Driving Home for Christmas
It varies each year, but there's a cut-off date in the weeks leading up to Christmas when you know that if you're not working by then, you won't be working again until January. As someone who did his last pantomime nineteen years ago, this has never worried me and Christmas with my partner, and family and friends is something I relish. I can't imagine how I ever spent most of December and the whole of January doing two shows a day away from home, and trying to cope with all the demands of the festive season as well.
This year, my working year finished rather early as we had a holiday heading off to Mauritius on November 29. This meant that November was my last working month of the year. I had been offered two jobs that both were to take place in early December However they were unable to fix their filming dates for after 7 December which was our return, so both jobs had to be turned down. We have a rule in our house that once a holiday is booked, a holiday is taken, and while both jobs were things I would very much like to have done, I don't feel I've missed out by spending a week lounging on the shores of the warm Indian Ocean.
Christmas without work can be a lonely time. For actors, who are freelancers, there tends to be no such thing as the office party. You are your own company- Chief Executive, chief financial officer, HR manager, and tea boy, but it would be a little sad to invite all these different facets of yourself to a Christmas lunch in a Harvester. I remember one year taking my mother to the National Theatre to see Pygmalion on the 23rd December and then going to dinner in a nearby restaurant. Looking out of the window, I could see actors scurrying off to cars after what was the last performance before Christmas and heading off to join their families for the Christmas break. Here was I with my family, and yet having no work to scurry away from, the season all felt rather empty and pointless.
So make Christmas work for you, even if you're not working at Christmas. Put some nice actor -related gifts onto your present list. You can get gift vouchers for the Actors Centre that can be used both to pay for membership, or to pay for workshops. Have a browse on a brilliant website such as Nick Hern books and read some of the new plays in the West End that you might not been able to catch up with.
See a large commercial pantomime with several celebrities in it and be grateful that you managed to escape that booking. Set your Sky box to record some of the excellent new drama that is always tucked away in the festive schedules. And above all, give yourself a treat. Whether it's a breakaway to see family or friends. Whether it's a little visit to a spa, even for just an afternoon. Or whether it's just putting a few treats in your trolley at the supermarket, do something special for yourself.
The good thing about not working is that it gives you space. Space and time in which to think. Thinking about managing your career in 2016. For some it might be the year they decide that acting is no longer for them. For others it might be the year they focus their attention on a different facet of the business. For others, it might be the year the dream comes true.
And that would be the biggest and best Christmas present of all.
This year, my working year finished rather early as we had a holiday heading off to Mauritius on November 29. This meant that November was my last working month of the year. I had been offered two jobs that both were to take place in early December However they were unable to fix their filming dates for after 7 December which was our return, so both jobs had to be turned down. We have a rule in our house that once a holiday is booked, a holiday is taken, and while both jobs were things I would very much like to have done, I don't feel I've missed out by spending a week lounging on the shores of the warm Indian Ocean.
Christmas without work can be a lonely time. For actors, who are freelancers, there tends to be no such thing as the office party. You are your own company- Chief Executive, chief financial officer, HR manager, and tea boy, but it would be a little sad to invite all these different facets of yourself to a Christmas lunch in a Harvester. I remember one year taking my mother to the National Theatre to see Pygmalion on the 23rd December and then going to dinner in a nearby restaurant. Looking out of the window, I could see actors scurrying off to cars after what was the last performance before Christmas and heading off to join their families for the Christmas break. Here was I with my family, and yet having no work to scurry away from, the season all felt rather empty and pointless.
So make Christmas work for you, even if you're not working at Christmas. Put some nice actor -related gifts onto your present list. You can get gift vouchers for the Actors Centre that can be used both to pay for membership, or to pay for workshops. Have a browse on a brilliant website such as Nick Hern books and read some of the new plays in the West End that you might not been able to catch up with.
See a large commercial pantomime with several celebrities in it and be grateful that you managed to escape that booking. Set your Sky box to record some of the excellent new drama that is always tucked away in the festive schedules. And above all, give yourself a treat. Whether it's a breakaway to see family or friends. Whether it's a little visit to a spa, even for just an afternoon. Or whether it's just putting a few treats in your trolley at the supermarket, do something special for yourself.
The good thing about not working is that it gives you space. Space and time in which to think. Thinking about managing your career in 2016. For some it might be the year they decide that acting is no longer for them. For others it might be the year they focus their attention on a different facet of the business. For others, it might be the year the dream comes true.
And that would be the biggest and best Christmas present of all.
Comments
Post a Comment