To Dare
I believe that it’s better to dare to live authentically than to compromise for expediency.
The Working Actor
I am happy to report that my work-rate has slightly increased. I have been working with the Curtin University in Western Australia. It has been a great thing to meet the students and help them in any way I could with the skills that I have.
It’s very regenerative to get work with my chosen profession. Long may it continue.
When You’re Not In It.
Something happens in the life of a performer that never gets talked about in magazines or when we get together for a chat or whatever. It’s that thing that happens when you see or hear or read somewhere that there’s a show being done or a job being shot that you’d always wanted to do… and you’re not in it! Or maybe you see a publicity shot and there they are, all smiling and posing and you think … Read more
The Dark
Are you afraid of The Dark? The Dark within, I mean. If you’ve been as Dark as ink, do you try to make sense of it, perhaps find reasons (or make excuses) for it? Or do you ignore it? Perhaps yours is The Darkness that is best avoided, or do you secret it somewhere inside and allow it to colour the way you see the world? Does yours feel powerful? Or is it like a boiling lake of blood, ready to expel forth, uncontrolled at the slightest provocation.
Does the seething undercurrent of turmoil control you, or do you control it? Do you know? Do you… care?
I am responsible for my feelings, and I have a right to them. ALL of them.
Confidence ‘Tricks’
Tonight or today I want to talk about an elusive little bugger called ‘Confidence’. In particular, I want to put some light on something that is very hard to catch. It’s hard to catch because, actually, it’s not really confidence at all. I’ve seen a certain type of behaviour in others, and I don’t really know it’s name, but I’ll describe it here as”Confidence ‘Tricks’ ” or “lack of confidence masquerading as confidence”.
Most people who’ve never performed on stage, would naturally assume that to walk out in front of a few hundred people, onto a stage flooded with lights and perform, you’d have to be full of confidence, right? Read more
What’s Next?
My first stage performance in many years has been a huge success, and I feel very positive about the work I undertook. I received very good comments and favorable reviews, and to all concerned I am very grateful.
There were moments of heightened awareness of the way of Acting, and this is very beneficial to me so that I can further my development for the future.
To the future, the inevitable question arises, “What next?”. In truth, I don’t know. I’ve heard something in the air of a play by the Bard, and I’m listening out for it. Nothing set at the moment, however. Read more
After The Lovin’
When a carpenter makes a table, she stands back and checks it out, and after being satisfied that the work meets her highest standards, her work is completed. So what about Actors? Yes, work on screen can be assessed, but on stage? It’s the worst possible thing to have an Actor come up to you after a performance, and have them attempt to prompt a response from you. “How was I? ” That sort of thing. It just ain’t done.
One of the most important facilities an Actor must possess is the ability of self-assessment. We have to be able to ask ourselves how we went. This ability is so good for performances, both stage and screen, but also after auditions. Read more
The Trouble With Acting
I met a musician today. We chatted for a while and he told me that when he wasn’t playing, he taught music at a local college and drove bands to their gigs. I was interested in what he had to say. To him, it’s much better to get work within the profession of your choice, even if it’s on the perifery, rather than work as a musician sometimes and flip burgers the rest of the time. Better to play, and teach playing.
The trouble with Acting is that you are considered a deadbeat by those who “love” you, unless and until you show them that you mean it. But that’s not all. Once you’ve “proven yourself”, the thing that people will try – even the violence they will do – to bring about your downfall, can only be described as pathological. Read more
Cricket And Acting
I’ve always thought if I could ‘come back’ as anything I wish, it would be as an opening test cricket batsman for Australia. I love test cricket, though I’m by no means a fanatic about it. I just like the way a game can have so much going on, and yet to the uninitiated, seem like nothing is happening at all. Similarly with the good Actor, we don’t notice the processes that go into the masterful performance. Anyone who really knows test cricket, who knows theatre, knows what I mean.
There are similarities and stark differences between Cricket and Acting. To play well, to give a solid, powerful performance you have to have qualities such as balance, intuition…, Read more
