head of faculty that the job of the showcase was to, unsurprisingly, showcase us. It was not to give us all equal stage time if that time meant we could shoot ourselves in our feet. Metaphorically speaking of course. Well it seems to me that some drama schools take the view that all students need to be given equal stage time regardless of ability. Hence I've witnessed singing that was flat, voices that were indistinct, acting that was timid and utterly mind-numbing and I've also had to sit through umpteen excerpts from the same handful of plays over, and over, and over again. Even the food on offer has started to take on a relentless sameness. Standing around in the bar afterwards chatting to agents they all share the same view.

Drama school showcases invariably take place in the lunch hour so that busy agents, casting directors and producers can justify getting out of the office for a bit longer than an hour and seeing something entertaining and finding new talent. The new talent is undeniably there but the "entertainment" factor has been absent by and large. Making the audience laugh, or even making them smile, makes them more predisposed to like the actors they see on stage. Boring them or picking scenes that all feature two people screaming profanities at each other gets rather tiring.

The most entertaining, and arguably most successful showcase so far this year has featured a mixture of duo and monologues together with larger company pieces and even the odd song. And no this was not a Musical Theatre showcase, they're an altogether different bag usually featuring a large degree of shirt movements revealing toned six-pack abs, row upon row of preternaturally white teeth and any number of Stiles and Drewe songs segueing into hard bitting dramatic scenes where the leading candidate to play Dandini in panto this season in Margate is allowed to flex his acting muscles by declaring himself in love with the beautiful girl opposite him whilst struggling to hide his penchant to punctuate sentences with a demonstration of a jazz hand or two. But they are entertaining nevertheless.

I have to say the thing uniformly lacking in most of the drama showcases I've seen so far has been simply that. Drama. Mainly scenes are underacted with the actors showing scant connection with the text and not able to project vocally beyond the first two rows of the stalls. This has been the case in even the smallest, and oddest choice of venue, the Fortune Theatre where the showcase also suffered from being badly lit.

Why do I go if they're so bad I hear you say? Well, not only do I live moments away from the majority of venues but I also have a job to do. I'm an actor, a director and now a producer. When I go I am looking at, and for, actors. Sometimes the design of the showcase makes it hard for the cream to rise beyond the sea of little UHT milk capsules bobbing about. I beg the people tasked with creating showcases to remember what they are there to do and to showcase the talent. But please please please make the hour entertaining. Mix it up a bit. If you have one black actor please use something other than Blue/Orange to demonstrate his skills. Why not let him do Coward, or Crimp for that matter. Shake it up. Be bold. Let your imagination fly and let your students take wing rather than shackle them by lacklustre direction and no imagination.

Things are afoot in the land of Actorvist

As some of you, primarily those of you who follow me on Twitter, already know I've not been my usual self recently. I've been battling with a long drawn out period of depression which is somewhat at odds with my creative urges.

The depression not withstanding I've appeared in two plays this year and played a part in two feature films, one a very large budget, high profile franchise and the other a much more modest affair. I've also been thinking about writing a couple of ideas that have been bubbling away in my head for a while.

Well, whilst I've been doing all the above I've resorted to comfort eating.

My depression, when it descends upon me, makes me switch off from delicate little pleasures that one often can find in subtle flavoured foods and seek solace in the huge highs of sugary, or overly spicy, or savory foods. It's like my brain cries out for some kind of stimulation whereas my body needs no energy as I'm not really able to do anything but just function.

So, as I have been known to consume a whole M&S cheesecake in one sitting at times over these past six months I've inevitably put on a few extra pounds. Pounds that I am now determined to drop.

I know that this is nothing to do with acting per se but it is to do with this actor and as such I think it's important to share the highs and lows on here with you all. I stress that I am not looking for sympathy. If anything that would be counter productive, but I ask for your understanding if I am quiet at times, seemingly withdrawn perhaps. Trust me when I say my mind is working overtime analysing the minutia of what's going on around me and probably, misguidedly I admit, leaping to conclusions about who it impacts me.

Depression is not something I would ever trade in for anything else. It's a part of me and it is one I value. Usually it means that something I am doing is not in my best interests even though it seems like it is. It's a yardstick if you like. One to measure my own progress through Life against. OK so it can derail me from time to time but it is valuable and it does give me insight. The slow discovery of what is fundamentally against my own self interest, be it professionally or personally, might well take months but discover it I inevitably do. And this time it's taken almost a year I think but I have slowly had the realisation dawn on me that I am not supporting my acting endeavors to the best of my ability.

I have been guilty of allowing myself to become distracted by ephemera. By the idea of chasing Twitter followers perhaps, of thinking that if only that specific person came on board that specific project that I am involved with then I would suddenly be catapulted into the limelight. I've come to realise and to accept that the person responsible for how my career progresses is me. Just me. It's me that decides what roles to take. It's me that decides if I am prepared to work for nothing other than vague promises of future roles. It's me that has to schedule my time to allow further study and growth. Me. Nobody else. It is also a relatively recent discovery that it is only me that I have to satisfy. I don't have to fret about when I will perform in a "proper theatre" as my parents ask on a weekly basis. Nor do I have to worry about when my name will be above the title of a movie poster on huge billboards.

This is not a sprint. I may well be 45 years old but the time I spent as an economist before becoming an actor is not an impediment that has to be fought against. If anything it's a strength. I do not have to race to being acclaimed a rising star or anything of the sort. All I need to do is to continue to train, continue to stretch myself and above all else continue to remember that I love this business. I love the doubts and fears on stage. I love the camaraderie on a film set. The pressure of the rehearsal room. The tick, tick, tick on a film set when the light is fading and the DoP really doesn't have time to reset the lights to give more time to get the shot before the day wraps. I love it all.

Accepting that I do, and that that really is enough seems to quieten the voice that psychologists call the "Critical Parent" that lies within me as it does with in us all. That voice that says you're not working hard enough. Or suggests that if you haven't written your long awaited screenplay by now you never will. Or calls you fat. Well frankly that voice can go take a long walk off a short pier. I enjoy acting. I enjoy writing. And that's enough.

I know I'm rambling here (as I always do I hear you say!) and I want to wrap up soon so all I will say is that I am lucky. I know I am. I'm lucky enough to have had a greatly rewarding career before I turned to acting and I'm luckier still to have found a second one to follow. I have a great support network of family and friends. The person who hasn't been 100% supportive of me has recently been me. And that has now changed so be prepared to see a change in the me that you meet. I have silenced my own critical parent.

Onwards and upwards! And always, always, remembering how lucky I am.

I forgot to say how helpful one little book has been. And that book is this one... Sunbathing in the Rain by Gwyneth Lewis. It's a remarkable telling of her own journey through depression and out the other side.

Topics for discussion

As some of you may well be aware I've been somewhat lax in keeping this blog up to date with new, pithy, insightful comments. Well that will now change.

I've asked on Twitter and will ask again here for what it is you want me to cover about the world of acting.

So far I've been asked to discuss why it is that Art is important and also how to create a firm sense of place when you're on stage or in the audition room.

I was debating going in to detail about recent productions I've seen and what works, and what doesn't, and thought that might just become a rehash of the reviews I write for Remote Goat and also now for Bargain Theatre so came to the conclusion that doing that wouldn't make for good reading. So, I think, to mark my return to the bloggersphere I will tackle the big one. Why is Art important?

But I'm not going to tackle it right away because I'm hungry and it's lunchtime. So this post serves as an introduction to what will follow... and also as a question about things you'd like to see me tackle. Let your minds run free. Mine frequently does, hence the three pages of a one man show about a gay vampire that are currently sitting on my desktop asking for attention... More about that later I think. Until then, happy lunchtime!

Should I stay or should I go?

Hunting around for a topic to write about is sometimes easy and sometimes not. A bit like Life really. Especially when that life belongs to an actor.

So, being a generous soul, and not being able to think of something to write myself, I donned the cloak of generousity and asked the Twittersphere what topic(s) they would like me to write about on here.

After strenuously examining the vast number of reply I had (thanks Rhonda! Glad to know someone reads this!) I thought I would deal with the most popular topic that cropped up. Once.

The single reply to my offer read as follows:

How about a piece dealing with Office Politics during a project? Possibly emphasizing (she's American so she's allowed to spell like that) how to handle your work when the project is a kind of disaster and everybody is grumbling and complaining.

When do you leave?

How do you make that decision?

Why should you stay?

OK, how do you deal with office politics in a production, which doesn't have an "office" but a rehearsal room which can be fraught and tense, and exhausting. And then shifts to a stage which can be a whole myriad of things all at once?

When all about you moan and whinge what do you do? What do I do?

I'm always honest here and I've no reason to change that. Also I only ever write about my own experiences as that it what I have to draw on in my life and it's that life that, at times, has meant I've had to deal with awkward decisions. But as to how you deal with office politics in a production there is one rule. And for me it's an absolute. And that rule is don't get drawn in to petty political squabbles in a production.

It's fine to offer an opinion when it's requested by the director, or even when another actor asks for help but avoid at all costs getting into the You're Right/Wrong type of arguments where you have to take sides. Be diplomatic.

Says I. Who in one of the first productions I was found myself in a nonsense of a production. A director without a clear vision. Without the ability to explain to the cast and crew the essence of his vision without saying "It's all in my head. I'll know when it's right".

This same director regularly would turn up late, sometimes by as much as 3 hours or more, to a 6 hour rehearsal. And then he would explode at the cast and crew for not being "on it" immediately when he arrived. He would undercut the choreographer at every opportunity, mainly by listening to what they said, watching what they'd got us doing and then saying "that's not right. It needs to be like this...." and proceeding to rechoreograph entire routines. He would, and did, arrive in the wings two minutes before curtain up and hand a cast member a prop whilst saying helpfully "this will help your character be real" before they walked on to a stage to do a song and dance routine. Now carrying a brand new, unrehearsed, unrequired, unwarranted prop.

But that was the actual production.

Back in rehearsal cast were regularly kept waiting, as I said for hours on end, by the director who would then break every 20 mins for a smoke and a coffee and wouldn't allow us more than 15 minutes for lunch.

One cast member, a good friend of mine, left and the following day (8 days before opening night) the director arrived, about 2 hours late, and I should add the director had the only key to the rehearsal space, and gathered everyone together to publically attack the now absent cast member. Who, it must be pointed out, had left because he couldn't cope with the utter disregard the director had for the company.

I had spoken to a teacher of mine about the situation and she gave me sage advice which I still go back to today. I said to her that I was tempted to walk. She said if you've signed a contract, or even if you haven't you never walk. Be utterly businesslike and professional but never walk. Her advice dealing with the tardy director was as follows....

1. Explain why you are not happy. Clearly.
2. Set out some rules of conduct for the director.
3. And for the cast.
4. State the outcome if the director breaks the rules.
5. Be prepared to carry them out.

In this circumstance, the discontent was because the cast were regularly hanging around outside the rehearsal room for a minimum of 20 mins and a max of perhaps 150 minutes. We had no warm up time. No structured lunch breaks. No structured end times.

To deal with this it was suggested that the rehearsal rooms were open 30-45 mins before our rehearsal call times, thus allowing people to warm up ready to go for the start of the rehearsal.

Also that the director had to be there by the call time for the rehearsal. If he wasn't, I said I would wait twenty minutes and then go home as I could work better there by myself than waste time waiting for him to arrive.

Oh and we had a known schedule for breaks and for lunch. Of course we weren't going to walk out when the clock hit lunchtime if we were in the middle of something but everyone knew that about 1pm we would break for one hour for lunch. And at 11am and 3pm we would break for refreshments/smoke etc.

That way everyone knew what the rules were. From that day on the rehearsal room was open everyday 30 mins prior to the call time. The director was never late. We all had rest and felt able to go on. If someone hadn't made a stand we would have all been utterly exhausted and probably been injured during the run itself.

It's not that this is strictly to do with office politics but there is something important here and that's that although the relationship between Director and Cast can at times be fraught, and at others beautiful to behold, everyone in a company has a job to do. Just because someone has a bigger title than Actor does not mean that they can ignore the feelings and sensibilities of the cast. Nor should the cast be prepared to lay down some simple, professional, rules of conduct.

This was a Fringe production but that is not the point. Assuming that because a budget is small the process would automatically be "difficult" is wrong. I've had the utter delight of working with gifted, visionary directors on Fringe productions with minisucule budgets who never failed to show their cast utmost respect and never once allowed their professionalism to be compromised by budget restraints.

Everybody pays to be in a production. Producers pay money and stress. Cast pays in blood, sweat and tears. But when everyone treats all the others involved with respect it's amazing how much more fun it is. And how much better the final result is.

So, young actors out there, don't be scared of saying if you think something, or someone, anyone, in a position of responsibility in a Company is out of order. On the big issues obviously. Don't waste time over the small stuff. But remember it's not your job to undermine the director. It's about being professional at all times and expecting the same of all others.

That's Entertainment - Barons' Court Theatre

"That's Entertainment most definitely entertains!" by Colin Appleby for remotegoat on 25/10/11 0

This double bill of one act plays, penned by the obviously talented Phil Preece, premiered at the Garrick Theatre in 2009 before embarking on a tour of the UK last year and returns to London for one night only.

The first piece, Mr Bluesky, ably directed by Paul Findlay who co-stars in the second piece himself, examines the life, lifestyle and losses accrued by one Vince Meager an aging rocker long past his prime and still touring playing his big hits from the 60s to his adoring, and shrinking, fan base. Driven by his self belief, and in part his loneliness, he invites a young lady back to his dressing room and it becomes apparent quickly that all is not what it seems as the two discover a past that may, or may not, have more in common than meets the eye.

Vince Meager is played by Steve Dolton and Kirsty, the female guest in the dressing room by Kelly Ward.

As a one act play the piece is entertaining and leaves you asking questions about the motives behind the actions of both characters. I don't wish to detract from the piece but as good as it is, it is very much the support act to what follows.

After a brief interval, the lights go up on That's Entertainment, where we are introduced to a couple of national TV stars at the top of their game. Set backstage at an awards night where the duo have been honoured with a glittering trophy the duo, The Jolee Boys, examine their careers and debated rather heatedly if perhaps they have sold out in order to cash in.

The script, in common with that of Mr Bluesky, reveals that all is not rosy in this particular garden. Joe, played by Paul Findlay, is at great pains to return to what he sees as his comedy roots but his entertainment partner Lee, played by Steven Humpherson, is happy to down champagne and snort line after line of cocaine and ride this gravy train for as long as he can.

The differences provide scope for both Findlay and Humpherson to let rip with their characters as they go from reminiscing about their first steps onto a stage as shepherds in a "navatity" play at school, to realising what is going on and what they each have to do in order to survive.

The play could easily handle being expanded in to a two act drama, or comedy, and works exceptionally well in the confined space of the Barons Court Theatre as the limited space adds to the pressure of both pieces. There is no easy escape for any of the four characters in these two pieces, nor would the audience desire one for them. Or for themselves.

Steven Humpherson perfectly captures the essence of coke addicted, almost alcoholic, light entertainment star and has what can only be described as phenomenal stage presence.

To say that he is perfectly matched by Paul Findlay is an understatement. These two actors have an obvious and easy camaraderie on stage which enables the exceptionally quick fire lines and the sharp retorts to come as if directly from the spleen. Every word and gesture is well aimed, well timed and delivered nigh on perfectly.

Talking of understatement it's not an understatement to say that both Findlay and Humpherson are destined for much greater things if this performance is to be believed. Far from waning I would say their personal stars are very much in the ascendency.

I do not know where this double bill is playing next but I will say hunt it down and see it. That's Entertainment is certainly what I call entertainment.

Hang of the Gaol - Brockley Jack

"Cool Prison Drama Beats Luke" by Colin Appleby for remotegoat on 01/10/11 8

I know that I have mentioned in other reviews the perils of being a reviewer and an actor are manifest. Think about the dilemma one faces when reviewing a play featuring a cast you don't like, and a script you find impenetrable. Or even worse one where the actors work their socks off and the script shines with brilliance that the director has managed to remove all trace of.

Now take that peril and factor in the added risk of a cast populated with people I've either worked with in the past or people I've trained with. Mix them up with a venue I adore and a playwright I have a huge admiration for and the risks are increased. So great they are that I usually eschew the job of reviewing shows that are such large potential minefields. However on this occasion I grasped the job in hand by the horns and was rewarded with that warm glow that I get when I see a cast cope with a very wordy and dense script and bring it to life with charm, pace, and wit.

The play is one of Howard Barkers most successful plays and here it is performed in a remodeled Brockley Jack Theatre that is used to great effect to recreate the interior of Middenhurst Gaol. Now reduced to burning embers the ensuing inquiry tasked with establishing the facts behind the fire uncovers layer upon layer of deceit.

As the inquiry, led by the sexually rapacious civil servant Jardine, played brilliantly by Alan Thorpe, squares up to the establishment figures, who have a myriad of agendas that are slowly revealed, the demands made of the cast increase. And they largely meet that task ably.

I do not wish to give away any of the plot twists and turns here but there are delightful scenes and electric performances scattered through this production.

Julian Bird excels as the incumbent Home Secretary and displays almost as perfect a sense of comic timing as Darren Benedict, who brings a brilliance and lightness to his role as one half of a fantastical fire investigation team. Maggie-Anne Lowe, Anne-Marie Hughes and the exceptional Matthew Eaton provide the other cast highlights.

I should add that this wordy, dense, difficult play, showing in this charming, somewhat out of the way theatre was the second play I had seen this day. The other was a still in preview star vehicle in the West End. It was Cool Hand Luke. I may review that debacle but in direct comparison this was far more entertaining and far better acted.

Cool Hand Luke costs £50 a seat in the stalls. The Hang of the Gaol costs £12. Save your pennies and see this. Actually maybe splash out on a meal in the Brockley Jack pub before heading in to the see the play. You'll have a much better evening than you would seeing Cool Hand Luke.

Thick - New Diorama

Thick Outstanding performances from all" by Colin Appleby for remotegoat on 16/09/11 5

This was my first visit to the New Diorama Theatre, which is tucked away in the middle of a development of office buildings just north of Tottenham Court Road and what a delightful introduction to the space Thick turned out to be.

I know that as a review I should not allow the other things I have recently seen to influence my prejudging of a new piece. But, I'm human and I make no apology for coming to Thick with a slightly downbeat heart after the less than perfect production I had seen the previous evening. I own up to sitting in my comfy seat, in the intimate space that is the New Diorama, and being disheartened by the naive set design and the slightly downbeat music played whilst the audience wandered in.

Within moments of this black comedy starting however I perked up no end. Largely due to the stellar performances by the cast of four talented actors, led by Rick Bland (who is anything but) and supported by Gary Fannin, Barbara Barnes and the incredibly talented Genevieve Adam.

The tale is a journey of one man, Rudolph, an idiot savant (Rick Bland), to a funeral and is a complex and deft weave of flashbacks and memories featuring a plentiful supply of non-alcoholic gin, the shoe saleswoman from Hell, a man who lives only for his lawn and a further 9 characters including Pope John Paul II.

Only Bland does not have to play multiple roles but as he never leaves the stage during this 90 minute bravura performance (no interval) to ask more of one actor would be utterly unfair.

All in all this is a surprising, charming, intelligent, witty and at times seriously laugh out loud, emotionally moving piece of theatre which well deserves an audience so go and see it!

I Love You, You're Perfect. Now Change

On Tuesday 13th September I had the pleasure of attending the Press Night of Maple Giant Theatre's production of the multi-award winning, and internationally staged show I Love You You're Perfect* Now Change in order to review it for this website. 

A show that garnered such a huge amount of critical acclaim obviously raises the expectation of what you are going to see, and factoring that with the delight of seeing something at the Bridewell Theatre, and something featuring someone I had the pleasure of training with, all served to perhaps raise my expectations unfairly to the level where they couldn't be anything but not entirely met. 

The show, more a musical review than a traditional show, charts the ups and downs of the world of Romance. It strives to portray the truths and the myths behind relationships and with a handful of deceptively simple sounding melodies interspersed with some accomplished harmonies from the company.

The cast was missing Tonia Szkurhan, due to illness, and her role was shared by other members of the cast. Most notably by the director and actor Amy Cooke-Hodgson who rose to the challenge of stepping in at short notice with a remarkable level of calm and confidence matched seamlessly by her phenomenal vocal skill. 

Out of the remaining ensemble, the stand out performance has to be that of JJ Criss who manages to switch from slimy lawyer type to tender loving father and a variety of other characters with charm and a vocal dexterity that I quite happily covet. Although a musical theatre actor, and lead singer for rock group Stamina, he manages to convey absolute faith and honesty with every word he sings. 

I think I would have preferred the show more if the venue had been more intimate as sometimes the performers seemed a little lost in the large space they occupy here, but it's well worth seeing, for JJ Criss and Amy Cooke-Hodgson especially, and also for Jamie Scott-Smith's brilliant take on geriatric tap dancing (which I'd like to see more of, perhaps in a spin-off show of his own).

Lives and loves of a Reviewer Pt 1

As some of you know I write reviews for Remote Goat... bravely I do so under my own name.

I just thought I would share some of the things I've seen recently so you can see for yourselves it's not all champagne and starlight in the world of the reviewer!

I know it's lazy blogging but I thought it might be interesting to see if any of you have seen the same things and if you agree or disagree. Or just want to comment at all!

So the next few posts will be reviews of shows I've seen... in the order that I have experienced them. Of course I have blogged about some of them previously and you'll be able to figure out which ones I've referred to elsewhere in the blog yourselves I would imagine because you're an intelligent lot!

It isn't just what you do on stage

Yesterday I went to see the work of an up and coming theatre company who are striving to reinvent the Rep Company for the 21st Century. They strive to provide a year long training program built around the experience of putting on three full scale professional productions throughout the year.

After the experience of yesterday I would still say that these are lofty ambitions and deserve support, however this is a business not a fairytale adventure and sometimes businesses need to be tough in order to teach people valuable lessons.

It was apparent from watching the assorted cast of some 17 young people of varied talent get to grips with the reworking of this classic Greek tale of lust, revenge and death, that some of the basics need to be attended to urgently.

There really is scant point in staging a full scale professional production when the cast are in obvious need of speech lessons. There is no point putting on what is ostensibly a college production and calling it professional.

Perhaps equally importantly the actors should all have drummed into them the importance of an online presence. I was trying to write up my review of this particular play this morning when I realised that my task was made much more difficult than usual due to the utter lack of photos and biogs in the literature handed out at the theatre. It could not be too arduous a task to have a couple of pages with just a headshot and the name of the actor next to it could it? I'd think not. But nevermind, I thought, I'll turn to Google and will go through the names listed and call up the relevant Spotlight or Casting Call Pro pages for the actors concerned.

I think my biggest shock wasn't that most of the cast are not listed on either site (as far as I, with the help of Google, could ascertain) but more that the few who were listed had not bothered to update their online resumes in quite a while. In one case that "while" equates to five years. None of the actors listed the current production.

Wearing one of my other hats, this time as Director, I constantly look out for actors who get added to my list of people I would want to work with in the future, or at least see how they develop over the next few years, but none of those on stage made that list yesterday purely because of the lack of ability to identify them.

Even a wall of headshots in the theatre would have helped!

I would hope that young actors, and those just starting out in their careers who may have a few years of Life on their side, would realise that most casting these days is done online initially. And that in order to improve their chances of getting roles, of actually just getting seen, then their online presence is just as essential as their technical knowledge.

Review: "Mr Happiness" & "The Water Engine" - Screening Room - Old Vic Tunnels

This double bill of David Mamet radio plays, translated here to the stage by the combination of a remarkable, atmospheric setting, an ensemble cast of extraordinary strength, versatility and talent, the clear directorial vision of director Kate McGregor and brought to life by the designs of Amy-Jane Cook (Water Engine) and Carla Goodman (Mr Happiness) has to be the current must see piece of theatre in London.

The only problem I have in reviewing this is deciding how to single out specific actors without making it seem like the ensemble is not the key here. Because it really is. They are the lifeblood, the sounds, the souls of what we cannot hope to have brought to life on this, or any, stage.

Mamet wrote these plays with 40 voices and 60 characters so there are few places and fewer companies that could tackle a cast like that without some imagination. And imagination is what you see on display here. From the way the sound effects are made live on stage to the way the images in the the head of Mr Happiness are brought to life it all just "works" like a well oiled machine.

Notwithstanding the strong ensemble there are a few stand out performances. David Burt, who manages to hold the audience in the palm of his hand both as the eponymous Mr Happiness, and also as Mr Oberman in The Water Engine has to be lauded for his performance in Mr Happiness. I have not seen an actor handle a monologue in such an enthralling manner in a long time. A delight to watch.

Other notable performances include Jamie Treacher who plays Charles Lang with an innocence and vulnerability and a palpable sense of hope that you can't help but empathise with when Life, and people, conspire against him. And for me the other most notable performance goes to Lee Drage for his Bernie who I found utterly engaging to watch on stage.

I realise that I've not "reviewed" this piece so much and I've more implored you to go and see it, well I don't want to tell you what happens in either of the two plays and I don't want to spoil the visual delight either. So trust me, if you like brave, bold, utterly entertaining theatre then go and see it. And yes, the theatre is tricky to find but hunt it down because what Theatre6 and MokitaGrit have produced here is an inventive, vital piece of theatre that deserves to be seen. So go and see it.

A one star review

A Big Day for the Goldbergs 
New End Theatre, Hampstead.


As an actor and sometime director myself, I fear writing an official review for something that I take a strong dislike to. Why? Well I don't want to annoy directors, Olivia Rowe in this case, or fellow actors when I come away disappointed from an evening at the theatre when it's obvious that they've tried to make the best of a bad lot. But it's my role to review, so review I must. 

To quote from the press release for this play "North London's special home to Jewish theatre announces this light-hearted slice of modern provincial life starring the Archers' Amy Shindler." 

That name is the only saving grace in this production. I would have wished that this was a one woman show and that woman was Amy Shindler.

It seems, again from reading the press release, that this is a reworking of the "knockout" version of this play which premiered in 2010. The play examines the lives and relationships of the female members of the Goldberg family of Leeds.

The writer, Brian Daniels, has taken what was a two person production mainly constructed of monologues about their own lives and their relationship with their mother and has enlarged the role of the mother as a "nod towards the tough decisions that come with parenthood, middle-age and imminent divorce". Well in the mind of this provincial Jewish man he shouldn't have bothered. 

The sisters Goldberg, played by the rather engaging Brenda Tucker, sorry I mean Amy Shindler, and the somewhat entertaining Suzanne Goldberg, manage to make the best of a cliche laden script beset by the presence of the "Mother" character. I couldn't help but wonder how much more entertaining this evening would have been had it not been for the somewhat arboreal nature of Jane Hayward as the mother. 

I'm not going to give away any of the plot details here as really there are that many to give away. 

Is it worth seeing? Well if you've nothing else to do and find yourself in Hampstead and you're a fan of the Archers and want to see what Brenda looks like and sounds like in real life then yes, go for it. If however you like better constructed, more challenging, more entertaining theatre then spend your money elsewhere.

Procrastination

Honestly, if procrastination was an Olympic sport I'd be a sure thing to win gold at 2012.

I'm sure you all know the situation. I've got lines to learn, and others to refresh, and what am I doing? Well suffice to say the kitchen's not been so clean in years, the cats are both nicely groomed and content after being bathed (yes bathed) dried and groomed, and I can confidently inform you all that the macaroons from the Covent Garden branch of Laduree are literally divine.

After my four and a bit mile run this morning I popped into Laduree to pick myself up a little treat and the woman behind the counter greeted me with a smile and said, "Bonjour Monsieur! Do you know we 'av only been open for, erm, quatre days and you 'ave been in every single one so 'av a macaroon on ze huis!"

I'm not quite sure where she originally came from but I'm guessing it's not Essex.

Moving on, I'm sitting here with a screenplay open, and I have an odd way of learning lines. Simple repetition doesn't do it for me unless it's a monologue. I wish it did. It would be simpler that what I have to do instead. For I have to retype the entire script out with all the other character dialogue on the right hand side of the page and mine on the left. Honestly I've no idea why I need to do it this way, but currently I do. So, laptop open, printer cartridges full, paper loaded, coffee made, cats asleep I open up a New Document page in Open Office... and I type... a whole line. Not even mine but a whole line nevertheless. And then the phone rings.

"Hello mum"
"Oh hello...."
"What do you mean 'Oh hello'? You dialled me!"
"Oh yes.. well I... oh never mind...How did your audition go at the weekend?"
"That one in Cambridge?"
"Yes that's the one, we're looking forward to having a trip out to see you somewhere nice like that, and in a proper play at last.."
"A 'proper play'? So those Shakespeare and Ibsen ones you came to see weren't 'proper'?"
"You know what I mean. In a proper theatre. With a box office..."

and so that conversation went on for about 20 more minutes. After which I obviously needed a little pick-me-up so I decided to pop to Laduree and grab a little macaroon... I didn't even get there because I bumped into an old friend, someone I trained with, who was on his way to meet an agent who I know socially. He suggests I come along to say Hi, which I do. Anyway, 2 hours after popping out to grab a little something as a pick me up I'm back home. Looking at the same document open on my laptop. The same one line glaring out from the screen and the same 142 pages of screenplay to go through.... and then my inbox pings and I've got email... I click on it and it's someone asking me to contribute to her new blog... Just random thoughts and stuff about being an actor in London just starting out etc... I make like the man from Del Monte and say Yes and then start thinking. Hold on, I thought, I used to make a living out of writing random stuff so why not do it again? And if I was going to do it, then why not put it on my own blog instead of giving it to someone else to use?

Great! I'll write a blog! Now, if only I knew how to go about hosting one... do I want to be "Anon" so I can be brutally honest, or will I put my name to it? I decided to go semi-anon as I've posted the blog address on Twitter and Facebook so it's not exactly hard to find out who I am.... Of course I will reveal more as I reveal more about the life of the man behind the actor's mask... Now I really ought to get on with some work.. oh hold on, Deal or No Deal's on!

Welcome to the Actorvist

This is my very first blog and my very first post within it so I'll introduce myself.

I'm an actor. Note the absence of a capital A in that word please. It means a lot to me that I am an actor and not an Actor. I'm young in mind, eager to learn and eager to share my experiences of the audition trail, the endless networking, the plethora of decent scripts that never seem to hit my desk after standing by and letting the rubbish ones through, and the ups and downs, the highs and the lows, the laughs and the inevitable tears that being at the foothills of this business bring.

I'll be honest. I'll not tell tales. And I trust you will enjoy my rambling thoughts as they unfold.