The Stage / Grads' Club

How the other half lives

2012-05-16T10:45:00Z

Readers I apologise; I have been AWOL, with less emphasis on the ‘leave’ and more emphasis on the ‘working my behind off’. My behind and several pounds that the gym couldn’t get rid of but the stress of assisting on a fringe show did in super quick time.

Now, I’m the kind of girl that finds sitting watching the telly stressful unless I can do three other things at the same time. If I’m told to sit still and do nothing but “chill out” — well, I want to gnaw my own arm off and use it to do some very productive things. For example use it to batter the person that just told me to “chill out”.

I love being busy and the times when I’ve bitten off more than I could chew have been few and far between (hey, I’m a former fat child!) Nevertheless my friends, I’ve come pretty close to overload these past few weeks and have been suffering with the work equivalent of meat sweats.

Hiraeth Artistic Productions’ skinhead-inspired production of Titus Andronicus is now up and running at The Etcetera Theatre, Camden. And if I do say so myself; its ruddy awesome. Produced and directed by my dear friend and creative visionary Zoe Ford, the show is a collision of NFskinheads and Immigrants in a vengeful turf war which brings Shakespeare’s bloodiest horror hurtling into the 1980s. As the body count piles up with each passing scene there’s dismemberments, beheadings, rapes, murders and tears and depending on your sensibilities; a few laughs.

Unlike the actors, who are still slogging their guts out on a daily basis, now the show is open my workload has eased considerably and I am no longer waking up in the middle of the night worrying where I’m going to find a wheelbarrow of bricks or a severed hand. In case you’re wondering; the brick problem was resolved by some of my most focussed flirting with the builders across the road and the severed hand… well, it’s odd what some people have lying around the house.

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Show busy-ness

2012-04-27T16:10:00Z

Guest blogger Penelope Rodie writes: When I left drama school I knew I would be poor (although I imagined it would be in a really cool, Bohemian way). I knew it would be a hard slog and that work would be sporadic. But what I hadn’t quite prepared for was just how busy things would get.

Now, before you think I’m using this blog as a thinly-veiled opportunity to boast about my successes, let me clarify that this busyness doesn’t always involve much acting. It’s the stuff around it that takes the time.

Within a few months of graduating, I had come to the conclusion that the process of finding work is a full time job in itself.

Add in classes and workshops to maintain and develop skills, as many theatre trips as time and money will allow, keeping on top of what’s going on in the industry and a day job to pay the bills and before you know it you’ve become the kind of annoying person who has to get out their diary just to arrange a quick coffee with a friend.

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Not this time

2012-04-02T09:35:00Z

In the whirlwind of a week before I packed up my tour rucksack we held auditions for Hiraeth Artistic Productions’ upcoming Titus Andronicus, which I am beyond excited to be Assisting on.

To come at the production process from the other angle is definitely eye opening. And being on the other side of the casting table was incredibly useful for me as an actor. As soon as the first actor walked into the room, Richard Evans’ advice made absolute sense. They always tell you the casting director is on your side, not an enemy or a firing squad. It turns out this is true. We have a play to cast and each unfilled role is a problem that needs to be solved. The right actor is the solution to the problem.They want you to do well.

The initial interview at the beginning as we endeavoured to put candidates at ease allowed us to get to know a little bit about the person and just get to see whether or not we were able to interact with them well. This is something that I always fret about as an actor; I should have said this, or that, or the other. The subject matter was of little importance compared to the attitude and energy and listening skills. That being said, those who had read the play (!) fared MUCH better than those who hadn’t; they had something to talk about and have shown that they have prepared and taken the audition seriously.

It sounds basic, but those who chose nice big bold speeches left much more impact than those who chose indifferent pieces. Again, Ginny Schiller’s advice was ringing in my ears: don’t be afraid of the ‘big ones’. There is a reason why they’re considered ‘overdone’; because they’re very good. You won’t get the part because you managed to dig out the most obscure monologue in the First Folio, you will get the part based on your performance; so best make sure you’ve got something good to work with.

There was one auditionee who literally blew my mind with how amazing she was. Like, she was fantastic. Her monologue made hairs stand up on the back of my neck and brought tears to my eyes. Without a doubt,she was one of the best auditions of the weekend and a funny, genuine and clearly passionate woman to boot. It breaks my heart to say she wasn’t cast. There just wasn’t a part for her in this particular play, with this particular line up of actors.

This, though of little use to her right now, was rather heartening for me as an actor. On those occasions where you know you’ve given your all and you feel you really got on with the casting director and you tear your hair out with audition post mortems to try and understand why you didn’t get the part; sometimes it really is a case that you don’t fit with the rest of the puzzle this time.

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The luxury life, and the let-down

2012-03-23T10:15:00Z

Once again this missive comes to you from the back of a van.

This time, the van is on route to Berlin. We have had a whistle stop tour of France and are now on the German leg of Dreampark’s run of ‘Welcome to London’; a TIE English language piece in which I am doing some of the least subtle acting you will ever see. My cockney policeman is a kneebender, my TV presenter is a flurry of hair swishing vanity, and my hippy is decidedly (and quite suspiciously) spaced out. It is absolutely brilliant fun.

One of the chaps in the cast is a touring virgin and those of us that have seen our fair share of high school gymnasiums and been round the block a couple of times (not like that! Cheeky!) have had to let him know that this is not your typical tour. Quite frankly, we are being spoiled rotten. The workload is super light; we have three days off when we reach Berlin this evening. We haven’t had more than one show a day. We are staying in 4* hotels. With complimentary bathrobes. The sun has been shining for every single get in and get out. This is a company of happy actors.

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The actor and the corset: A fable

2012-03-07T16:30:00Z

Only as an actor would you spend your morning as a teddy bear and your evening as a whore. Last Friday I had not one, not two, but… not three, not four…. But five shows. Five.

I slept well that night.

My day began with a double bill of Around the World in 80 Days, playing Jean Passepartout in an infant school in Edmonton: I knew that French degree would pay off one day. a pit stop for lunch was followed by a cuddly sing-a-long playing Eddy in Teddy Does Sports Day. And before the school day was over, I was three shows down and motoring it down to Battersea to pour myself into my corset for Red Riding Hood at Nabokovs Arts Club. Phew. I am almost certain this is what Dame Judi was up to fifty years ago!

Now for the absolute highlight of my week. No, dare I say it, 2012. I dedicate this blog to The Nabokov Arts Club: Fable.

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Absent boyfriends

2012-02-27T09:30:00Z

My boyfriend has been away on tour. It’s not a long tour. In fact he’ll be back for keeps next weekend. Until his next tour that is. I miss him a bit. Not too much mind. But a bit. I’m keeping busy.

This isn’t the first and it won’t be the last time a tour has come up for us, but I’ll confess — every time he auditions for a really long stint away the bad little girlfriend sitting on my shoulder secretly hopes he doesn’t get it. Naughty, unsupportive little shoulder girlfriend!

Acting is definitely a tricky profession in which to cultivate a nice healthy relationship (mine’s nice, if a little unhealthy, thanks for asking.) I remember having a blazing row with a chap at university who categorically stated, with cavalier disdain, that being a professional actor and having a long term relationship were irreconcilable. At the time, filled with romantic optimism, I threw his words back at him and flounced off convinced that he was a loveless cynic. Having been an actor now for what feels longer than the two and a half years it actually is… I still think he’s wrong (the loveless cynic!)

But his argument may have had a couple of valid points.

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Classes from the masters

2012-02-13T10:00:00Z

My name is Gemma Barrett. That’s Gemma like Bond girl Gemma Arterton and Barrett like the shoes, homes and sweeties. Apart from with an ‘e’ instead of an ‘a’. And this week I have been learning ‘how to nail my audition’ with affable casting director Richard Evans, courtesy of The Stage Events at their first ever expert-led master class session.

About 35 of us gathered at the Prince of Wales Theatre on Tuesday morning, with participants hailing from all the corners of the UK, for an interactive workshop and Q&A to find out how we could maximise our chances when we get in that audition room, and how to keep the casting director onside.

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Pick and mix and tax

2012-02-01T16:18:17Z

Well I don’t know about you, but I’m rather grateful HMRC were striking yesterday. And even happier they’ve given us two days leeway on this blasted tax return. God bless the angry call centre strikers and down with the privatisation!

For all the good technology is supposed to do us, it amazes me how much of a hassle these things can be. You trawl through the correspondence to find your online ID at the beginning of January, you can’t find it so it has to be posted to you and then you load up the whole thing again only to discover you don’t have your password and HMRC don’t have your email address so that’s going to have to be posted to you anyway… Urgh. Do I sound stressed? The old Elite fags are wearing out of batteries at an alarming rate so I can only assume I must be.

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Over and out

2012-01-25T12:30:00Z

I’m not quite sure where January went but I hope it was an enjoyable start to the year for everyone. It’s been a month of getting back to routine for me with a good muggle job, teaching and preparations for the NYT’s 2012 auditions.

All of which has meant my alarm has had the unfortunate pleasure of romancing a very sleepy Grewcock pre 7am - a hard task at the best of times, not least when you’re a mobile phone and all you can do is blare a marimba theme at me until I cave in and hit snooze.

Anyway, I can’t wait to see what this year’s auditionees have in store for us at NYT. Another epic season is taking shape and I’m sure we’re going to see some brilliantly talented new faces. Over the past few weeks when asked what I’ve been up to, I’ve met several ex members of the company; a few still working in theatre yes, but it was great to chat to a doctor, a teacher and an investment banker about their time with the company and to hear how useful their experiences were in their chosen careers. Personally, I think the real success story here is the banker -a decent wage and the upper hand at zip, zap, boing at the Christmas party. Still, great to see NYT playing such an important part in people’s lives.

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Theatreland 2012: Be right back...

2012-01-17T12:13:00Z

The year of Olympic dreams is upon us. Is it only me that remembers the day London won the 30th Olympiad like it was yesterday? Where oh where has the time gone? Regardless, we’re here and the theatrical great and good have been making their predictions for the health (or more rather wealth) of theatre and how it will survive the year.

In reality of course, the Olympics and Paralympics will takeover London for a mere 4 to 6 weeks which is perhaps an incentive to implement strategy and not foresee doom as major theatres are boarded up and “come back next month” placards adorn the doors. The Lion King has shifted their Sunday matinee to Wednesday to avoid clashes with sporting finals, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre is offering tickets for £20.12 during the games, as is Jersey Boys at the Prince Edward. All seem much more in the spirit of things as the world’s spotlight shifts to London.

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Busy doing nothing

2012-01-06T17:12:00Z

Having just about roused myself from my post-turkey coma, it appears we have stumbled, plastic champagne flute in one hand, To-Do list in the other, into 2012. Happy New Year everybody! I trust you have all recovered from bidding farewell to 2011 and have set yourselves up with some resolutions to break next week?

Personally, I had a splendiferous Christmas with the family, and now have a new Kindle on which to spend lots of imaginary Amazon money, which is almost certainly not the same as real money. With the last show with Chaplins filling the interim between Christmas and New Year, I passed a quietly joyful transition from 2011 to 2012 and things have been generally jubilant since we last spoke.

Excepting that is, having my phone pickpocketed whilst out at the market! Some highly irritating and evil individual with the stealth of a ninja and fingers as swift as Stevie Wonder robbed my lovely, shiny I-phone whilst I was merrily jostling round Camden Lock. To that individual: Merry ruddy Christmas you thieving gits. I am almost a hundred percent sure that this was the week that the RSC looked through their pile of submission letters and decided to give me a tinkle. If this career I have in front of me doesn’t pan out I shall pinpoint this event as the moment when it all went wrong. In an appeal to those of you who are technically inclined; does anyone know if the service provider stores your incoming calls and messages etc. on a secret file that you can reach when you get your new sim? Is that possible? We have a man on the moon- we must be able to retrieve my RSC voicemail!

As every other person is updating their Facebook status bemoaning their return to work this week, I can’t help wishing I was one of them. Oh, to join the legions of begrudging alarm setters and sulky clock-watchers! As indicated in my last blog, 2012 is scarily void of employment: acting or otherwise.

Whilst there’s no pay cheque coming in, I honestly feel like I have never worked harder than when I am ‘resting’. What a horribly misleading term that is. Who came up with it? It’s mean and inaccurate and if I’m resting how come I’m so tired?

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I go riding in our van

2011-12-23T14:05:00Z

Readers, I write this extended blog with clumsy thumbs on my smart-phone notepad, in the back of the van, halfway between Leicester and Cumbria, and will lovingly transcribe it onto our Company Manager’s laptop upon arrival at the next Travelodge somewhere along the M6 (laptop of my very own please, if Santa happens to be reading this…)

Yup, you guessed it; it’s tour time again! I’ve been getting up at obscene o-clock in the morning, putting up a not so valiant fight against the Burger King, and have been washing my unmentionables in the sink. For the last few weeks we’ve been travelling from Canning-town to Cumbria performing ‘A Christmas Carol’ and ‘The Wizard of Oz’ with Chaplins. You know, what with this running streak of witch castings I’m doing my best not to get self-conscious - there must be something about me that screams haggard nag!

Having taken a spectacular tumble in November when I had a fight with a pavement, I’m lucky my Wicked Witch has any teeth! Though that may have been quite fitting, I’m not sure my commitment to character goes that far… A split lip, a black eye and a face X-ray later, I hobbled back into rehearsals (if that sounds bad, you should see the pavement- he’s still on the floor) and four weeks ago we started off. As the old adage goes; scabs or no scabs, the show must go on.

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Four more sleeps...

2011-12-21T10:30:00Z

Hurtling towards London from a very chilly Sheffield on an East Midlands train, you may be fooled into thinking life in the theatre couldn’t be more glamourous — and you’d right. Partly.

After successfully starting the Christmas shopping — which all Londoners know must include a trip to Oxford Street to be crushed between three Liverpudlian sisters gaping in awe at the food hall at Selfridges whilst fielding multiple calls from relatives about shirt sizes, the whereabouts of siblings and my underwear preferences — I whimsically headed to Sheffield to catch Company.

Unlike some recent outings of the show in London, Jonathan Munby has taken us right back to the 70’s, gloriously realised here by Christopher Oram’s authentic design and Neil Austin’s retro lighting, a dream pairing, and it really feels at home here - not just in the Crucible space but also in Sheffield.

I’m sure a few eyebrows were raised when Daniel Evans gave the go ahead for this ‘off-piste’ choice after the runaway success of regional favourite Me and My Girl last year, but it’s the sort of homely and welcoming nature of this production, led in the main by the design, that makes it inviting (and perhaps more approachable) than a modern interpretation might have been.

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Rehab: Part 2

2011-12-15T12:00:00Z

Back to my rehabilitation from wielding wicker to the slightly less arduous task of attendee and lets get straight back to Matilda. With a huge advance and stellar reviews the production is sure to enjoy a very healthy run at the Cambridge theatre and deservedly so.

The girl who played Matilda the night I watched was outstanding, the choreography is utterly delightful, matching Darling’s defining choreography on Billy Elliot and made all the more glorious by the kids’ unending energy, all played out on a surprisingly simple set, designed so brilliantly that it pulls you right into the action.

Does it get the 5 star rave from me? Unfortunately not. A) because I’m fastidiously critical and b) because it’s not without its faults. Understandably, it’s an entirely brand new adventure which is fantastic, and surely deserves time to settle, refine and perfect which I have no doubt it will.

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Rehab: Part 1

2011-12-14T17:15:00Z

After a rather over indulgent two weeks off, I’m back on the blog for a final stint before Christmas is once again upon us. It’s been a wonderfully eventful month and so forgive me for skimming over some moments but I shall do my best to get as much in as possible.

As expected, my trip to Arts Ed to see Bat Boy, the follow up to the much raved (and officially reviewed) The Sweet Smell of Success was an utter joy. The soon to be graduates are already putting in knock out performances, particularly Alison Pope and Matthew Rowland. The quality of the ensemble singing in particular was a real highlight, surpassing several west end shows I’ve seen recently.

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