Waking early today into the light in the sky. It’s high summer and my diurnal rhythms seem to be in sync with the bigger picture. Eyes open, into awareness, and the low-level adrenaline that’s come to be part of my life, kicks into play. I’m grateful for a day off for the light domestic duties, a spot of gardening, and
Continue reading ...Rehearsal days are flying by – we’re nearing the end of Week 2 – and the work on the floor this week, blocking scenes and interrogating action through character, is intense and tiring. This is where the richness of a text becomes apparent, but it takes its toll. The tiredness only becomes apparent at day’s end when,
Continue reading ...Week 2 begins with no calls in the rehearsal room for me today. Work on the role doesn’t stop, of course; there’s homework to do – always homework when becoming absorbed in preparing a performance. This afternoon I watched an extraordinarily moving documentary on Casa di Riposa – a home in Milan – endowed by the great
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The last time I turned up to work on a Saturday morning was back in high school when I did a weekly pocket-money stint at Coles in my hometown. This week has been broken a bit by public holidays, and so we finished the first of what constituted the rehearsal week on Saturday; it felt
Continue reading ...A new production begins – rehearsals get underway today – just after Christmas for QTC’s first production in Season 2016: QUARTET by Ronald Harwood. I’m delighted to be tackling the role of Jean Horton – diva extraordinare – and sharing the stage with some terrific Australian actors. Here we go!
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One of the more satisfying creative projects I devised when training actors was an extended exercise which I called Flying Solo. This was designed to give student actors the opportunity to devise, author and perform a one-person showcase for their talents. The experience of creating a piece of theatre from the ground up has a few advantages for those
Continue reading ...Good casting and a supportive creative team make directing almost a breeze.
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An image a day and a tweet or quote a day to sum up the passage of the next 10 weeks as I rehearse and perform in La Boite Theatre Company’s production of As You Like It by William Shakespeare. I get to play Duke Senior, father to Rosalind. This should be fun and a
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Quite without planning it, I found myself live-tweeting on the opening night of a recent production of Secret Bridesmaids’ Business by Elizabeth Coleman (for Toowoomba’s Empire Theatre). I happened to be in my dressing-room doing a final email check of best wishes and ‘Chookas‘ when the Stage Manager gave the company stand-by call for beginners.
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