claytoncast

Actually we have just come back from our summer holiday. Two whole weeks of gorgeous sunshine, delicious food, and the fabulous hospitality that is Turkey. Of course today I am paying for it all with a desk full of emails, invoices, post, and a week ahead of meetings etc that require preparation. That, and a guest appearance in the Sydenham community play next Sunday afternoon, should mean that the holiday will soon become a distant memory. Yet it is incredibly important. It’s two whole weeks that I get to spend exclusively with my partner. It’s all about me and him, and allows us to renew our batteries, and the joy we have in spending time with each other. It also allows me to step away from my work, and see things in perspective. It’s very easy for actors, desperate for work, and constantly having to chase every opportunity that comes up, not to allow any time for themselves. Between leaving drama school in 1978, and meeting my partner in 1996, I took one holiday. Sometime in

As an actor in training, one of my favourite games was "Yes...let's". An exercise to encourage the ability to accept ideas from fellow actors. "Let's go the Zoo..... Yes, let's"  "Let's all lie down and pretend to be in the Arctic...." Yes......(Sideways glance for a skulking polar bear) ....Let's". The whole concept of being open to things and reacting to them in a positive way.  To build and not to block. The whole idea of trying something out wholeheartedly before rejecting it is key to the way we work in the rehearsal room and in front of the camera. Yet there is a very important place in our work for the word "NO".  It's all part of the process of knowing yourself, and knowing that what you bring to each and every job you do as an actor is yourself. You have likes, and you have dislikes. You have standards, and you have an ability to compromise. You also have the choice to decide when all those things co