It's been a busy old week for me, and there's yet more to come regarding "treading the boards". Last Thursday I attended a reading at the Priory Theatre, Kenilworth for "Tom, Dick and Harry", a British farce with an extremely small cast which I had read through on my own a couple of times before and found exceptionally entertaining. The character I intended to read for was "Boris", an East European gangster and people trafficker who interjects himself into the comical havoc and brings a touch of seriousness to the plot (well, as serious as you can be when you have a 29 letter surname). I was surprised how difficult it was for me to get a decent East European accent on (although I am now taking inspiration from "CompareTheMeerkat's" chief) but I seemed to nail it and was very happy by the time the reading had finished.

 

 

 

I had been in contact with the director before to get hold of the script, and it turns out he'd done some research on me by the time I had returned to read properly. He questioned me on my title wins, experience and overall he was pretty impressed! The relevance of this questioning became apparent later. At the end of the reading, the director informed those of us present that he had another open reading on the Sunday, and then he would be making a decision regarding the casting. He also asked me to stay behind so he could have a word afterwards. Hmm..

 

As it turns out, the director had been talking to another thesp director about me, whose own play had had a last minute drop out. As a result of this, I was being asked if I was interested in performing as “Taff” Evans in “The Long, the short and the tall”, a WW2 stage play of some seriousness and most definitely of note (check out the movie cast list!). I left my details as requested and rode off from the Priory feeling like I’d made an impression, if nothing else.

 

Friday night brought another opportunity as the Criterion Theatre had an open night for new members. I, as you would expect, assumed that this would be a wander around the theatre, an introduction to the staff and a warm welcome. Mostly true, but with some pressure added to that to become a member (for £20, ofcourse). As my local AmDram theatre, I have put my name forward to help out with the sound and light, but none of their productions are grabbing me yet. The sound and light is a way to keep my oar in though, so I’m going to leave it at that for the moment. What interested me most throughout the evening, though, was a passing conversation from one of the staff to another of the staff which went something along the lines of "We never get reviewed for the local papers. Nobody seems to be bothered to attend.". Hmm...

 

Monday afternoon arrived in a haze of sleepiness and post-break lethargy; luckily an email also arrived from the Director of “Tom, Dick and Harry” with some good news. I had been selected to perform as “Boris”! WooHoo! Not only that, but although the other mentioned Director had recast the role of “Taff” Evans, he was wondering if I would be good enough to do the fight choreography for in “The Long, the short and the tall”. What a superb opportunity this is for me, and one I would never have thought would arrive so fast. It’s all dropping into place nicely – a small part in a farce (which already has three nights sold out) to get the taste for how it all works, plus a backstage role I would instantly be comfortable with.

 

 

 

This coming Saturday, I'm attending another audition - in the smoke this time though. It's for a new quiz series to be shown on Sky in the Autumn, and has really tickled my fancy, so to speak. It's interesting that there are two "roles" available for contestants, and I know which one I will be going for. Hopefully, you'll be seeing more of me on television come August time!

 

In other news, I’m back wrestling again in Leeds on Saturday 28th, and I can’t wait – I’ve got a lot of pent up frustration to get out…