ACCESS-CODE TO YOUR BEST WORK

"If music be the food of love, play on!" — Orsino, Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT

I'm always looking for unique offers and flavours, so your audition and in fact performance will stand out. Recently I have been using the languages of food and music to spark character and performance quickly, zinging on a visceral level in the body, not just the mind.

There are many acting methodologies. Some will really chime with you as an individual. Sometimes they can be impenetrable or confusing. The important thing, I think, is not to fall for dogma. Acting is about life, not compliance. Always look for your own access code.

GIFT

Right at the end of this piece you will find a gift... a link to the hour long documentary PORTRAIT, directed by Kate Ellis and Peter Long. It follows the way Jane Campion uses four very different ways of working — using different "codes" — with four very different actors in the film PORTRAIT OF A LADY (1996): Nicole Kidman, Shelley Winters, Barbara Hershey and John Malkovich.

This Substack is all about finding your own access code, so you can create yo…