I haven't blogged much at all about my acting activities for a while, mainly because I've been nattering way too much about tennis!! But on the acting side of course I have a part in a play that is coming up called Another Road, which is an adaptation of playwright Jim Cartwright's drama Road, written back in the early 1980s as an endictment against the Tory government of that time and how it effected the lives of the unemployed public. So naturally now that we are under a similar government this is a rather timely play and will hit home with quite a few people. The play also has its fare share of grimness and humour at the same time.
But it has been fun to be a part of, as the cast are all a nice bunch, and its good to be part of an ensemble cast as opposed to carrying the can for most of the play, which helps relieve the stress of taking part. Being such as big cast has brought some complications of course, as over time the play has gone from having a cast of 35 down to 24, due to actors dropping out, having other commitments and so on. Also the play in itself is quite long so also there has been some necessary trimming to certain scenes. But thanks to our director Thom, everyone has been nicely catered for and given a nice scene, so there has been a good slice of the pie for everyone, unlike in some other plays where actors can be reduced to just a handful of lines and no more.
My part is of a grumpy neighbour, Jim McVay, who has grown discontent with his life, and shows nothing but disdain for his surroundings and everyone on the road get's a piece of his mind often! McVay's wife, Ingrid, who is from Germany, always sees the brighter side of life, and has a sunnier disposition. McVay pretty much does bare a similarity to Victor Meldrew, well they are both Scottish, mind you I am a fair bit younger and have more hair! So in a same vein, McVay will provide some comic relief in the play in his smaller scenes which have been a lot of fun to do. My main scene as McVay with his wife Ingrid (or Mrs McVay) has been a bit more challenging as it deals more with their relationship and lack of communication, as its all about Mrs McVay trying to get through McVay's defensive nature. I guess it also humanises McVay's character a bit more and shows he isn't just purely a mean spirited git, although one of his other scenes, McVay does show a bit of concern for a young girl Karen, who is out flirting with people in order to ciggies, as he doesn't want to see her get hurt or in trouble. In the end McVay is a decent guy but he has lost his way along the road, so to speak, but he is also basically a bit of a numpty, as well as good fun to play. :-)
So I'm looking forward to performing the play as it starts this Friday 27 May up at Cottier Theatre and ends on Saturday 28 May, so it will be three performances in all, as the theatre was shut for several years, but since has been redone and will be open again, with our play I believe being the first show put on!
Of course Another Road will pull no punches in its display of modern day life, struggles, dispair, poverty and of course depravity! So any one of a sensitive disposition may not fancy going along to it, however if you have the stomach for it, you will hopefully find much to enjoy. The play is as I said not without humour and there are plenty of scenes of humour in there. In a way it probably echoes Alan Bleasdale's Boys from the black stuff, although its not really too similar, but certainly it deals the same themes.
So anyways that'll be it for now, I'll post up more when the play is under way.
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