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Post by Honoured Guest on Aug 3, 2017 11:38:09 GMT
Mmm maybe Lynette, still not sure why the theatre isnt open all year, nothing ive read or heard has explained why its only open for a few months. I expect it's due to a combination of budgetary constraints and the human resources required to develop work to present there. And the Festival model of presenting seasons is a good one - similar to HighTide in Aldeburgh and Walthamstow, and to Paines Plough's Roundabout Theatre popping up in your local town. Also, TOP is intended to be a community resource for the immediate locality, available to amateur companies to hire to present their shows. And it's used for academic research projects.
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Post by Honoured Guest on Aug 3, 2017 11:55:33 GMT
Indeed Jan! Very odd. Also and this may have been covered already, why he hasnt programmed a Swan Jacobethan rediscoveries season as AD when he did two as Assistant. Erica Whyman leads the Swan Theatre programme.
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Post by Jan on Aug 3, 2017 11:58:12 GMT
If I was a younger more adventurous choice I wouldn't want Doran hanging around advising me. At present I really have no clue who could take over from him, or more importantly who would want to - certainly no one young and adventurous springs to mind. We have commented on it before but it is quite surprising how the ultimate company man like Doran has proceeded to completely abandon the idea of the RSC being a company (a group of actors and directors who commit to the RSC on a long-term basis). Indeed Jan! Very odd. Also and this may have been covered already, why he hasnt programmed a Swan Jacobethan rediscoveries season as AD when he did two as Assistant. Maybe the two he did were just part of his job application for the AD job
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Post by lucky700 on Aug 3, 2017 13:52:47 GMT
Everyone leaves. Someway. I am sure he will want to leave before he gets pushed - as everyone will/would be anyway. His mentor John Barton never left, he's still there (I saw him in the audience at the Nunn War of the Roses production in Kingston actually, very frail). Well he left as the big boss. Mentors can only advice and counsel. Their influence is entirely based on the recipient. Carlos of Spain was Francos mentee. Was not long ensuring everything of Francos disappeared. They're in a hard bind now as they really can't attract the top flight actors and directors to make work there. It's increasingly looking like they're going to lose some funding. They're just a big regional theatre, dedicated to Greg and Antony. What they're not is a national company. Well this I do put at the feet of Doran. Last few years of Boyd and even the end of the company they were doing g very nicely indeed with their actors. Ones who were growing in name and talent. Doran came in and talked about stars but forgetting the logistics. Most live in London. Many will have children and other work they don't want to be away from for six months to live in Stratford. Big stars probably don't want to commit six months to a run. With this on every night. So they can't go home. NT when they do plays for external dedicated periods are not in rep and they are other on every night and this attracts the top theatre stars of the moment anyway. RSC need to rethink. They need to go Boyds route of full company and contract them for a few years. That way they can make the decision to move to Stratford Making it easier on families. Or they need to abandon it and give people the flexibility of only being in one play. Waldmann did this this year. Last time he was there, 2013, he was in all plays. Now he has young school age children and it just is too impractical for a period of six months. Or they need to shorten the seasons or shorten the length of any one play in the season so to a out 12 weeks. Bigger name actors would be more likely to go for this and especially if families were in London.
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Aug 3, 2017 14:22:32 GMT
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Post by Jan on Aug 3, 2017 14:22:32 GMT
His mentor John Barton never left, he's still there (I saw him in the audience at the Nunn War of the Roses production in Kingston actually, very frail). Well he left as the big boss. Mentors can only advice and counsel. Their influence is entirely based on the recipient. Carlos of Spain was Francos mentee. Was not long ensuring everything of Francos disappeared. They're in a hard bind now as they really can't attract the top flight actors and directors to make work there. It's increasingly looking like they're going to lose some funding. They're just a big regional theatre, dedicated to Greg and Antony. What they're not is a national company. Well this I do put at the feet of Doran. Last few years of Boyd and even the end of the company they were doing g very nicely indeed with their actors. Ones who were growing in name and talent. Doran came in and talked about stars but forgetting the logistics. Most live in London. Many will have children and other work they don't want to be away from for six months to live in Stratford. Big stars probably don't want to commit six months to a run. With this on every night. So they can't go home. NT when they do plays for external dedicated periods are not in rep and they are other on every night and this attracts the top theatre stars of the moment anyway. RSC need to rethink. They need to go Boyds route of full company and contract them for a few years. That way they can make the decision to move to Stratford Making it easier on families. Or they need to abandon it and give people the flexibility of only being in one play. Waldmann did this this year. Last time he was there, 2013, he was in all plays. Now he has young school age children and it just is too impractical for a period of six months. Or they need to shorten the seasons or shorten the length of any one play in the season so to a out 12 weeks. Bigger name actors would be more likely to go for this and especially if families were in London. I know an actor currently working for them. Lives in London. Confirms the Stratford season is a big pain from a personal viewpoint. If no London transfer results you can see many actors not being interested.
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Post by lucky700 on Aug 3, 2017 14:44:59 GMT
His mentor John Barton never left, he's still there (I saw him in the audience at the Nunn War of the Roses production in Kingston actually, very frail). Well he left as the big boss. Mentors can only advice and counsel. Their influence is entirely based on the recipient. Carlos of Spain was Francos mentee. Was not long ensuring everything of Francos disappeared. They're in a hard bind now as they really can't attract the top flight actors and directors to make work there. It's increasingly looking like they're going to lose some funding. They're just a big regional theatre, dedicated to Greg and Antony. What they're not is a national company. Well this I do put at the feet of Doran. Last few years of Boyd and even the end of the company they were doing g very nicely indeed with their actors. Ones who were growing in name and talent. Doran came in and talked about stars but forgetting the logistics. Most live in London. Many will have children and other work they don't want to be away from for six months to live in Stratford. Big stars probably don't want to commit six months to a run. With this on every night. So they can't go home. NT when they do plays for extended periods in rep and this attracts the top theatre stars of the moment anyway. RSC need to rethink. They need to go Boyds route of full company and contract them for a few years. That way they can make the decision to move to Stratford Making it easier on families. Or they need to abandon it and give people the flexibility of only being in one play. Waldmann did this this year. Last time he was there, 2013, he was in all plays. Now he has young school age children and it just is too impractical for a period of six months. Or they need to shorten the seasons or shorten the length of any one play in the season so to a out 12 weeks. Bigger name actors would be more likely to go for this and especially if families were in London. Course it is. If you have dependents particularly. And not every part calls for a 25 year old. They need to think about this hard. Long filming periods for TV often only film 4 days so the stars can go home. It is something Stratford needs to think about. Long contracts or shorter ones with half the time in London. Or something.
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Aug 3, 2017 15:31:43 GMT
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Post by Jan on Aug 3, 2017 15:31:43 GMT
If they had a London base they could originate some productions in London to run for a whole season then transfer for a short season in Stratford, treat it like a tour. Even when they were at the Barbican for 12 months a year, and then 6 months, they never really did that though. They actually rehearse some of their productions in Clapham as far as I know, used to anyway, to reflect the fact the actors and directors live in London.
There is an account somewhere of an ill Robert Stephens after a Friday Stratford performance of King Lear queuing for the bus to Coventry to get the last train back to London for the weekend. At the same time the directorate (Noble?) were in the habit of flying first class to USA to arrange transfers.
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Post by Honoured Guest on Aug 3, 2017 15:58:38 GMT
That sort of London base will never happen. Additional public funding will be dispersed around the UK, away from London. And the competition in London now would make a year-round RSC there risky and unsustainable. That's why all the RSC work in London is done on a commercial basis, with some funding from the City of London for the Barbican work. The early, pre-season rehearsals of the first plays are still done in Clapham but final rehearsals are in the new bespoke rehearsal studios in The Other Place. All the production departments are situated in Stratford. The three theatres exclusively designed by and for the RSC are in Stratford. It makes sense now for all RSC work to originate in Stratford. All the casting issues mentioned above are true, and casting policies have to adapt all the time to changing circumstances of the UK acting profession and the changing programming model of the RSC. Personally, I like the present non-star system because the presence of the occasional star actor risks distorting the focus of the production and of the audience. And I like the present system of acting companies working together on a group of productions, although I'd prefer it if they all worked across two or three theatres. Of course, some plays will be separately cast if they are to tour or have unusual casting specifications or have straight runs not played in rep .
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Aug 3, 2017 16:53:08 GMT
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Post by Jan on Aug 3, 2017 16:53:08 GMT
That sort of London base will never happen. Additional public funding will be dispersed around the UK, away from London. And the competition in London now would make a year-round RSC there risky and unsustainable. That's why all the RSC work in London is done on a commercial basis, with some funding from the City of London for the Barbican work. The early, pre-season rehearsals of the first plays are still done in Clapham but final rehearsals are in the new bespoke rehearsal studios in The Other Place. All the production departments are situated in Stratford. The three theatres exclusively designed by and for the RSC are in Stratford. It makes sense now for all RSC work to originate in Stratford. All the casting issues mentioned above are true, and casting policies have to adapt all the time to changing circumstances of the UK acting profession and the changing programming model of the RSC. Personally, I like the present non-star system because the presence of the occasional star actor risks distorting the focus of the production and of the audience. And I like the present system of acting companies working together on a group of productions, although I'd prefer it if they all worked across two or three theatres. Of course, some plays will be separately cast if they are to tour or have unusual casting specifications or have straight runs not played in rep . The RSC funding is already on the basis that they have a London base, it wasn't reduced at all when they withdrew from London thus cutting the number of productions running per year by 50%, it's about time their grant was cut accordingly.
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Aug 3, 2017 17:20:42 GMT
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Post by martin1965 on Aug 3, 2017 17:20:42 GMT
Indeed Jan! Very odd. Also and this may have been covered already, why he hasnt programmed a Swan Jacobethan rediscoveries season as AD when he did two as Assistant. Erica Whyman leads the Swan Theatre programme. Does she? Since when?
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Post by martin1965 on Aug 3, 2017 17:26:56 GMT
If they had a London base they could originate some productions in London to run for a whole season then transfer for a short season in Stratford, treat it like a tour. Even when they were at the Barbican for 12 months a year, and then 6 months, they never really did that though. They actually rehearse some of their productions in Clapham as far as I know, used to anyway, to reflect the fact the actors and directors live in London. There is an account somewhere of an ill Robert Stephens after a Friday Stratford performance of King Lear queuing for the bus to Coventry to get the last train back to London for the weekend. At the same time the directorate (Noble?) were in the habit of flying first class to USA to arrange transfers. Back in the dark ages before the M40 extension and Chiltern trains. I was on a bus back to Cov with Robert Stephens after a performance of Julius Caesar! You then connected with train to Euston, seems mad now but if you didnt have a car that was the only way from London!!
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Post by Jan on Aug 3, 2017 20:54:50 GMT
If they had a London base they could originate some productions in London to run for a whole season then transfer for a short season in Stratford, treat it like a tour. Even when they were at the Barbican for 12 months a year, and then 6 months, they never really did that though. They actually rehearse some of their productions in Clapham as far as I know, used to anyway, to reflect the fact the actors and directors live in London. There is an account somewhere of an ill Robert Stephens after a Friday Stratford performance of King Lear queuing for the bus to Coventry to get the last train back to London for the weekend. At the same time the directorate (Noble?) were in the habit of flying first class to USA to arrange transfers. Back in the dark ages before the M40 extension and Chiltern trains. I was on a bus back to Cov with Robert Stephens after a performance of Julius Caesar! You then connected with train to Euston, seems mad now but if you didnt have a car that was the only way from London!! Interesting. My anecdote was probably true then. The context of my quote was someone complaining that Stephens was playing Lear, was ill and in fact dying, and the RSC couldn't manage to provide a car to take him back to London on a Friday night so he was queuing, Lear-like, at a bus stop. I remember going there and back via Coventry several times, once stayed on the bus in Coventry by mistake and ended up at some other damn place, Leicester I think.
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Post by Honoured Guest on Aug 3, 2017 21:16:37 GMT
Erica Whyman leads the Swan Theatre programme. Does she? Since when? Three or four years ago.
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Aug 3, 2017 21:21:56 GMT
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Post by martin1965 on Aug 3, 2017 21:21:56 GMT
Back in the dark ages before the M40 extension and Chiltern trains. I was on a bus back to Cov with Robert Stephens after a performance of Julius Caesar! You then connected with train to Euston, seems mad now but if you didnt have a car that was the only way from London!! Interesting. My anecdote was probably true then. The context of my quote was someone complaining that Stephens was playing Lear, was ill and in fact dying, and the RSC couldn't manage to provide a car to take him back to London on a Friday night so he was queuing, Lear-like, at a bus stop. I remember going there and back via Coventry several times, once stayed on the bus in Coventry by mistake and ended up at some other damn place, Leicester I think. Hilarious! Not sure how you managed iy as the bus only did that trip and was run by Guide Friday who rather imfamously were the losers in the tourist bus war in SUA years ago!
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Post by lucky700 on Aug 3, 2017 21:23:54 GMT
Back in the dark ages before the M40 extension and Chiltern trains. I was on a bus back to Cov with Robert Stephens after a performance of Julius Caesar! You then connected with train to Euston, seems mad now but if you didnt have a car that was the only way from London!! Interesting. My anecdote was probably true then. The context of my quote was someone complaining that Stephens was playing Lear, was ill and in fact dying, and the RSC couldn't manage to provide a car to take him back to London on a Friday night so he was queuing, Lear-like, at a bus stop. I remember going there and back via Coventry several times, once stayed on the bus in Coventry by mistake and ended up at some other damn place, Leicester I think. That makes me very sad but has it ever been otherwise. As in has anyone in power ever given a damn about the plebs. Other way round now for big stars.
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Post by Honoured Guest on Aug 3, 2017 21:31:02 GMT
Can you give a reference for Lear queueing at a bus stop? I don't remember that bit. I do remember that he voluntarily gave away his power. And he didn't go to London either.
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Post by joem on Aug 3, 2017 21:38:09 GMT
If working there is such a problem why not resite the RSC to Stratford in London and pretend Shakespeare was born there? The actors can then complain about the high cost of living in London if they still need something to grouse about.
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Post by lucky700 on Aug 3, 2017 21:42:54 GMT
If working there is such a problem why not resite the RSC to Stratford in London and pretend Shakespeare was born there? The actors can then complain about the high cost of living in London if they still need something to grouse about. No one says working there is a hassle. To be honest they all seem to have a great time. The problem is simply the logistics of those with dependents and commitment in London being reluctant to sign up for six months and be away from family. I think anyone can understand that.
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Post by joem on Aug 3, 2017 21:54:15 GMT
If working there is such a problem why not resite the RSC to Stratford in London and pretend Shakespeare was born there? The actors can then complain about the high cost of living in London if they still need something to grouse about. No one says working there is a hassle. To be honest they all seem to have a great time. The problem is simply the logistics of those with dependents and commitment in London being reluctant to sign up for six months and be away from family. I think anyone can understand that. I can understand it but for those of us who love the theatre it's like "aren't you unlucky?". Imagine people who have to commute every day at great cost to do boring jobs or end up exhausted from menial, manual jobs. If I was an actor in the RSC I think I'd count my blessings.
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Post by lucky700 on Aug 3, 2017 22:02:59 GMT
No one says working there is a hassle. To be honest they all seem to have a great time. The problem is simply the logistics of those with dependents and commitment in London being reluctant to sign up for six months and be away from family. I think anyone can understand that. I can understand it but for those of us who love the theatre it's like "aren't you unlucky?". Imagine people who have to commute every day at great cost to do boring jobs or end up exhausted from menial, manual jobs. If I was an actor in the RSC I think I'd count my blessings. But the question was about why they find it hard to keep biggish names there. If you can do the same job down the road and be at home why would you take one for six months elsewhere when you may have young children and/or a family/relationships that need you to be around. It isn't thumbing your nose, it is just reality. Think Tennant would commit to six months there working every night now he has 4 kids. Most of whom are at school?
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Post by oxfordsimon on Aug 3, 2017 22:10:04 GMT
Not all actors (whether they are big names or not) live in London!
Yes, a lot of the theatrical focus in the UK is located within the M25 but not everyone lives there as well.
Emma Rice has recently made a big thing of the fact that she still lives in Bristol!
I don't know where David Tennant currently lives - but I know that Patrick Stewart and Ben Kingsley both have Oxfordshire bases and have managed pretty well with London and non-London careers over the years.
The RSC does look after their actors when they are in residence in Stratford - so I am sure that family commitments are part of that planning. And, of course, the repertory nature of the programming in the RST and the Swan means that big named actors are only going to be working part of the week and thus can be elsehwere the rest of the time.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2017 22:35:19 GMT
If I was a younger more adventurous choice I wouldn't want Doran hanging around advising me. At present I really have no clue who could take over from him, or more importantly who would want to - certainly no one young and adventurous springs to mind. We have commented on it before but it is quite surprising how the ultimate company man like Doran has proceeded to completely abandon the idea of the RSC being a company (a group of actors and directors who commit to the RSC on a long-term basis). The RSC ensemble seems to have had a number of actors returning for seasons more in recent years than a few more years back. I certainly seem to notice regular names in a lot of productions - James Corrigan springs to mind. Sadly the old tradition of having young actors start off as "Spear Bearers" and gradually work their way up through the company over a decade or so seems to have gone. I once heard that the RSC or NT were going to offer 3 year contracts but talent were reluctant to commit in case they missed out on bigger roles especially on screen. Derek Jacobi for instance spent 8 years with the NT then a similar amount of time with RSC earlier in his career as he worked his way up the ensemble.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2017 22:47:42 GMT
The RSC ensemble always used to stay in the cottages opposite the theatre and there used to be a big charge from them to the SD just before the half hour call. I think some now stay further down towards TOTP.
I would have thought a stint in Stratford would be attractive to a lot of actors, being in a nice quiet town for a set period. I'd think that would be preferable to living out of a suitcase on tour. A lot of the company would actually move to the area in the days of longer term commitments - Timothy West even lived on his barge near the theatre apparently.
The RSC must have a good income stream from Matilda so that should shield them to a decent degree from grant cuts.
I've enjoyed the recent Mischief Festivals at TOTP and the venue is developing as an education zone as said previously as well as being a rehearsal space so it is being put to decent use.
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Post by samuelwhiskers on Aug 3, 2017 23:40:22 GMT
I used to live on the same road in West London as David Tennant + family. He doesn't seem to have any problem buggering off to the US for six months for screen jobs (they have nannies, so I guess his wife is fine alone), but SuA might be a bit too close to get away with that. Or not pay enough, more's the point. Bertie Carvel lived on a boat too when he was doing Matilda. Presumably not the same boat, but you never know.. If they had a London base they could originate some productions in London to run for a whole season then transfer for a short season in Stratford, treat it like a tour. Even when they were at the Barbican for 12 months a year, and then 6 months, they never really did that though. They actually rehearse some of their productions in Clapham as far as I know, used to anyway, to reflect the fact the actors and directors live in London. There is an account somewhere of an ill Robert Stephens after a Friday Stratford performance of King Lear queuing for the bus to Coventry to get the last train back to London for the weekend. At the same time the directorate (Noble?) were in the habit of flying first class to USA to arrange transfers. Back in the dark ages before the M40 extension and Chiltern trains. I was on a bus back to Cov with Robert Stephens after a performance of Julius Caesar! You then connected with train to Euston, seems mad now but if you didnt have a car that was the only way from London!! And now we think we're hard done by if we get stuck with one of the blue Chiltern trains instead of the far superior black ones. The first time I ever had a meeting with the RSC I had to get up at about 5am to catch the train, then discovered all the people I was there to meet had travelled up on the same train. Then we all promptly went back to London again. Oh well, nice to have a little jaunt.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2017 0:03:50 GMT
Only in the last few years have you been able to get a train from Stratford to Birmingham later than 7.30pm. The 11:30pm train is ideal for any longer RSC Production so you can relax, maybe pop into the Duck before a steady walk back to station.
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Aug 4, 2017 8:27:16 GMT
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Post by Jan on Aug 4, 2017 8:27:16 GMT
If working there is such a problem why not resite the RSC to Stratford in London and pretend Shakespeare was born there? The actors can then complain about the high cost of living in London if they still need something to grouse about. No one says working there is a hassle. To be honest they all seem to have a great time. The problem is simply the logistics of those with dependents and commitment in London being reluctant to sign up for six months and be away from family. I think anyone can understand that. You are wrong. As I said, I know an actor (single) currently working for them. They said spending so long in Stratford is inconvenient and boring - "stir crazy" was an expression used - and that opinion is not unique.
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Post by lucky700 on Aug 4, 2017 9:44:44 GMT
I used to live on the same road in West London as David Tennant + family. He doesn't seem to have any problem buggering off to the US for six months for screen jobs (they have nannies, so I guess his wife is fine alone), but SuA might be a bit too close to get away with that. Or not pay enough, more's the point. More is the point and they do have the money to get help. Much like Damien Lewis and Helen McCrory. Know their previous nanny/pa/a bit of housekeeping. Apparently they are lovely but he is gone a lot but they try there best to be with the kids. Her particularly. No one says working there is a hassle. To be honest they all seem to have a great time. The problem is simply the logistics of those with dependents and commitment in London being reluctant to sign up for six months and be away from family. I think anyone can understand that. You are wrong. As I said, I know an actor (single) currently working for them. They said spending so long in Stratford is inconvenient and boring - "stir crazy" was an expression used - and that opinion is not unique. I was being optimistic - though as it's not life I don't know why. In fairness some of them do seem to enjoy their time but air guess that has a lot to do with how much they bond and spend time with the other actors in the company that year. They work so much though I don't know how you could be stir crazy though unless you aren't in many plays.
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Post by Jan on Aug 5, 2017 7:34:52 GMT
What Jan the man says is correct: actors hate having to live up there. There's so little for them to do and if they're not having much fun creatively what's the point? Remember too that all the actors you see interviewed want to work for van Hove and Simon Stone and Robert Icke. The house gang of Chris Luscombe and Simon Godwin and Greg really don't rock the same kind of moves. Plus they want to work in London where they are more visible to agents and casting directors and where the more in demand ones can do voice over, filming and radio work during the day (and auditions)
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Post by Cardinal Pirelli on Aug 5, 2017 9:15:01 GMT
Actors are not a monolithic entity who are all of one mind and choice is also a luxury for most. It's like saying that all footballers want to play for Barcelona and are unhappy having to play for Celtic. it's something to aim for but human beings know that they get the work they can and make the most of it.
There is life, and work, outside London!
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Aug 5, 2017 11:56:56 GMT
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Post by Jan on Aug 5, 2017 11:56:56 GMT
Actors are not a monolithic entity who are all of one mind and choice is also a luxury for most. It's like saying that all footballers want to play for Barcelona and are unhappy having to play for Celtic. it's something to aim for but human beings know that they get the work they can and make the most of it. There is life, and work, outside London! You are assuming actors are a monolithic entity who all make the most of it. Plenty of actors moan about living in Stratford, even McKellen has complained that when he was there the local community never thought to invite him to anything during the day to relieve the boredom. Of course I agree there's life for an actor outside London, they'd all leave immediately if they got a job in Hollywood.
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