Christmas Comes But Once A Year
It's that time of year when one is talking "last job before Christmas" and work seems to lack importance in comparison to arranging Amazon deliveries and working out things to tell your family when they ask "Why are you not in East Enders as yet?" Many of this years drama graduates will do more acting in the Christmas season during the family game of charades than they have yet managed professionally.
Yet because the mind is occupied with other things, everything seems a little easier. Put it bluntly. If you are not working now, there is probably little hope that you will until mid January. Castings are getting a little thin on the ground, and the only reason you'll be called in for anything is for projects being planned for the New Year. If you're not out there sprinkling your fairy dust over the regions, then you are coping with the hustle and bustle of prepping for Christmas.
Funny how once the mind is full of things to do, the lack of work can seem less of a problem. Yes, it will loom large once 2018 arrives, but now that the mind is occupied, things seem a little easier.
It's always good to have a passion project on the go. Whether it's something you want to direct, act in, or produce, actor led projects are creating a lot of exciting new work these days and rightly so. The Actors Centre currently has "12 Days of Christmas" playing at the Tristan Bates which is full of exciting standup, plays, readings and short films submitted by members. In January this new direction will become even stronger when the John Thaw studio turns into a workshop space for developing actor projects with an audience. The level of submissions has been fantastic and it will be exciting to see just what comes into the building.
Similarly The Hope Theatre, of which I am now the proud patron, also has actors working as co producers on its exciting new season for 2018 which features some fabulous new plays and projects that have been generated by actors working together.
With brave new initiatives like these, there really is no excuse for sitting around and waiting for the phone to ring any more.
So as you plan your Christmas lists and sort out your party invitations, why not plan a passion project for 2018. Yes, it won't take away the need for paid work, whether acting or not, but it will fill that creative gap that can looms so large and bite into your soul.
And who knows? Next year you could be looking at your work in one of those spaces I've mentioned above. And that would be the best present of them all.
Yet because the mind is occupied with other things, everything seems a little easier. Put it bluntly. If you are not working now, there is probably little hope that you will until mid January. Castings are getting a little thin on the ground, and the only reason you'll be called in for anything is for projects being planned for the New Year. If you're not out there sprinkling your fairy dust over the regions, then you are coping with the hustle and bustle of prepping for Christmas.
Funny how once the mind is full of things to do, the lack of work can seem less of a problem. Yes, it will loom large once 2018 arrives, but now that the mind is occupied, things seem a little easier.
It's always good to have a passion project on the go. Whether it's something you want to direct, act in, or produce, actor led projects are creating a lot of exciting new work these days and rightly so. The Actors Centre currently has "12 Days of Christmas" playing at the Tristan Bates which is full of exciting standup, plays, readings and short films submitted by members. In January this new direction will become even stronger when the John Thaw studio turns into a workshop space for developing actor projects with an audience. The level of submissions has been fantastic and it will be exciting to see just what comes into the building.
Similarly The Hope Theatre, of which I am now the proud patron, also has actors working as co producers on its exciting new season for 2018 which features some fabulous new plays and projects that have been generated by actors working together.
With brave new initiatives like these, there really is no excuse for sitting around and waiting for the phone to ring any more.
So as you plan your Christmas lists and sort out your party invitations, why not plan a passion project for 2018. Yes, it won't take away the need for paid work, whether acting or not, but it will fill that creative gap that can looms so large and bite into your soul.
And who knows? Next year you could be looking at your work in one of those spaces I've mentioned above. And that would be the best present of them all.
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