Keeping it fresh

March 6th

The awful truth dawned on me last night, we haven't got long left! It's bad enough to know that after a year, I actually don't know when I will act again. But compounded to that fact, we have only days left to go, okay a week and a bit, but really it's not long left, and it's sad. Well it, the situation, saddens me, after all shortly I will be like the 'Playwright' reflecting on what has been.

Oh well, lets not get too depressed, after all, the good news, you (whoever you may be) will not have much of my blogging waffle left. I will try and provide enough amusement over the last few articles, although sadly not much scandal.

We had the added joy of a double show yesterday, which during the break I managed to enjoy a nice hard run to and from Cambridge. Word to other like minded actors, it's a great way to enjoy those double show days and a way of not spending your hard earned pennies in the delights of Pannera.

Alright, I know this is all really a lot of harmless waffle, so for anyone that may be wanting to glean some sort of, words of wisdom about 'the craft' of acting during production.

Well firstly you've come to the wrong place, but secondly in all seriousness, I'd say the following. We or rather I, during my drama school training was encouraged to 'the colouring of the word', this is especially useful in Shakespeare and indeed any well written play. You see, day in, day out, you cannot rely on being ' in the moment' it's not always there for you, especially during a long run.

At least it's not for me, and if it is for you, good for you, but if you are putting yourself through an extreme emmotional process day in, day out, and bear in mind I've been off book for 5 weeks, and I've been in productions that have lasted two months, it's not healthy, I mean after all I have to talk about a Father dying in this one. If I thought about my actual Dad, (who thankfully is still here in good health and long may he be), I'd be a wreck by now.

So anyway what I try to do, to keep it fresh, is that I try to keep everything new, by the way in which I work the script. I basically think about what I am saying (I can hear my mother saying, 'that's a first'), I let each thought come to me as I am finishing the last thought, just in the way I am writing this lot of old nonsense at the moment. I'm moving from one sentance to another, and if I find a particularly colourful thing to say, well I go ahead and say it. Sometimes, when I talk about the moon, I think about a full moon that I've seen on a clear night in Spain, the Alps, Africa, and even on all those clear nights in Afghanistan and when I talk about that moon, I really try and say it with the feeling of the way I saw one of those moons.

If I talk about dying I give the necessary weight to the word, the inference of the pain and the suffering, and the loss, but I really try to avoid thinking about the loved ones who've gone, or even those odd occasions when I dealt with death out there in Helmand Province in 2007. Occasionally I admit things slip, last night for example my final scene with Andre, I couldn't help but think about my old friend and neighbour, Michael Murray-Grant, and before I dwelt on his loss, I cheered myself on the bitter sweet moments of late night heated debates over numerous bottles of this and that. All this going on, whilst waiting for my cue, and staying in the scene, so you see for all those who go through the psycho-emmotional method, sometimes you'll find yourself so wrapped up in the process, that you'll forget about the person you are dealing with and the scene you're in.

On the other hand there are those who need to work on their gravitas, anyway before I sound like a critic. I'll be off The wife will be home soon, we need to have some time together, and of course give some attention to the cats.

Good day, God Bless and talk to you soon.

Ross