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The Arther Miller Superb Play All My Sons Is In My Humble Opinion His Greatest Theatrical Creation.

The Arther Miller superb play All my Sons is in my humble opinion his greatest theatrical creation.

Brilliantly directed by Howard Davies the script takes place at the end of the Second World War in 1946. The play is set in the backyard of the Keller home on the outskirts of an American town.

The fabulous Art Director William Dudley and his team have designed an absolutely wonderful set with overpowering trees and greenery, which immediately feeds ones senses with foreboding of the incredible story which is to unfold.

A violent storm and the first appearance of the distressed character called Kate Keller played by the established actress Zoe Wanamaker wandering in the garden in the early hours add to the sinister atmosphere, which is maintained throughout the whole play.

Kate Keller and her husband Joe Keller played by the superb David Suchet play the leading roles coping with the uncertainty of whether their eldest son Larry was either missing or devastatingly killed in the war. Kate even after three long years have passed will still not accept that her son is dead.

Joes former business partner Steve is serving a long prison sentence for selling defective aircraft parts to the military during the war, which prove to be the cause of death to twenty-one pilots. Joe has escaped any punishment pleading that he had no involvement in the crime he has been accused of committing.

Larrys former fiancée Ann the daughter of Steve visits the Kellers home and she and Chris Keller (the Kellers youngest son) soon make their intention to marry each other clear.

Joe and Kate for different sinister reasons express their antipathy to their plans.

The play then proceeds to the unravelling of the dark secrets the parents have been burdened with.

The whole cast is faultless in their roles, the ensemble was outstanding and the truth behind the performances was immense.

Zoe Wanamaker gives an emotionally rich and true performance so authentic that one can and does really sympathise with her non-belief of her sons tragic death. David Suchet keeps one riveted as he changes from happy go lucky head of the family to a man broken by past events which become exposed to the truth and reality of the circumstances.

Mr Millers sheer brilliance as a playwright is illustrated by the way each actor plays such an important part which enables the play to move forward portraying humanity as Mr Millers saw it. Not one single word is wasted. Morality, evil and human kindness are captured in every speech.
This production at the Apollo Theatre in London’s West End is sheer magic.

I highly recommend everybody with a passion for good theatre try to get tickets for this fabulous theatre play.

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Tags: Theatre Play
Posted in Theatre · June 29th, 2010 · Comments (0)

So I Want To Be An Actor

So you want to be a Professional Actor, you are confused and don’t know what to do? Well having been a professional actor for the past 18 years I can hopefully help you learn from my mistakes in this Article. I am going to cover various points, from acting training, Agents and representation, resources to help you pursue your career. Obviously I can only draw from personal experiences, and any views I may have are solely of my opinion and you may choose to agree or disagree with me.

So you want to be an TalentandProduction but you just don’t know where to begin? I believe you have a few options. Before you consider the options, I think you should truly make a decision that an acting career is something you wish to embark on and also ask yourself the question… Am I truly any good enough? If you believe the answer is ‘yes’ then congratulations, this means you have decided that a life likely full of scarcely paid work and disappointment is for you.

Now you have carefully considered your career path, now you must get some head shots before you go any further. The purpose of head shots is so that potential employers can see your look. You can get headshot’s by searching search engines for a Headshot photographer in your area, although some may be expensive you do tend to get what you pay for. I always recommend that you research the photographers prior work before you book. If you simply cannot afford to pay for headshots, I recommend finding an amateur photographer, photography enthusiast OR a photography student.

Okay, now you have your photographs you really need some experience. I recommend a few options. You may either a)join an amateur theatre company b)take acting classes or go to drama school c) befriend film school student. Now I will give you a break down of the pros and cons of a/b/c.

A) the positive aspects of joining a amateur theatre company aka ‘Am Dram’ in my opinion are you get great ensemble experience of working with others, you also learn your strengths and weaknesses in your performance (local paper reviews and comments you overhear) and you learn that magical feeling of performing live on stage… Ok now for the cons… A lot of the time amateur theatre groups are just that… AMATEUR. You will find lots of bitter ‘wannabe’ actors who are in it for the lime light. This is bad because working with people so self indulgent does nothing to improve your skills as a performer.

B) Acting Classes & Drama schools are great in my opinion but it very much depends which class you are willing to take & drama school you would like to join, Drama schools can be costly so if you aren’t prepared to study constantly and spend thousands on drama school you may want to take another rout such as Acting classes. In my opinion, I would only recommend having private classes on particular occasions such as if you wanted to work on a monologue or if you need to privately work on an accent or dialect. Basically private lessons are very much for perfecting your current skills. Whereas group lessons are fantastic for interaction with other actors, learning from others acting  styles and working with new people. There aren’t any real negatives on acting classes but I would do my research before booking a class, look online for reviews and other students opinions before you book anything.

C) When I suggest that you befriend a Film School Student, It is not on the off chance that your new found friend becomes the next Quentin Tarantino, James Cameron, Mike Leigh or Ron Howard and will be casting you as a leading role in their up and coming blockbuster hollywood movies, although don’t get me wrong, this would of course be a huge bonus!

The actual reason of befriending a film school student if purely for – exposure, experience & a chance to play different acting characters and roles, plus the fact that every short film you act in of theirs you can obtain the footage for your showreel. A showreel is an absolute must for an actor. A show reel is a culmination of media you have performed in which can include, short films, corporate videos, feature films, commercials etc…This is edited together onto a dvd or computer media file such as .mov, wmv, mp4 and enables you to send it to potential casting directors, producers, directors, managers and agencies in the hope of landing a job or Castings at the very least!

The editing process can be expensive and or time consuming for any young and thriving actor however there are a few cheaper options available to you. You can ask your new found filmmaker friend to repay the favour of your unpaid performance in his short film and kindly ask him to edit a show reel for you or you can edit the showreel yourself. When i suggest editing the showreel yourself rather than spending thousands on posh and fancy video editing suits such as Avid and Final Cut Pro, also known as FCP, there is another option out there for you. I recently found a website called Talent and Production where you can join for free and they have a built in virtual studio which allows you to edit your showreel on line for completely free. Obviously as it is free software you will not be able to use vast amount of features, transitions and plugins however it is literally so easy to use it is literally idiot proof for a first time user new to editing and it will be sufficient for a showreel.

So I am assuming that you now have the following:

1) A set of Acting Headshots
2) Acting Experience
3) Acting Lessons
4) An acting showreel

Now you have the 4 above points in your arsenal, it is time to try and get some acting work! Before I begin on this section, please be aware there is no easy way to get acting jobs, I am simply going to suggest the most effective ways I have found of getting your foot in the door.

Okay, you have several options of landing acting work, the key to everything is persistence and being proactive. If you can’t be bother to do either and or think jobs will roll in thick and fast without doing anything you are wrong. Even Actors who have an Acting Agent or Manager still have to be constantly letter writing and networking because an Agent has many clients and will not focus on your acting career 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The old saying “the cream always rises to the top” I am afraid is not the case in show business, a solid work ethic, ambition and persistence however will dramatically help your cause and increase your chances of landing Auditions.

The first tip I would give you as a thriving actor is to perfect your letter & email writing skills. Search various employers such as production companies, theatre companies, casting directors etc, research the type of work that they employ actors for and it is the kind of work you are interested in then make you you are personable in your approach. Do not write 1 generic letter, attach your Resume and Headshot then send it out to the masses… Your letter will end up in the trash. Another tip: It is VERY IMPORTANT that you firmly attach your Resume to the letter / email and make sure your Headshot is either embedded or stapled securely to the Resume. The reason for this is because employers may lose your headshot and in effect your headshot and resume are useless without each other.

Another few resources I would recommend you join are:

1) castingcallpro.com – useful resource for auditions however you do have to pay a monthly fee to get the most out of the service
2) www.talentandproduction.com – totally free social networking site with jobs and auditions and the edit suite i mentioned earlier
3) for USA actors: Nowcasting.com – again useful resource for auditions however you do have to pay a monthly fee to get the most out of the service
4) for USA actors: SAG – Screen Actors Guild, Google it to find out more… This is perfect when you have gained more experience.
5) for UK actor: Spotlight – Again, Google to find out more

They key to success in showbusiness is to never give up and keep going to matter what happens. I am aware that everybody has their own views on what is best to pursue an acting career so if you feel i have missed any vital point, please add a comment

I wish you the best of luck

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Tags: Actors
Posted in Theatre · June 16th, 2010 · Comments (0)