Playing Mags
I know I’m always going on about serendipity, but Monday at 3pm was the deadline for my final MA coursework. At 3:05pm, I got an email asking if I would like to step in to help Sewell Barn Theatre. They’d lost one of their cast members because they were unwell. This left them needing someone to step in to play Margaret Thatcher. Back to acting within 5 minutes of my course ending.
I’m slightly concerned that there’s not long to learn lines, but there was no way I could turn it down. I knew I would regret it. It was like the universe had thrown it in my lap and said, ‘There! You wanted this so badly. Your course is done. Well, there you are! Go work your ass off. You got this!’. Then I was straight into rehearsals that evening.
Along for the ride
So, with barely time to skid to a halt after my Master’s, I’ve hit the acting ground running this week. I spent the most amazing couple of hours on the Mid-Norfolk Railway for a promotional photo shoot. Working alongside a lovely bunch of actors, I bumped into a few familiar faces, and met some actors who were totally new to me. I
haven’t seen the resulting photographs and don’t like my photo-face at the best of times, let alone pulling those faces. No one but the crew and fellow actors, knows what I was up to that day, yet. so it will be interesting to see if anyone notices if/when the photographs go public 😀
Handy
I’ve also been pencilled in for some potential commercial work next week, but I’m still waiting to hear back about that. It was the first time I’ve ever been asked to supply a photograph of my hands. When the email arrived, I was alone in the house. Being the owner of just two hands, I quickly realised that it was going to be tricky to photograph both of them at once.
I was very nervous having my phone, clamped onto my tripod, face down, knowing it could smash if it dropped out. I can’t say that it’s the greatest photo I have ever taken, but it’s enough to show that my hands are enantiomorphic and have the correct number of digits.
Sorry, not sorry
It would be too easy now to worry about how little money I have at the moment, coming out of my degree, and how much of a struggle it’s going to be to claw myself back to some semblance of normality in my finances. But I don’t see how sitting about feeling sorry for myself would help in any way. So I won’t. As always, I choose to focus on the positives. I’ve completed my Master’s now, achieving what I set out to do, in spite of the challenges.
I am working with some amazing and talented performers on multiple projects coming up, both this year and into the next. I am grateful for how incredibly lucky I am doing work that I love, for the opportunities I have, the talented and caring people I am meeting along the journey and that I am learning something new almost every day.