All the world's a stage

As I embark on the long and quite possibly rocky road that leads to a long-desired career as an actor, I have realised just how true these bardic prophecies turned out to be. For me now all the world is indeed a stage. It is no longer enough to have talent, that is just one very small part of the puzzle. It is a constant daily slog to check updates on auditions, contact agents, chase leads, network, publicise and sell yourself as an actor till you're blue in the face. Humility must watch from the sidelines, as no one will employ someone who describes themselves as "I guess I'm sort of OK". I have to embrace the talent I know I have, as well as making that embrace and that talent as publicly as I possibly can. So my long abandoned Twitter feed will soon be receiving some TLC, Facebook will have to be used for more than just messaging my friends all over the world, my Instagram must become my publicity tool rather than Percy's, and this blog too must be redefined. It will now follow not only my musings as a writer but my journey to becoming an actor, with all its ups and downs. My face will be plastered on every corner of social media I can find until maybe, just maybe, luck will fall my way and someone terribly important will come across me and realise I am the next big thing. Optimism is crucial I believe!

The journey begins in full on Monday when I head up to Edinburgh, and once I receive my tarted up headshots I can apply for Spotlight, get myself some sort of representation and hopefully show the world what I'm made of. For now I have been trawling through all the old productions I've been in over the last 4 years at Cambridge, reminiscing, mulling and musing. Attached are a few of my personal favourites from the photoshoots - all credits to Johannes Hjorth the darling of Cambridge Theatre publicity!

The Maids was a sadistic, dark and cruel play, sexual and disturbing - a real test for me as a performer, but an experience I certainly shan't forget. The speech still runs through my mind sometimes, Solange parading about the stage on her own having imaginary conversation with a now dead mistress. I crawled on the floor for the whole 15 minutes of pre-show, the bruises were testament to what I put into that show, and very fitting for the dark genre.

Quinoa on the other end of the spectrum was so obscenely silly, but a great chance to make people laugh (on a good night) and mess about with my friends.

God of Carnage was somewhere in between. Possibly the most fun I've had on stage was playing Annette Raleigh. Firstly I had to fake vomit (they used some concoction with popcorn which meant I was rather disinclined to go to the cinema for a fairly long time afterwards - what trauma!). On the final night we were given free reign with the props on stage, which included 'whisky' (apple juice) and a treacle tart. The theatre walls were plastered with the stuff by the end of it, as well as littered with the petals of the dahlias I was granted to destroy. I gargled and slurped my way through her drunken rampage, spitting whisky and treacle tart everywhere. The photoshoot seeks to emulate some of this chaos with nothing other than talcum powder.

Looking through these photos does remind me that this is what I really do love. This is what I want to do. There are times when it's tough, when you can feel a little despondent, you doubt yourself, you doubt the industry, but then you remember why you love it in the first place. It is the creation of something from nothing. The ability to reach out to each individual in the audience in a different way. The power to reach out to the character your playing - there is no bond quite like it. And I would count myself incredibly lucky if my dreams were to come true and I could make a living from doing the thing I love. Not everyone is so lucky, but I will keep my fingers crossed - someone's got to make it and you just never know!