Wednesday 13 July 2011

Begin at the beginning . . .

What makes a man, whose last appearance on the stage was as a sixteen year old, his Private Smith in The Long and The Short and The Tall a lifeless, motionless mannequin, decide at the age of 58-and-a-half that he wants to be an actor?

It might be vanity, although my vanity is a weak and fragile creature that curls up in a ball each time I look in the mirror, compare my bank account with wealthier friends, or see how far their career choices have taken them. It's partly curiosity, a quality with which I am well-endowed. Curiosity may have killed the proverbial cat, but it also encourages us to seek out the new and keeps us exploring the world around us; people who are not curious and eager to learn are people who are only half alive.

But what is propelling me is more than vanity or curiosity. Somewhere within me is the belief that my presence and my voice on a stage or screen or through a radio speaker, bringing to life an individual or a situation or an emotion or challenge, will not only enhance my own life but will enhance the lives of others who see or hear me. You might call that vanity, but it is not. I do not want people to look at me and remember my name and make me a Celebrity; I want people to see or hear me and to forget who I am, while they are taken to a place that they did not know existed, that opens windows in their minds.

And with this portentous, pretentious start, I open this blog. I have just started a second short acting class. In my next post I will review my - very - brief acting / presenting / producing career so far and quickly catch up with progress this year. By the end of the week, I hope to be blogging on a nearly daily basis on the pleasures and pains of this new career...

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