Well here it is, my first Blog! I get to write about the things that matter to me and vent about the things that drive me nuts!
I live in county Wicklow in Ireland, surrounded by beautiful landscape and I am married with two beautiful, creative children. Life in the countryside is idyllic at times and the space is really important for me, the clean air, the expanding horizon, the mountains, not to mention the benefits for the children. Then there is part of me that yearns for the city or town life and all its conveniences and noise, traffic and people. Working as an actor requires a closeness to these things for last minute TV and film auditions, networking opportunities, visits to the theatre, workshop opportunities and much more. So, I sometimes really feel like I am stuck between a rock and hard place.
Artistically I am always plugging away online which is my new networking tool, trying to get my cv out there, get auditions, get parts, get work so I can give my family some stability and maybe one day buy our own home. I feel every day I do my bit and I feel I will be rewarded for my tenacity, a character trait a friend bestowed one, but also for my love of my work and the passion I feel for it and the bloody hard work I am willing to undertake. I have buckets of enthusiasm, heaps of experience and a lot of talent too and it is more of a challenge being a mum to two kids and living in the wilds to really make this work. But it will work and I will work. Mantra.
In 2014 I set up ÓR Productions (Click here to visit the facebook page) to try and put on a play basically. I did that with ‘Witness’ by Cecilia Parkert and performed locally in Wicklow and travelled to the Galway Theatre Festival 2015. Achievement.
I made no money, was out of pocket, lost a commercial which would have given me a nice couple of quid, and am slightly disappointed that I couldn’t take the play further. On the plus side I worked with some talented folk, performed a wonderful piece of theatre and achieved most of my goal and was fearless!
Finding others to work with creatively can be another challenge out here in the wilderness. I have recently set up Arklow Actors Training (Click here to visit the facebook page) so that others can come to my workshops and develop their craft and explore their love of all things drama. It is an environment which promotes learning and personal development and a place to meet other like-minded individuals who want to play, a place to be a child again and feel those freedoms. To shake off the adult skin and release the creative bursts of energy within. This is a fledgling endeavour but I have already completed a 10 week Introduction to Acting Workshop and ran a One Day Drama Workshop in January in Arklow. So I have already begun. Achievement. I also facilitate drama workshops with two groups of a National Learning Network and that is a lot of fun. Teaching is fulfilling and very rewarding.
Creating my website has been a little of an epiphany for me, why did I not do this sooner? A place to store all my experience, showcase my talents. I am there within that little cyber box and I can now add to myself always, creating new facets of myself and charting my own progression and achievements. So maybe that rock has given me the shelter to aid my growth and nurture my potential.