Good morning everyone!
So here I am just a little later than intended with my exciting news about my holiday Blog Sitter....... And so here goes. I am delighted to welcome the very beautiful Lilly Driscoll, Actor and writer (looking a bit like Lilian Gish here!) who will take on this platform for a limited season! Well until August 9th in fact.
So why did I invite Lilly to take on this mantle on my behalf and hers? Well because I have directed Lil over the past couple of years in a show - Girl E by Clifford Oliver a sensitive and beautiful piece of writing about girls, male coercion, rape, gangs and things pretty horrible faced by many young women today sadly.
Lil is a joy to work with. She's a fine and instinctive young actor with a flare for touching the pulse of narrative and character. She's also an emerging writer - and pretty prolific too. And she, like me comes from good Irish stock!
So I welcome her here into my blog home - and hope you have fun reading her over the next month. I am not sure yet how often she will blog - but she will let you know. Her own blog started yesterday can be found at http://blogalotdriscoll.simplesite.com/242753274
I have also suggested that we actively encourage other guest bloggers to contribute their articles over the next month - so if you fancy writing one - just send Lilly an email lillyd87@hotmail.co.uk with a recent photo and up to 1000 words on any subject related to theatre or life! Lilly will curate this on our behalf.
So I may dip in and out during the month if anything extraordinary happens - but mostly I will be beavering away on my novel starting in Cortijo Romero on a course with Diane Samuels next week - will let you know how that's going when I am back in September! And of course I will also be curating the visit from ARKA Teatr on August 15/16/17 - do come and see this amazing show
August 15 tickets http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/myevent?eid=6796481459
August 16 tickets http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/myevent?eid=7340709259
August 17 tickets http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/myevent?eid=7343796493
Get booking!
Have a great summer y'all......... and now over to Lilly!
The Olivia Colman complex.
Hi Lilly here sitting in for Carole for August!
Here goes....So I’ve been thinking about starting up a little blog...and here it is! Basically things annoy me, a lot. And I thought I would be the bigger person here and give you the option of listening to my ramblings or not... rather than posting every god damn thing on facebook (sorry main offenders) but it’s true, everyone has an opinion and everyone thinks that their own opinion is so important. And of course with the inflated ego of an actor I think that mine is too... but if you’re still here I blame you. OK, great!
So being annoyed isn’t the main reason for doing this (I would hope) but as some of you know I am an actor/writer. Yes that’s right actorslashwriter. Another thing I hate is labelling but anyway I digress. So it’s also about maybe voicing the things we actor slash writers go through. I know that my family get sick of hearing about it and to be honest I don’t blame them, if I had a daughter who was always going on about Olivia Colman and Sheridan Smith I would be just as sick as I am seeing them on the telly every week.
So I get these days when I feel like I should just quit. I had one of those last week as I watched the very disappointing ‘Run’ on channel 4. Sorry to anyone who enjoyed it... that’s your opinion... anyway. It was the moment you realise that with so few female roles available as it is and with half going to Olivia Colman and the other half going to Shazza, not many of us will be likely to ever get a look in. I mean some will of course, the lucky ones, but the majority of us will not, and it’s sad. You do feel like giving up and most people say “no don’t do it, you’re amazing” but you also get the “well why don’t you just go and get a full time job? Try something else?” questions...but when you’ve been doing it practically all of your life how can you just stop? It’s a drug. I am addicted to it. And most importantly it makes me happy. I will come back to this but for now back to the point, OC and Shaz... I would make the point that it is lazy casting. I don’t want to keep using these two actresses as an example but they are everywhere at the moment, so it’s a pretty good place to start (of course there are other culprits) I do admire them and enjoy some of their work, but they are not right for everything. Olivia Colman was brilliant in ‘Tyrannosaur’, her performance broke my heart. She’s a good crier. Anyway...she didn’t get nominated for a BAFTA - outrage - OK let’s put her in every TV drama possible, oh and every comedy too. What about Peter Mullan? Did anyone complain about him missing out? ...I love watching Mullan, but if he were on telly every week I’d probably get sick of him too. This is not me saying these actresses can’t act, because they can, of course they can, but it just annoys me that the industry is going this way, and it's boring.
Anyway I’m going to stop with this topic for now because I’m even starting to bore myself.
I look unhappy don't I?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2013/jul/23/paul-bhattacharjee-cory-monteith-actingSo it has been a sad couple of weeks in the news concerning actors, and I think it has left the industry asking what more can they do to help actors, and in particular the mental health of actors. Well the answer would be a lot, there is a lot that could be done and definitely should be done to support us. There will always be people that say "yeah but you choose to do it, so it's your own fault" and yes we do choose to do it, but I'm sure that most of us don't go in it for the days we can't affort lunch and have to use our Boots points card just so that we can get a meal deal! We do it because we love it, maybe just maybe because we can't do anything else! And it is damn hard, and I think even harder to understand unless you are in it. So yes it is and can be very lonely and not many people understand, but we do it. So what can you do? You can support us, in any way that you can, let us talk, let us be who we are and don't tell us to go and get a day job, because we might just tell you to go stick your 9-5.
Ok Lil - off to a good start then - just watch your language - some of us on here are old enough to be your mum! (grandma even.... oh no!.. not me of course!)
So here I am just a little later than intended with my exciting news about my holiday Blog Sitter....... And so here goes. I am delighted to welcome the very beautiful Lilly Driscoll, Actor and writer (looking a bit like Lilian Gish here!) who will take on this platform for a limited season! Well until August 9th in fact.
Its a bit of a risk - this passing over my precious blog-baby to someone else - but indeed it is also hugely exciting! What if she says something I don't like...? will i feel the need to censor? will that mean you will all abandon me never to return? Nahhh - surely not to either!. What you will get instead of my familiar old voice will be a new and fresh angle from this twenty-five year old passionate actor and writer.
So why did I invite Lilly to take on this mantle on my behalf and hers? Well because I have directed Lil over the past couple of years in a show - Girl E by Clifford Oliver a sensitive and beautiful piece of writing about girls, male coercion, rape, gangs and things pretty horrible faced by many young women today sadly.
 |
| Me - in retreat mode? Please do not compare this photo with Lilly's! She is a child! |
So I welcome her here into my blog home - and hope you have fun reading her over the next month. I am not sure yet how often she will blog - but she will let you know. Her own blog started yesterday can be found at http://blogalotdriscoll.simplesite.com/242753274
I have also suggested that we actively encourage other guest bloggers to contribute their articles over the next month - so if you fancy writing one - just send Lilly an email lillyd87@hotmail.co.uk with a recent photo and up to 1000 words on any subject related to theatre or life! Lilly will curate this on our behalf.
So I may dip in and out during the month if anything extraordinary happens - but mostly I will be beavering away on my novel starting in Cortijo Romero on a course with Diane Samuels next week - will let you know how that's going when I am back in September! And of course I will also be curating the visit from ARKA Teatr on August 15/16/17 - do come and see this amazing show
August 15 tickets http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/myevent?eid=6796481459
August 16 tickets http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/myevent?eid=7340709259
August 17 tickets http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/myevent?eid=7343796493
Get booking!
Have a great summer y'all......... and now over to Lilly!
 |
| This is very scary Lil |
Hi Lilly here sitting in for Carole for August!
Here goes....So I’ve been thinking about starting up a little blog...and here it is! Basically things annoy me, a lot. And I thought I would be the bigger person here and give you the option of listening to my ramblings or not... rather than posting every god damn thing on facebook (sorry main offenders) but it’s true, everyone has an opinion and everyone thinks that their own opinion is so important. And of course with the inflated ego of an actor I think that mine is too... but if you’re still here I blame you. OK, great!
So being annoyed isn’t the main reason for doing this (I would hope) but as some of you know I am an actor/writer. Yes that’s right actorslashwriter. Another thing I hate is labelling but anyway I digress. So it’s also about maybe voicing the things we actor slash writers go through. I know that my family get sick of hearing about it and to be honest I don’t blame them, if I had a daughter who was always going on about Olivia Colman and Sheridan Smith I would be just as sick as I am seeing them on the telly every week.
So I get these days when I feel like I should just quit. I had one of those last week as I watched the very disappointing ‘Run’ on channel 4. Sorry to anyone who enjoyed it... that’s your opinion... anyway. It was the moment you realise that with so few female roles available as it is and with half going to Olivia Colman and the other half going to Shazza, not many of us will be likely to ever get a look in. I mean some will of course, the lucky ones, but the majority of us will not, and it’s sad. You do feel like giving up and most people say “no don’t do it, you’re amazing” but you also get the “well why don’t you just go and get a full time job? Try something else?” questions...but when you’ve been doing it practically all of your life how can you just stop? It’s a drug. I am addicted to it. And most importantly it makes me happy. I will come back to this but for now back to the point, OC and Shaz... I would make the point that it is lazy casting. I don’t want to keep using these two actresses as an example but they are everywhere at the moment, so it’s a pretty good place to start (of course there are other culprits) I do admire them and enjoy some of their work, but they are not right for everything. Olivia Colman was brilliant in ‘Tyrannosaur’, her performance broke my heart. She’s a good crier. Anyway...she didn’t get nominated for a BAFTA - outrage - OK let’s put her in every TV drama possible, oh and every comedy too. What about Peter Mullan? Did anyone complain about him missing out? ...I love watching Mullan, but if he were on telly every week I’d probably get sick of him too. This is not me saying these actresses can’t act, because they can, of course they can, but it just annoys me that the industry is going this way, and it's boring.
Anyway I’m going to stop with this topic for now because I’m even starting to bore myself.
I look unhappy don't I?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2013/jul/23/paul-bhattacharjee-cory-monteith-actingSo it has been a sad couple of weeks in the news concerning actors, and I think it has left the industry asking what more can they do to help actors, and in particular the mental health of actors. Well the answer would be a lot, there is a lot that could be done and definitely should be done to support us. There will always be people that say "yeah but you choose to do it, so it's your own fault" and yes we do choose to do it, but I'm sure that most of us don't go in it for the days we can't affort lunch and have to use our Boots points card just so that we can get a meal deal! We do it because we love it, maybe just maybe because we can't do anything else! And it is damn hard, and I think even harder to understand unless you are in it. So yes it is and can be very lonely and not many people understand, but we do it. So what can you do? You can support us, in any way that you can, let us talk, let us be who we are and don't tell us to go and get a day job, because we might just tell you to go stick your 9-5.
Ok Lil - off to a good start then - just watch your language - some of us on here are old enough to be your mum! (grandma even.... oh no!.. not me of course!)
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