Oh hi there!
Thought I forgot about you, didn't you! Not so much... OK, maybe a little. What with the holidays and getting my new visa sorted and leaving drama school and just not acting... Suddenly, what is there to write about for an acting blog? When you're not practicing your craft, what is left to say? Ah, but that's just the trick, isn't it. There's always something to keep you inspired. This is my new epiphany. Well, that's not exactly right either. Of course there's always something you can find to keep yourself going, that's not news, the trick is not getting stuck in a rut. And that is a what I experienced.
A rut.
London is a very big place. Also not a shocking revelation. But up until the end of my East 15 career, I never experienced the fight for acting jobs. In Fredericton, there was so much going on and as long as you were a good actor, not even talented but say dedicated, you could marry yourself to project after project. At East 15? We payed for acting opportunities (essentially, although I know that sounds jaded). And suddenly I graduate and... where do I go? Where do I find my opportunities? I'm not even talking about paid work, I'll continue to do amateur theatre!
Or will I? That's of course the other question that comes up now that I'm in the professional world.
School is over. I'm an adult now. I have to make the money, support myself. In October, a colleague of mine offered me a part in her play, and I had to turn it down. It wasn't paid, and the time that I would have to take off from work to make it to rehearsals... I just couldn't spare it. The time or the money. When working at a gastropub, Sundays are of course our busiest day (roasts roasts roasts!) so not only would I be giving up an eight hour shift, I'd be giving up £30-40 in tips! Which is significant in London... And when Sunday is the only full day that every other participating member in the production has free, I just couldn't take it. It was a really hard decision. I hope that I won't always have to make those decisions. At the time I was saving money to pay for the visa that would keep me in the UK. Right now, I'm making back money because I came back with zilch. Give it a couple of months so I can build a cushion in savings and then... we'll see.
But where's the line? I'm a professional now. That is how I'm marketing myself. Should I continue to fill my time with unpaid work? Or turn it down to leave myself available for paid work? Should I just look to fill my resume with credits, paid or unpaid? And so be able to send invitation to agents along with my cover letter? I mean, that's gotta look good to an agency, right?
The fact is, I don't have any work coming my way, as a volunteer or employee.
I flew back form Canada with my new visa just in time to quickly rehearse And Then They Came For Me, in which I played Anne Frank. It was fun, don't get me wrong! I loved the people I worked with, but it wasn't exactly profound theatre, An educational piece, I worry that it didn't really come across, mainly due to horrible technical failures that forced us to stop the show, turn up the lights, go out and apologize and try to carry on. Not exactly easy to be pulled out of a holocaust piece and try to pick it up again. But there is still hope that we'll take it on an international odyssey, and frak, free travel plus a bit of pay? Yea, I'd sign up.
There had been plans to put up this play back in September, and I was kind of counting on it since then, despite two postponements. I just kept looking forward to it, and thought, "I found this job, so I'm good until it's over. One job at a time!" But that's not exactly how the industry works, is it. There are simple things to do, even, like checking Spotlight and CCP every morning; you keep on top of that and there aren't even that many new posts to go through every morning. But I stopped doing even that.
And before I left for Canada, I was justifying my laziness. "Just focus on saving money right now, Anne Frank is waiting, and you don't want to write to agents only to leave for two months. You can change your focus when you get back, and attack the acting industry full force then." Kiiiiiind of makes sense. Although it's still an excuse. The plan was to get myself organized over the Canadian break. To have my cover letter written and everything ready to be sent off as soon as I got back. Did it happen though? No. I was so. lazy. I ate rich food, lounged for hours in the morning with coffee and books, watched movies, lived in my pajamas most days. Ugh, I hate thinking about that now! What a waste of time. Sure, rest up for a bit. After all, I just finished a Masters degree and went straight into full time work at a pub right after. Give it a week. Hey, maybe even two weeks! But two months?!?! Ridiculous.
I've been back for a month now and still haven't done my mail out. Also ridiculous.
But today, I am sitting in a Caffe Nero with a second draft of my cover letter, ready for a final tweaking, with a ticket to see Ralph Fiennes at the Old Vic in my pocket, and a new inspiration to get going.
I want to start thinking about my stay in London as just two years long. My sincere hope is that my Polish citizenship comes through and then I can stay even longer. But if I think of this stay as 24 months long, I suddenly feel a real push. I now have just 23 months to accomplish something in the acting world. I have 92 weeks to get an agent and land some auditions. I have about 644 days to get myself onto a big stage. And five out of every seven of those days will be at the pub until I get on that stage.
How's the for perspective?
Alright butt, get in gear.
Thought I forgot about you, didn't you! Not so much... OK, maybe a little. What with the holidays and getting my new visa sorted and leaving drama school and just not acting... Suddenly, what is there to write about for an acting blog? When you're not practicing your craft, what is left to say? Ah, but that's just the trick, isn't it. There's always something to keep you inspired. This is my new epiphany. Well, that's not exactly right either. Of course there's always something you can find to keep yourself going, that's not news, the trick is not getting stuck in a rut. And that is a what I experienced.
A rut.
London is a very big place. Also not a shocking revelation. But up until the end of my East 15 career, I never experienced the fight for acting jobs. In Fredericton, there was so much going on and as long as you were a good actor, not even talented but say dedicated, you could marry yourself to project after project. At East 15? We payed for acting opportunities (essentially, although I know that sounds jaded). And suddenly I graduate and... where do I go? Where do I find my opportunities? I'm not even talking about paid work, I'll continue to do amateur theatre!
Or will I? That's of course the other question that comes up now that I'm in the professional world.
School is over. I'm an adult now. I have to make the money, support myself. In October, a colleague of mine offered me a part in her play, and I had to turn it down. It wasn't paid, and the time that I would have to take off from work to make it to rehearsals... I just couldn't spare it. The time or the money. When working at a gastropub, Sundays are of course our busiest day (roasts roasts roasts!) so not only would I be giving up an eight hour shift, I'd be giving up £30-40 in tips! Which is significant in London... And when Sunday is the only full day that every other participating member in the production has free, I just couldn't take it. It was a really hard decision. I hope that I won't always have to make those decisions. At the time I was saving money to pay for the visa that would keep me in the UK. Right now, I'm making back money because I came back with zilch. Give it a couple of months so I can build a cushion in savings and then... we'll see.
But where's the line? I'm a professional now. That is how I'm marketing myself. Should I continue to fill my time with unpaid work? Or turn it down to leave myself available for paid work? Should I just look to fill my resume with credits, paid or unpaid? And so be able to send invitation to agents along with my cover letter? I mean, that's gotta look good to an agency, right?
The fact is, I don't have any work coming my way, as a volunteer or employee.
I flew back form Canada with my new visa just in time to quickly rehearse And Then They Came For Me, in which I played Anne Frank. It was fun, don't get me wrong! I loved the people I worked with, but it wasn't exactly profound theatre, An educational piece, I worry that it didn't really come across, mainly due to horrible technical failures that forced us to stop the show, turn up the lights, go out and apologize and try to carry on. Not exactly easy to be pulled out of a holocaust piece and try to pick it up again. But there is still hope that we'll take it on an international odyssey, and frak, free travel plus a bit of pay? Yea, I'd sign up.
There had been plans to put up this play back in September, and I was kind of counting on it since then, despite two postponements. I just kept looking forward to it, and thought, "I found this job, so I'm good until it's over. One job at a time!" But that's not exactly how the industry works, is it. There are simple things to do, even, like checking Spotlight and CCP every morning; you keep on top of that and there aren't even that many new posts to go through every morning. But I stopped doing even that.
And before I left for Canada, I was justifying my laziness. "Just focus on saving money right now, Anne Frank is waiting, and you don't want to write to agents only to leave for two months. You can change your focus when you get back, and attack the acting industry full force then." Kiiiiiind of makes sense. Although it's still an excuse. The plan was to get myself organized over the Canadian break. To have my cover letter written and everything ready to be sent off as soon as I got back. Did it happen though? No. I was so. lazy. I ate rich food, lounged for hours in the morning with coffee and books, watched movies, lived in my pajamas most days. Ugh, I hate thinking about that now! What a waste of time. Sure, rest up for a bit. After all, I just finished a Masters degree and went straight into full time work at a pub right after. Give it a week. Hey, maybe even two weeks! But two months?!?! Ridiculous.
I've been back for a month now and still haven't done my mail out. Also ridiculous.
But today, I am sitting in a Caffe Nero with a second draft of my cover letter, ready for a final tweaking, with a ticket to see Ralph Fiennes at the Old Vic in my pocket, and a new inspiration to get going.
I want to start thinking about my stay in London as just two years long. My sincere hope is that my Polish citizenship comes through and then I can stay even longer. But if I think of this stay as 24 months long, I suddenly feel a real push. I now have just 23 months to accomplish something in the acting world. I have 92 weeks to get an agent and land some auditions. I have about 644 days to get myself onto a big stage. And five out of every seven of those days will be at the pub until I get on that stage.
How's the for perspective?
Alright butt, get in gear.