The Challenges of being ‘Good’

A saying that I heard a lot in my younger years was ‘you’ve been brought up, not dragged up’. This was a reflection of my mother’s amazing parenting skills and my solid (if unorthodox) family upbringing. I was raised in a single parent family, just me and mum, but we did live next door to my nan and uncle. This provided a very safe and happy childhood which saw me spending time between both houses, my nan teaching me poker aged 6 and my uncle sometimes in an almost brother role playing on the Megadrive with me. The poker carried on till my nan’s death when I was 17 and the Megadrive till I was about 8 and started consistently beating my uncle at any game we owned. My mum has worked for most of her life and gave me as much love as a mother can give a child, this instilled in me a good work ethic and a deep level of compassion and a love for hugs!

But being good can have its obstacles and can provide a strain on an otherwise balanced lifestyle. Obviously we need to start with a definition of being ‘good’, the dictionary would state ‘being morally right’ or ‘showing kindness’. Urban dictionary on the other hand provides these high thinking gems, ‘opposite of bad’ and ‘to be modestly exceptional in bed’. I can assure you before writing this article I wasn’t setting out to focus on the latter! Ignoring the comedy that the internet creates, there are a number of challenges that present themselves when we set off upon the path of the righteous.

Temptation: Everywhere we go there are situations or events that provide us chances to be good and act in a saintly way. Also many people class being ‘good’ as sticking to diets and staying away from junk food. Well, unless you’re a farmer and only eat your own produce you’re going to find a ton of temptation at every supermarket or shop, from chocolate to vodka, and all with gleaming offers and deals to help your conscious give in and indulge. Being good can also class as being faithful when in a relationship. When I was in my last relationship I had a ton of opportunities to cheat if I had wanted to and several girls I knew/know had no qualms about the fact I was in a relationship as they weren’t after commitment or anything. The total lack of moral compass didn’t really surprise me though, it’s the world we now live in.

Money: Or a lack of it can really dent our chances of being as helpful and decent as we would like. Christmas has just been and gone and all the message we are given is that we should all give whatever we can to help people all over the world. I’ve seen an awful lot on Facebook people stating they’ve been getting an increased level of charity letters and phone calls asking for aid and support. This apparent barrage of pleas for aid and help raises in itself an important question, among others such as why aid is needed in the first place. What if you don’t have any money? I know a few people who literally don’t have anything spare to give to others, even if they wanted to, does their lack of donating make them a bad person? The festive period is full of fundraising and photos of people doing ‘their bit’. Does me sitting at home, detached from all this activity make me a ‘scrooge’? On a personal note, no it doesn’t. I actually do a fair bit myself in the local community and donated several hampers I was gifted by people to local charities that help the homeless and those families in need of assistance. The argument against this notion is that there are many things which we can do which cost us nothing but time to get involved and feel that we’ve made a difference. I volunteered at a youth theatre school back in the summer as a director for their debut musical. I didn’t ask for any money for doing this, not even petrol money and did I enjoy the experience and feel I was making a difference? Yes! I got to meet a great bunch of people, make a direct impact on their lives and can sit typing this knowing that many class me as a friend.

Jealousy: Frequently we can overcome most of the obstacles that are set against, only to be faced by the green eyed monster. People (who often live in glass houses) look at those who do great deeds with a dubious suspicion that they must have an ulterior motive. These souls are often ones that are rarely good, therefore they feel jealous when other people can achieve heights they are unable to reach. I help run a theatre company based in my hometown and we have several remits which we try to stick by. For these reasons we could easily be a target for naysayers as we focus on developing new talent in theatre rather than be content with a limited pool of friends and family. Also we have an open door policy which welcomes anyone regardless of experience or background, we further reinforce this may charging no audition or membership fees. Some could try and see our charitable pursuits as vanity, but in actual fact we simply want to help build up our local community and offer assistance in any way we can. To this end we have donated tickets to raffles, given money from ticket sales to worthwhile causes and did a great deal of fundraising for Cancer Research and the British Heart Foundation. Don’t get me wrong, we’re certainly not alone in wanting to help people. There are several others run locally who follow similar veins of thought as us and run concerts and fundraisers, but I’m sure they’ve probably faced the same challenges we do.

I’ve focused on three areas that I feel present a challenge to being good, but there are scores more which I could explore. I think though that these key areas present the main bulk of obstacles and allows you, my dear reader, with a heads up to avoid the fate of less hardy souls. My advice? Everything in moderation, i.e. let yourself be tempted sometimes as this will help your self-regulation. Don’t feel bad if you can’t donate the next time you see someone with a charity tin outside a supermarket, instead give someone you miss a text or hug that loved one a little bit tighter. Lastly on those jolly green giants, ignore them. If they want to fester in self-loathing, let them. You can only answer for your actions to either yourself or him upstairs (if that’s something you believe in). If you feel you’re doing enough, chances are your right. So kick back, enjoy a glass of red and bask in the moment, because chances are, you had a good old climb getting to the summit!

As ever, thank you for your supporting and reading my blog and if you want to get in touch send me an email at chris@cd-productions.co.uk or visit the website www.cd-productions.co.uk

Theatre - Watering those grassroots

Mighty oaks from little acorns grow.

The above is a well-known saying, one that can be applied to a myriad of situations and circumstances. The particular focus of my current thinking is theatre, or more broadly performing arts. I often speak to youngsters (and some adults) about their dreams and aspirations of becoming actors, singers and dancers. They speak with such enthusiasm, verve and self-belief, generally only needing help working out where best to direct their energies. These people are the grassroots of theatre. I’m not necessarily talking about primary school aged children, though I’ve had several rather interesting conversations with some about what they dream to be. The main catchment seem to be aged 13-17yrs, the ages that young people are presented with more and more choices to make, and not always given the guidance, especially if it’s not what many consider to be a ‘normal’ job.

I’ve heard horror stories about teenagers being told flat out to not bother and to pick something sensible to do. I know what you’re thinking, there is a huge amount of competition to be had in getting into theatre schools, let alone in making a living as a performer. However, generally the people that have issued these edicts of doom haven’t got the slightest stat or industry knowledge, if they had then the young person in question could consider it rationally. They could sit down and say ‘Chris, my tutor said that only 8% of UK based actors are ever in work at any given time, but I still think I could be part of that 8%”, instead the conversation normally follows the route of, “My tutor said I shouldn’t bother with acting or trying to sing for a living because it’s not a real job”. It’s the classic scenario of saying to someone they aren’t allowed to do something, therefore they want to do it more, and the latter ‘advice’ if you even want to grace it with that label is self-defeating.

I digress. The point I set out to make was that people of any age should be easily able to find suitable platforms to test their abilities and inhabit a comfortable, safe space where they can be challenged. Local to where I live in Northamptonshire, there are a number of courses that people can take to improve their skillset and hopefully prepare them for auditioning for stage school auditions. I do worry however about students being so focused on their course content that they don’t still seek out and/or have the opportunity to perform in other arenas. I’ve recently had an influx of interested people from Northampton College wanting to perform with my theatre company, C&D Productions, as the choice of play we offer is varied and it gives them experience to put on their C.V’s. Another recent person is taking a gap year and wants to gain as much experience both on and off the stage as possible and came to me with several ideas for one and two act plays. I can honestly say there isn’t a acting theatre company that holds open auditions in a good 15 mile radius that would be so open to people’s ideas (especially not relative strangers) and give them a chance to put their ideas into action.

In 2015 we will be performing more plays than ever before, participate in several fringe festivals and have had a local venue offer us ruminative work to produce the play first ever performed there as part of an anniversary celebration. I will be engaging with at least five local directors, including three that haven’t directed with us before, and working with a whole host of people in roles ranging from costume, make-up, set design and technical. 

This is one of the main reasons we set up our theatre company in the spring of 2014, we saw a huge gap regarding straight acting and no platform to offer opportunity and engagement, and then we promptly filled it. I speak on a localisedlevel to myself but I am curious what the situation is like in other parts of the country on both acting and theatre company level. I might add that the local college in my hometown of Kettering have been totally and utterly un-cooperative in allowing their students to know about future productions and auditions. I can’t offer a reason for this and as yet I’ve been met by a wall of silence on the subject, luckily we've got numerous avenues being opened up to connect with the general public which is providing very fruitful.

There is a point I was going to explore in greater detail which is whether nonprofessional theatre (or am-dram) should receive levels of funding, incentivised at uncovering new talent. It is a common disease of many am dram groups that they have the same rough pool of people in each of their shows, by this virtue the same people tend to get given the leading parts and life goes on as normal. This is wrong in my opinion, sure everyone is there because they enjoy the hobby and in the case of musicals they can sing songs from shows they’ve been to see or watched on TV, but the organisations themselves should take regular inventory of what their purpose is and who their audiences are. 

One of my key goals is to gradually build up an audience of people who will come see our productions regardless of cast size or if they know anyone in it. I don’t think it’s healthy just relying on friends and family to fill theatres as this will be fine when your cast numbers twenty, but what if you do a smaller cast piece such as Waiting for Godot? Many local groups struggle to survive, in fact I know of ones that have vanished entirely or have had to cut their activity due to a series of loses on the spreadsheets. Should these groups, the entry point for many aspiring performers, be given a reason to open the dusty casements and encourage new blood?

A key point on this topic is engagement and communication. I know of a local youth focused group that have had to cancelled shows due to being unable to attract a bare minimum cast. In this same period we’ve attracted and worked with over 80 people locally, many of whom would have been that group’s prime target, why is this? I think a lot depends on the variety of shows offered, the level of organisation and structure one might see or sense from the outside, but more importantly how the all-important message of ‘come be in our show’ is relayed to the public. We focus a lot of our efforts on social media and I’d like to think in our first year we’ve made a good job of it, with 1,000+ likes on our Facebook page and people contacting us on a weekly basis via our website. We do use traditional forms of marketing also, such as posters and word of mouth, and I think a combined approach works best. Given increased funds I am sure our reach could extend further and at some point we’ll try to decide how to cross said bridge when we find it in our path.

Back to the main point and focus of this article, who has the main responsibility to nurture our future would-be actors and performers? Does it lie with the government to increase funding to ACE (Arts Council England) so that they can then distribute the funding to projects they feel are of theatrical merit? The immediate answer might be no, with figures proving that the main chunk of funding never leaves the capital. Perhaps the answer is to create more focused regional arts funding centres which can react to geographical trends and needs, knowing their own locale far better than someone sat in an office many leagues away. They would have a more even spread of funding and therefore boost each area simultaneously, perhaps with funding being split on a ‘per head’ count of the population, with exceptions made to generally rural counties?

So dear reader.. What’s the situation like where you are? Do opportunities abound or could more be done at an organisational level to provide varied and affordable chances for people to gain that much needed experience? Please let me know by comments below, contacting me via the website (www.cd-productions.co.uk) or via our Facebook page. I look forward to hearing from you!

Review - Aura Cocktail Bar

Several weeks ago I was invited to visit a cocktail bar in Kettering called 'Aura'. I had liaised with them a fair bit via our respective Twitter accounts and finally at last the dates all matched up and I went down on a Friday evening which coincided with a music night they were holding featuring local singer Olivia Winterflood.

The evening promised much as I had heard good things about the entertainment and atmosphere at Aura but I hadn't heard a great deal on the food front as it's a fairly new addition to their offering and that can always be a dubious time to visit. When another local bar/restaurant opened a few months back (it shall remain nameless) Facebook was awash with bad reviews about the food, prices and service. Not good, especially with several well known restaurants located closeby in Prezzo and Chimichanga. It's a brave move, but a calculated one when you consider that in a place like Kettering, the vast majority of the town's nightlife is situated in a half mile radius.

Being the hapless singleton that I am I took one of my good theatre friends Megan along with me to gauge her response also and to give me some needed company should the food and entertainment be found wanting!

My initial thoughts entering Aura were that it was somewhere I felt quite at home and welcome. It has that sort of atmosphere that few places locally produce, which remain me of some of my old uni haunts. The music wasn't booming out from speakers and the venue had a good amount of people swilling about. The worst thing when reviewing is when your the only person in the place and you can hear a pin drop. The staff were all really friendly  when we were ordering our first drinks before they could be 'warned' I was reviewing the place, which can cause an artificial reaction.

We decided to skip starters and go straight for the mains which offered (at time of visiting) a limited selection, whilst still providing good meat / vegetarian options. To be honest, I prefer the smaller menu when somewhere initially starts offering food as it can prove unwieldy to the kitchen and I'd prefer somewhere doing 10-15 dishes well rather then 30+ to an okay standard. I point out here that since visiting Aura have added several new additions to the menu including a really tasty looking handmade steak and ale pie and that classic favourite of a generation, ham, egg and chips. I like the new choices as they offer something more 'earthy' and 'British'.

I went for the Char Grilled Steak Ciabatta, with onion confit and beer mustard mayonaise. It came with a portion of fries, small side salad and coleslaw, all presented sumptuously and separated by individual serving bowls. I like this touch as I've lost count of conversation I've overhead when something like coleslaw was added to a dish without the customer saying they didn't want it and the whole plate having to be returned etc. It's also a very clean, considered way of presenting food, rather then shoving a great pile of different food types all on one plate.

It was all really very good. All the food was hot and ready to be devoured (I hate when half the plate is luke warm to cold as it shows inadequacies in the kitchen). The salad was light, fresh with a lively dressing and the coleslaw was creamy and crunchy, just what I would expect when eating out. The whole plate was bursting with flavour and freshness, and I found myself skipping from one thing to another as I couldn't make up my mind which I liked more. The steak was probably the only thing I could pick fault with. I was offered rare or well done when I ordered so I opted for rare (I usually have my steak medium-rare so little to squabble about), but I did find it too chewy, especially towards the end of the meal. It tasted great still don't get me wrong, but I am a steak snob and I think offering a 'medium' option would eliminate this in the future.

Megan choose the Roast Chicken Salad, with coz, baby gem lettuce, garlic croutons, tomato and creamy dressing. I'll keep this part of the review relatively short, she ate it all and refused to share any of it with me. That should tell you enough, but for the more avid reader I will develop this somewhat but saying the presentation matched mine and again the chicken was flavoursome and tender, with the salad mirroring mine in freshness (not a limp leaf in sight!).

The evening developed when the live music started, being provided by Olivia Plus One at 10pm. I had seen Olivia performed once before, as Eponine in a local youth production of 'Les Mis', where I thought she was outstanding. Hearing her sing, years after that theatre production, I can safely say she's even better then she was before and is probably one of the best local singers of her age in the area. I can make this bold claim having performed in over 35 local theatre productions, gone to countless open mics and now owning my own theatre company, so I'd like to think myself relatively qualified.




The sound quality and acoustics at Aura lend itself well to this kind of music and scope, with the place full by the time the first song was being sung. In hindsight I'm not that surprised, not only does Aura look good on the outside, but offering live music on a Friday night in a central town location is a good attraction. Most open mic nights for instance that I go to are on when the pubs are generally quiet and to draw a few extra people in. Maybe they should try mixing the open mics with live music events such as this to develop an audience so that the people who are in on a busy weekend night return during the week if they enjoyed themselves.

Speaking of events I will draw everyone's attention to a charity costume party that Aura are holding on the 1st of November (see poster), with tickets now just £5. As many of you will know I am a massive advocate for helping charities and local community groups and I think events such as these should be be supported to the max. The theatre company I run, C&D Productions (please 'Like' our page on FB by clicking here) has helped countless groups since our inception and I firmly believe that places like Aura doing their bit is a fantastic move in the right direction. I'd urge anyone not doing anything to pop down on the 1st of Nov, there will be a street raffle and all sorts happening.

Before concluding I would like to make a special note of the two young ladies that I dealt with most, Chenience and Becci. Both were amazingly friendly, welcoming and warm, not just to me but to everyone else I could see them speaking with, Chenience in particular was a delight. So, would I go back? Yes! The whole evening was great fun, the food was generally top notch, the music added a really good additional layer of atmosphere and the whole place seemed alive. Also there wasn't a bad pint to be seen and I think Aura offers really good value for money. Well done all, a great success!

* As always I would love if everyone could visit our Facebook page, 'Like' it and continue to support all our work in the community. We've got a bunch of great plays coming up from 'A Christmas Carol' in December, to 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' in February, We are always looking for actors/actresses, or people to help backstage and even direct. If you know anyone who might be interested invite them to 'Like' our page and email us on chris@cd-productions.co.uk - Thanks for reading all and I hope you had a great weekend!

Important links - www.facebook.com/CDProductions.theatre  /  www.cd-productions.co.uk

Why The Rush?

In this age we are always rushing about going from A to D without bothering to stop at B or C to take time to speak to a parent or give yourself 20 minutes to watch the mad speed we all hurtle about in. I took some time out of my day yesterday to take a walk with my mum to visit my nan’s grave, via a shop to buy some flowers. 90 minutes out of my day was a pure delight, we talked about bygone days of my youth and how my mother and hers would walk amongst the graves (visiting my grandfather) and would look for child names from the headstones they passed. Towards the end of our walk I naturally ran up some steps which ended at the top of an embankment which led nowhere, as if half finished. With my mum chuckling to herself I asked what can humoured her and apparently I would make the same mad dash in my very early years. Apparently some things stay with us unconsciously years after they last happened. Was it a trace memory of my childhood that made me run up the steps to see where they led or was it the same curiosity I have held on to since my childhood that urged me into action.

Less about my childhood and more of Chris the adult, I have found myself in the last 6-9 months slowing down a little and trying to appreciate experiences and people more. It’s certainly a hard ask, I work 8:30-5:30 Monday to Friday and have theatre related meetings and rehearsals 3-4 evenings in the average week with a gap of an hour or so between one commitment ending and another beginning. I do try to maximise that time though by eating (always a good idea!) and giving my cat some much needed TLC which he rightly demands when I’m home.

I have a friend who when we used to go into the town centre at the weekends during the day would get really stressed out when people weren’t moving at the same breakneck speed as him. More often than not several curses would utter from his lips as he swerved and veered around and through crowds to reach his destination. This was a very stressed out guy and I’m pleased to report and he has calmed down much since then, but if I asked him now why he was always in such a rush he’d probably just shrug his shoulders in reply.

The same can be experienced when out on the roads driving. I drive at the speed limit. Always. Throughout my life I have been happy to bend the occasion rule and live quite close to the edge, however for some reason I just can’t bring myself to knowingly speed. I’ve actually had people beep and swear at me for doing 30mph in an 30mph zone, why though? Because I’m obeying the legal limit and ensuring I lower the risk of causing or being involved in an accident which could potentially end someone’s life? I just don’t get it. What can’t wait an extra few minutes? I’m always amused when cars zoom past me at 45-50mph in said zone only for me to draw level with them at the traffic lights a little further down the road. The worst is when the cars have young children in them! What example are the parents/guardians setting their kids, by shouting and swearing to high heavens at me for obeying the law. Don’t get me wrong, I’m never unduly slow and ensure that progression is maintained on the roads but I’ll admit I’ve dropped my speed down to further frustrate the odd car behind me when I know they can’t overtake if they've given me loads of grief.

The point I’m trying to get at (and hopefully not overly labour) is that we could all do with slowing down a little and appreciate the people around us. We are only on this Earth for a short time in the grand scheme of things, we never know how long people will be with us or how long relationships or friendships will last. So why not slow down a little, recharge those batteries and give someone you care about a little more time, they might not always be there, appreciate them whilst they are.

As always please do visit our Facebook page - www.facebook.com/CDProductions.theatre and our website www.cd-productions.co.uk

Bygone Fields of Gold

 Every weekend I like many other go to the local supermarkets to find food for the week ahead. It’s a well-meaning gesture that I will make lunch myself, save time during my precious hour before work recommences and also save myself a few quid. A gesture though is nothing more than a good intention unless it is followed up by the associated action and it is sustained. The latter is the hardest part of any bargain you make yourself or others as it is easy to use an momentary surge of emotion to force you into action at that precise moment in time. Hours and days after that moment when you bought bags of carrots, celery and grapes you are left with a struggle to keep it up.

The key may be that you don’t buy 10kg of each chosen fruit or veg that you fancy as you’ll undoubtedly get bored of it and if you need to maintain a routine in its infancy then the key is variety and engagement. If I buy small quantities of lots of different things then it allows me control to vastly alter the availability each day and keep the selection on offer fresh. The other option is of course to run the gauntlet and buy the various items on a day to day basis but here’s the rub. If you do this and you’ve had a crap day thus far you then face the temptations of  the aforementioned terrors.

Now I’m not talking ghouls and goblins, wraiths and demons, not at all. I’m talking about those golden arches, that offer sanctity and relief for people across the globe. MacDonald’s is a giant, not to be confused with the jolly green one of yore. It’s invasion and conquest far outstrip the great feats of Napoleon, Genghis Khan and Darius the First all put together. If I want to walk or drive from work to the nearest supermarket which is a mere 5min walk from my offices I have to contest with going past MacDonald’s, Nando’s, Pizza Hut and several others before I reach Tesco. It would be far easier surrendering to the pizza buffet hour or grab a Big Mac then pass the sights and smells these outlets offer and reach the fortress of every little helps.

This isn’t a lecture of saving money or eating healthy, more it has become an article on the invasion of temptation that exists in our culture now. To quote Henry Wotton from Oscar Wilde’s ‘A Picture of Dorian Gray’, “the only way to resist temptation is to yield to it”, that is the message which seems to have conveyed to us all the time. I remember standing in Saint Wenceslaus square in Prague over ten years ago marvelling at the beauty that existed from the ‘Old World’ but also surprised that in a 360 degree turn I could see five separate MacDonald’s outlets glowing gold like a buried treasure suddenly unearthed.

We have allowed convenience to become an excuse for laziness and a lack of care. If I really cared about saving money, losing weight or maximising my lunch break I’d stick to the routine. I read somewhere recently that the human race has slowly started to lose the ability to self-regulate and control our own behaviours. It’s true though.. think back to when you’re parents or grandparents would ‘do without’ this and that, it’s not just a story from the war or great depression, it was them making the decision to stick to their guns. If they had let loose and decided they would indulge ‘want’ they could have gone out and robbed a neighbour’s house or tried swindling someone down the street. The vast majority didn’t though, if they couldn’t have something they simply didn’t, but they survived and carried on. A trip into any store would likely present you with situation after situation of children screaming and crying because they want this or want that. You want to know a secret? If they don’t have that chocolate or Xbox game, they will survive into tomorrow (unless the child is diabetic and needs an emergency sugar boost of course!).

This article was initially entitled ‘Lunchtime Terrors’ but whilst writing it I realised that it’s not just a situation that exists between 12-2, it’s an everyday occurrence and way of life. So next time you say to yourself ‘I need ….’, check yourself, and ask yourself if you really do..

Thanks as always for reading and if you could give my FB page a ‘Like’ I would be forever in your debt! J

www.facebook.com/CDProductions.theatre   /   www.cd-productions.co.uk

The trouble with Blogging

I love blogging. It allows me to write about anything I’m passionate about and gives me a brief break from reality. I can also write about whatever takes my fancy and feel excited about at that time, be it during a football match, in the run up to a theatre production I’m directing, or even after a hopefully tasty meal at a local restaurant. With the invention of modern technology I can even write articles on the move and away from my computer, which means you can capture the true moment which prompted you to write about it in the first place. So.. what’s the trouble I hear you ask?

Finding bloody time! I hate that life seems to rush by with a thousand things I need to do, which prevents me taking the time to write. The immediate response quite rightly is, ‘you don’t NEED to do anything’, but in my case I beg to differ ever so slightly. I run a theatre company, I direct rehearsals, organise social media and all the other trappings you don’t think about such as make-up and costume. That carries with it a responsibility to my cast to make sure everything is arranged properly and thus deliver the end product – a cracking piece of theatre.

I also have a 9-5 job so my time is severely limited. I think the key word is ‘time’. I remember a conversation I had with a friend recently which in a nutshell was about him having thousands of photos on Facebook of events and places we had gone but couldn’t actually recall the emotions or feelings he experienced at the time as he was so focused on snapping away. We’re all guilty of not giving ourselves enough ‘me’ time which is vital for you to appreciate your life and the people around you. Having time to step back from the spotlight also allows you to decide what things you do or don’t like or enjoy. So often society or the media dictate trends and people we should herald or berate, but why? Because it is fed to us through a drip while we busy ourselves at work or commuting or anything else that doesn’t enrich our lives. It’s easier to be told something then take time to find out for yourself, and thus when having a conversation with someone who asks me my taste in books, music, film or theatre, I tend to give an honest answer which leaves a puzzled look on their face as it’s something they’ve never heard of. I do encourage people to go away and look up whatever my answer was.

The last paragraph gives us an answer to the title of this article, I’ve just written that with a great energy and enthusiasm because I care about the subject matter. Whilst I do welcome people to offer suggestions for articles for me to write I do prefer plucking something out of thin air and typing away for however long and looking at the end result. An article packed with honesty and genuine opinion. I will be reviewing several local restaurants and venues over the next week or two as a nod to all the Northants peeps that read this blog. In any case, farewell for now and speak soon!

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Moving out of your comfort zone

A recent conversation with a member of my theatre company has got me thinking.. The discussion was around the limits and boundaries we have (or in our cases don’t have) when it comes to performance and actor interaction.  I’ve been fortunate enough to have been involved in some fantastic musicals over the years, including two favourites of mine, RENT and Spring Awakening. The subject matter of each can be very hard hitting and at times isn’t for those easily offended. Jumping on tables and singing at the tops of our voices that we celebrate people whatever their sexual orientation in ‘La Vie Boheme’ was a great experience, but it didn’t really challenge me as I have very open opinions about people in general. Sure it might have been uncomfortable for the very minority of the audience, but you wouldn’t go along to watch RENT if you wanted a cute sing-along ‘everyone lives happily ever after’ musical. People live and people die, and it’s the rawness of this and the many messages it conveys that makes it a favourite of those who prefer something a little different.

Spring Awakening is again a musical that deals with hard hitting topics from rape to suicide. It follows the stories of a group of children growing up in Germany at the end of the 19^th century and the rites of passage they individually go through. I won’t go into too much detail as to not ruin the plot for anyone who hasn’t seen it but it was one of the first experiences I had of having my boundaries pushed. I can recall turning up to a rehearsal one day and being told by the director that I would be involved in a scene that had myself and several other chaps pretending to pleasure ourselves in a huddled group. I handled the news fine as in day to day life I have the least physical boundaries of anyone I know, but it did cause a bit of uproar with some of my fellow cast members. I think the point I’m making here is that the actions or dialogue that shock us or make us uncomfortable in our private lives often set the rules of engagement when performing in theatre.

I think this is wrong for several reasons. First of all, as my friend Georgie pointed out, when you perform you are taking on the skin of someone else. Thus it wasn’t ‘me’ that was doing that on stage, it was the character I was portraying. Surely the challenge as a performer is to distance yourself from the role you’ve been given and to build the meat around the bones that have been set out by the director. I take the viewpoint that ‘it’s just acting’ and when you scream and get in someone’s face on stage, there is no personal (or very little) feelings of my own coming across. If you go down the route of recalling past emotions and experiences to make your perform more convincing, does that mean that in fact you are in fact replacing the previous target of your love or hate with the actor in front of you?

If I stand opposite a girl and tell her I love her more than anything in this world, but at that same time try to remember those hazy days when I was first in love, am I mixing the then and now or am I just attempting to mimic those feelings? The other option is to drive straight in and try to form such a bond between you and the love interest that in fact there is some real semblance that feelings exist. Going on dates, walking around in a distance town holding hands and occasionally pulling her close for a smooch would in theory develop a level of feelings, even if they are forced. The question then is how do you protect yourself from allowing any real feelings to grow or do you even need to? I guess the answer depends on whether you’re single or not, if you are then there isn’t anything to worry about because if anything does develop, so what? Of course when you’re in a relationship certain boundaries might need to adhered to, but then you wouldn’t necessarily throw yourself into the role in the same way, or you would do different things to develop the chemistry.

Back to boundaries, I am sad to say I can’t think of much that would scare or terrify me. Obviously as I’ve said, nothing ‘physical’ would make me flinch, aside from maybe dancing about in my birthday suit! As for topics or subject matter, I’ve played roles ranging from Buttons in pantomime to the physically abused Smike in Nicholas Nickleby and as I mentioned at the start I’ve been in shows that have dealt with HIV and homosexuality. Often the challenge when working with people who are new to theatre or have been very typecast is to bring them out of their comfort zone somewhat and see how they cope. It also depends on their mind-set and how seriously they take theatre and the role they are given. After speaking to Georgie last time I have no doubt she would do practically anything to ensure that a relationship or scene comes across as genuine and believable to the audience. In fact the classic reaction you want is for them to wonder if there is in fact anything going on between actors; such was their chemistry and connection on stage.

Perhaps my most challenging role will be my next in the play I’ve written which will be performed at the Camden Fringe Festival this year. ‘Three Blinks For…’ explores the journey a man and his loved ones go on after he is involved in a drink/drive accident and left nearly completely paralysed. Able to only communicate via blinking, the play looks at the strain of caring for someone with Locked In Syndrome and also the inner torment the sufferer goes through. This is conveyed by lines of ‘Blink’ or ‘Blink Blink’ spoken to replicate the actions, and spoken dialogue (heard only by the audience) expressing his thoughts and feelings that otherwise go unseen. The challenge for me will be a scene with my best mate Dan, who plays an abusive respite carer who takes out his anger and frustration on me to the point of tipping me out of my chair and screaming at me to get up and prove that I’m still a man. The first time we ran this scene it was electric. As I lay prone on the floor with him towering over me the feeling of just how vulnerable I was suddenly struck me and despite trusting him explicitly, the fear that he could do anything and my character would just lie there really hit home the actual reality sufferers go through.

 Of course I’m just grateful that I get to be involved in theatre and work with some of the amazing people that I can consider friends and fellow actors. I’m pleased that the sense of family that exists in our theatre company allows for the freedom for people to be themselves and makes sure the environment is comfortable enough for people to throw caution to the wind and throw themselves in roles. Looking ahead at some of the projects in the pipeline I’m excited for the future, not just for myself but for the other people involved. Having the ethos of developing new talent always has its own challenges, but also means that their journey is often a greater and more fulfilling one when they make progress and inevitably do you proud on stage. I think perhaps the reason I haven’t got much that will put me out of my comfort zone is the trust that I have in everyone I work with at C&D, and if that’s the reason, well I can consider myself very lucky.