Welcome to this month's Blog Spot, my regular feature where I publicise the work of others. This month we're giving a welcome plug to another old friend of mine - Briony Rawle, up-and-coming actress, founder member of Threepenny Theatre and blogger with A Younger Theatre.
Briony and I were in the same year at the University of Warwick and I had the privilege of acting with her on two occasions - in The Real Inspector Hound, Tom Stoppard's magnificent meta-detective story, and Santa is a Scumbag, a black comedy derived from the cult French play Le Père Noël est une ordure, which also inspired the Nora Ephron comedy Mixed Nuts. Briony is a very gifted actress, blessed with classical beauty and a poise suited to period drama but equally at home in hysterical comedy roles, such as the jealous lover in 'Hound.
In the midst of carving out a successful acting career, Briony contributes regular articles to A Younger Theatre, "a platform for young people to express their views about theatre and performance" in which all the published authors are under 26. Her posts, entitled An Actor Writes, are witty and honest accounts of the ins and outs of professional acting. She covers a range of subjects with aplomb and intelligence, from a discussion of whether the term "actress" is offensive (here) to the creative dilemmas surrounding unpaid work (here).
Before I get hounded by calls that I am simply promoting my friends, there is a deeper point to all this. Film reviewing often revolves around praising or criticising a director; I address the performances when I review a film but I don't always see them as the make-or-break factor, as they often can be in the theatre. But it's important to keep actors' perspectives in mind, particularly when doing deeper research on the history of a given production. Film is a collaborative medium, and by reading actors' behaviour we can pick up valuable clues about the intentions and disruptations behind a given artistic vision.
Daniel
platform for young people to express their views on theatre and
performance. The site is maintained, edited and published by under 26
year olds who all have a passion for theatre. - See more at:
http://www.ayoungertheatre.com/about/#sthash.suUjIwMa.dpuf
a
platform for young people to express their views on theatre and
performance. The site is maintained, edited and published by under 26
year olds who all have a passion for theatre. - See more at:
http://www.ayoungertheatre.com/about/#sthash.suUjIwMa.dpuf
a
platform for young people to express their views on theatre and
performance. The site is maintained, edited and published by under 26
year olds who all have a passion for theatre. - See more at:
http://www.ayoungertheatre.com/about/#sthash.suUjIwMa.dpuf
a
platform for young people to express their views on theatre and
performance. The site is maintained, edited and published by under 26
year olds who all have a passion for theatre. - See more at:
http://www.ayoungertheatre.com/about/#sthash.suUjIwMa.dp
You can read all of Briony's articles on A Younger Theatre here. You can also follow her on Twitter @brionyrawle. Join me same time next month for another Blog Spot - and in the meantime, why not go and see a play?Daniel
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