Our Open Day gives you the option of two formal talks/Q&A's during which we will describe briefly how we came about and what we do while also giving you the chance to ask whatever questions you may have.  Between the talks we will all be on hand to chat further to individuals.  

 

If you bring in a particular acting problem you're facing at the moment (for a casting or job) we may be able to help you right there and then!

 

Timings:

10am - Doors open 

11am - First talk/Q&A starts (finishes approx 1pm)

2.30pm - Second talk/Q&A starts (finishes approx 4.30pm)

 

It's totally free and there is no need to book:

Just turn up at the Studio: 13-14 Warren Street, London, W1T 5LG whenever you can make it, both the talks are open door and you can come and go as you please…. 

 

We look forward to seeing you there

 

This May we are introducing a new Masterclass taken by Tom Radcliffe specifically designed to help with the eternal challenge of auditions and castings. 

• This Masterclass is open to any professional actor who is pursuing a career in the commercial world of acting.
• It is the only course that we run which does not require first attendance on one of our Introduction Weeks.
• Duration of the Masterclass is five days, Monday to Friday 9.30am - 1.30pm.
• The Masterclass is led by our head tutor, Tom Radcliffe who was a student of the late Master acting teacher Sanford Meisner. Tom is the man responsible for introducing the approach to acting that has seen The Actors' Temple become famous in the world of actor training over the last 10 years.  
• The course is designed to improve preparation for and execution of auditions and castings. 
• The Masterclass will develop the ability to achieve deep and authentic moments in your work; turning the pressurized situation of the audition process into an exhilarating personal challenge rather than a trial.   
• Students will be expected to bring with them a prepared audition piece, either a short scene or a monologue.  This will be filmed on the first day of the course under 'audition conditions' and then watched back for constructive critisism.  The next three days will be spent looking at achievable ways of improving the audition preparation process.  The final day will be a re-run of the first day giving students a chance to experience for themselves the improvements they have made during the week.
• Raw footage of audition tapes will be available to be downloaded for attendee's personal use.
• The cost of the course is £395 for Non Actors' Temple members and £295 for Actors' Temple members (those who have completed one of our Full Training courses - 16 or 8 Week Acting Training).
• Maximum 10 places.
• Forthcoming dates: 20 - 24th May, 9.30-1.30pm and 27 - 31st May, 9.30-1.30pm

 

 

 

“I told my daughters I wasn’t coming back that night without achieving my goal……..”

MARK JABEZ WHITTAKER’s night journey to a star….

Hi everyone, here goes.....I heard WILL SMITH was in town, Brixton, where I spent my early life, up to teenage years..

Well, it was my daughters who informed me that WILL SMITH was in London. My mind started to work overtime – nothing new. My thought process was this. “I’m writing a TV series at the moment, that I want to act in, so what if I give the script to WILL SMITH???”. So without wasting anymore time, I put on my clothes, bearing in mind my deodorant was now working overtime with my sudden burst of energy. My daughters were like, “What you doing dad?”, I then told them, “I’m going to find Will Smith and give him my second draft of my TV script”. My daughters do not doubt me so they both handed me pens and note pads to get signed.  I have no idea of how I will achieve it, but check this. Positivity kicked in and I just told myself “The HOW has got nothing to do with you Mark, you just need to take a leap of faith and the HOW will present itself”. I kissed my daughters and my wife and I was off on my mission within minutes. This was Thursday just gone 7th March 2013 at about 19:00.

Journey Part 1
I had to have the belief that I would achieve my goal, which I have explained above.

Journey Part 2
My printer ink has run out so I went to internet café and spent £10 printing it off with other bits of information for WILL SMITH to read and placed it in a nice expensive folder that I had from long time that I was WILLing to give away. From what we see, Will seems like he will give me the time of day, so more is better than less. All done, printed it off and I was off.

Journey Part 3
Jumped in the car and got on the phone and started phoning anyone I knew who might know a celebrity or anything. Phoned a few other friends and let them know I wanted to find WILL SMITH. They were not surprised, they know how I roll. I realised I forgot something, OH NO!!! My toothbrush, because I told my daughters I am not coming home without achieving my goal. I drove on anyway. Friends were making calls and were gonna get back to me. The drive to west end continues. He must be in a plush hotel, let me go to them ALL.

Journey Part 4
Got to the Dorchester and scammed a few more. Nothing!! What next. Where is the HOW when you need it? Then a phone call. I’m standing in the cold at this time, raining and wet hoping a paparazzi might be around with the HOW. I answered the phone and I got a HOW. 'Go to the O2 arena as his son Jaden Smith is open for Justin Beiber'. OK, I’m off. Jumped back in the car and began thinking HOW am I going to get in the O2. Nevermind, “the HOW has nothing to do with you MARK JABEZ WHITTAKER, stop worrying about the HOW and head to the bloody O2”, that’s my other self telling me what to think. So I’m off to O2..

Journey Part 5
I reach the O2, can’t find my wallet, still can’t find my wallet, and the parking is saying like £28, what the flip. I rolled up to the barriers and:
“Hi there m8, you might think I’m mad, but I have a script here and I want to give it to WILL SMITH, not sure how you can assist my brother”
The guy say’s “Go right through and use this ticket on the way out”. Wow, I’m getting favour already, free parking. The HOW shows up again. I park up and just start running, constantly remembering what I told my daughters. I see a lady walking, I’m now walking fast behind her. I’m thinking, “hope she doesn’t think this big black guy is coming for her bag, let me break the ice” 
MARK: Do you know where the O2 arena is exactly love?
Lady: Yeah, I’m going to collect my daughter, it’s this way.
Lovely lady, but she must think I’m running to see Justin Beiber, even scarier so:
MARK: I’m here to find WILL SMITH and hand him my script.
Lady: Serious?
MARK: Serious
She laughs. Not a laugh of doubt, a laugh of admiration. Lovely lady. We walked and spoke and she loved my passion and encouraged me that I will be guided. She pointed me to the entrance and:
Lady: You can’t get past there though
Mark: Who me?

She laughs again and we both part ways. She waves and is left feeling inspired.

I get to the guards at the big entrance doors and I ask them where is WILL SMITH hanging out so I can drop my script on him. They were cool, but doubtful. Nevertheless, I need a HOW before I can move from here so the guy said there was another entrance and some guys there may be able to help. So I went there and got a HOW, which came in the form of a brain wave. The brain wave was:“Where do these guys park up?” I started climbing fences and looking over gates to see if I could see money hanging about, you know what I mean, cars, beautiful LOOKING people, SAS guards, but nothing. Then a HOW turned up, a PARKING ASSISTANT LADY and wandered why I was acting like a weird black guy with an ipad and folder in my hand in the car park. So I told her the WILLing WILL SMITH STORY. She was feeling me, she loved the energy and was like: 

"The A list Celebs rarely drive, they come in on via BOAT at the O2 pier, it’s round the back, you can go down there." The HOW always comes. 

Journey Part 6
I’m at the Pier now. I’m looking into the river. It’s cold and rainy and the show is still going on. I asked the man about WILL and he said “yep, he came in this way at about 4pm and hasn’t come back" He said I could wait around... I waited till 12:15am. The show was finished, lights were being switched off and the Pier was just about to shut for the night. It was cold, wet, lonely, and by this time me and my friends on the phone were getting tired. What the flip can I do now? I can’t move on until I get a HOW. I just waited and waited until: The guy locking the gates, which would confirm WILL had probably taken a car back, well, he came along with the HOW. He said:

GATEMAN: The SAS bodyguard informed us that WILL SMITH was coming from a hotel that began with an “S”
MARK: The SAVOY?
GATEMAN: The SAVOY, that’s it definitely.

So I got a HOW and I was off, back into my car heading to the SAVOY now. I didn’t find Will Smith, but I got my HOW, so I’m gonna follow that.

Journey Part 7
Savoy Hotel 01:30am 

I parked my car up around a back street cos my car would not look right outside that hotel and I ran across the road. 

I was dressed like I came straight out of Brixton streets, so I wasn’t comfortable seeing all these beautiful people walking in and out.
There was a ledge outside, I sat on in and met a man who had his own agenda. My mind starting to think “Who is this man dressed so sharp, but yet still sat out here?” So, I broke ice.

MARK: You been here long?
SHARPMAN: Yeah, quite some time. (Scratching his head)
MARK: I’ve come here to give Will my screenplay, I heard he is here”
SHARPMAN: He is, I was just sat next to him and Russell Brand!
Oh my dayz!!!!!!! I think I might have found him now. How am I going to get in there? And then:
SHARPMAN: You can’t get in there though, I just got chucked out because I’m not staying there. You should just put it in an envelope and post it – he WILL get it if you post it there
MARK: I hear that

I WAS NOT hearing none of that. We have to be able to know the difference between a HOW and a DISTRACTION. He got kicked out and wasn’t allowed back in, SO WHAT!!! That’s his reality and it doesn’t have to be mine. So I’m listening but not listening. How the flip am I gonna get in this place? Some other dude comes over talking about WILL SMITH telling me how he’s a paparazzi and he also got chucked out. This is not what I want to hear, frustrating me now. So I remove myself from these distractions. I got the HOW that he’s in there, but let me not make what was meant for good end up working for my bad. I got up and just:

WALKED IN: 
I’m telling myself this while I’m walking so my body language matches up when people see me:

“I’m a King, I have dominion over this Hotel, I own this Hotel, who dare address me. I’m a King, I’m a King” 

I CONTINUE IN, looking all official. If anyone comes and starts talking rubbish, all I’m gonna say:
“I’m here with a script to give to WILL SMITH and he’s taking his time”
So I sit down, flicking through my script, (well that’s what it appeared I was doing). I was really looking about for WILL SMITH.

Then some ladies come out and I happened to be getting in the way of their photograph, so I offered to move. They were appreciative and we then got into a conversation. I told them the WILL STORY and they were so inspired. I was really hoping they didn’t think I smelled, cos the deodorant had really run out guys, it was late.

We are talking and then they said:

LADIES: He was in our charity event that we just had going on, for young children, you could have given it to him then. But you are really inspiring. She then turned to her left AND THEN:

LADIES: WILL….WILL!!!!!

OHHHH MYYYYY DAYZZZZ!!!! It’s him. I head for him too, that’s my family right there…

MARK: WILL….WILLL I got a script that I want you to read, I’ve wrote it so I can act in it because I want to ACT – I really want to ACT. I’m putting in the work – I’m writing, I’m not just looking for a free ride without putting in the work. It’s a good story, can you take it.

WILL SMITH: Yo dude, I can’t legally take this script off you man, but if you send it to my production company OVERBROOK entertainment, they WILL get it to me.

I DIDN’T WANT TO HEAR THAT. I was waiting for him to say “Just kidding” fresh prince style. And MIKE his SAS body guard, saw I could be a potential problem so he had to do his job, but he was still being really cool, I could see he had WILL’s back, so I had to respect that but:

MARK: I’ve been travelling all night, I heard you were in Brixton today - I told my daughters I would give the script to you – it’s a great story, you could produce it over here – your first production over here in the UK.

WILL SMITH: As I said dude, I can’t legally take this screenplay from you, but ok, listen. Scotty over here will take care of this for me and make sure your script gets to me correctly. 

A man named SCOTTY SARDINHA with dreads – cool dude, seem very honest - so I have no doubt he will do what he says.. 

WILL SMITH: Cos I can’t take it off you legally, he will. 

MARK: Ahhhh thanks man, I’m so happy, can I get a photo?

WILL SMITH: It’s 2am in the morning, dude, but that’s cool, you can get a picture, what’s your name?

MARK: MARK JABEZ WHITTAKER, like Forest Whittaker, I just want to act, I’ve left my job as a stock market trader to just do what I love, - which is to act, create, and be involved in filmmaking. 

WILL SMITH: Well Scotty will give you a card and take this stuff off your hands and I will get back at ya MARK

MARK: Thanks for your time man

WILL SMITH: No problem.

(For the record, WILL couldn’t take my script personally for legal reasons, so I hope this covers him from me ever trying to sue him legally. To protect him more, I’m not even sure they actually got the script) 

This should protect WILL and crew and let them know I ain’t out to sue anyone. I just want a break – a HOW.

I then went home and went to bed at 3am.
Daughters woke up and were looking for autographs, but were happy with a photo of WILL SMITH and their dad and I said them.

“Let that be a lesson that if you want something - just remember that anything you want in life is attainable, if you believe and persist towards it and never worry about the HOW, it WILL show up at the right time”

I’m still waiting to hear back from him. I know WILL, he will not let me down and he WILL like my script. In any event, WILL will provide me with a HOW and the journey WILL continue. Will gave me the time of day everyone and that’s what counts – he lived up to my expectations.

Thank God for ordering my steps.

MARK JABEZ WHITTAKER, the actor guy with a big dream….. 

The HOW will work itself out if you go forward with faith…. You have to move first though. If I don’t get anything out of that mission, I hope my journey inspires others to reach for the stars and stop at nothing.

Stay blessed everyone and if anyone knows Scotty Sardinha or Will Smith, let them know about my journey to them. For now I am going to let go and let God know I took control of everything I could take control of. 

MARK JABEZ WHITTAKER

https://twitter.com/Markjwhittaker, follow me if you like.

Savoy Hotel 2am 8th March 2013

An Alchemist Story

Of course, I really found salvation in humans (my classmates and tutor) but a mango played a part… 

 

Yesterday (Thursday) was my hardest day on the course.  After feeling positive that I was starting to crack it on Wednesday, I clammed up again yesterday. 

 

Instead of just getting on with it and putting my attention on my partner, I had an unstoppable urge to intellectualise, drift off, hold back, make excuses, justify everything etc, etc.  Because I’m naturally verbose and/or like to hide behind big words, I’m tempted to term this intellectually-driven emotional paralysis.  But, basically, mad and glad were working (actually, I’m being a generous with myself here – they were patchy at best) and sad really wasn’t.  

 

Not much was getting in and almost nothing was coming out. 

 

Apparently, it looked like I was more interested in preserving my dignity than participating and then that I had a demon inside me that needed exorcising.  Harsh, but probably fair.   So, I went home frustrated with myself, feeling guilty for exhausting everyone with my inability to express anything, convinced I was failing at life, couldn’t sleep, woke up with a headache etc etc.    

 

But, today, we developed the repetition exercise further with the help of real activities and some simple imaginary circumstances.  This is where the mango came in.  My activity was preparing a mango salad and my imaginary circumstances were that I had 20 minutes to make the salad before a man I was trying to impress was going to arrive for supper.  Having the activity and giddiness of the imminent man arrival to focus on took me out of my head straight away. To borrow from Nike, I was just doing it.  

 

Then came a knock at the door – my partner, with her own set of imaginary circumstances, had arrived to deviate me from my task.  Using only variations on the repetition exercise, we played out a little improvisation. To be honest, I forgot about the mango briefly (which wasn’t the objective) because my attention was so fully on my partner.  And even though I spent some of the scene screaming in her face that she “was so f***ing needy”, which made her leak actual tears, it felt really wonderful afterwards to realise we had actually been in this bloody elusive moment that we’ve all heard so much about. 

 

Some final lessons:

 

-“That’s not all you are.”  With hindsight, making a list of my attributes (good and bad) in advance of the course was probably the least helpful thing I could have done.  Oops.  If I learned anything this week, it’s that we are all much more than we think we are.  Going in convinced that “I’m the tough one”, “I never lose my temper” or whatever it may be only serves to restrict us - in life and in doing acting.  (As a side note, I really must stay away from psychometrics tests that confirm I’m ‘a thinker’ therefore sanctioning not trying to be anything else – yes, Myers Briggs test, I am talking about you!)

 

-“It’s always you.”  Doing this course has given me a totally different perspective on acting.  Until this week, I understood acting as high-quality pretending (maybe drawing on our own experiences, maybe not) or ‘becoming’ someone else (which is clearly impossible).  As someone who is emotionally economical in life, pretending has always been appealing to me and I actually do still believe there’s a place for that type of acting -but now I’m equally convinced there is another way.

 

-I am a praise whore.  Again, not new information for me - but perhaps a useful note for anyone who wants to get something out of me!  Even though we were reassured repeatedly that there was no such thing as right or wrong, some things were clearly more right than others. Finally feeling like I’d achieved something real today gave me a boost and I feel lighter for it.     

 

-“Acting is doing.” It would take much more training for me to be emotionally deft enough to be able to do the repetition exercises as well as the perfectionist in me wants to.  I learned that, at the moment, I need a line or two, some circumstances or a mango (i.e. something to do!) to commit properly.

 

It occurs that this is shaping up to be rather an untidy, inconclusive blog.  I’d usually wrap this up neatly and barrel my way onto the next thing, but this week deserves more than that so I’m just going to be hugely grateful for the experience and let it settle a bit.  

 

PS Looking forward to seeing Macbeth (Trafalgar Studios) and A Guide to Second Date Sex (Soho Theatre) through a different lens next week… 

 

To see previous and future blogs, follow @lydiaruffles on twitter x

 

 

A blog by Lydia Ruffles - currently attending our Introduction Week this week.  For previous posts go to: 

http://www.culturetuck.blogspot.co.uk/2013_03_01_archive.html or follow Lydia on Twitter @lydiaruffles 

 

In the most productive way, today (Wednesday) was like being hit by a freight train.  Except, in this scenario, we’d volunteered to be run over and hired a skilled driver to make sure the train definitely hit us.  

 

As soon as I got on the tube to go to class this afternoon, I knew something was going to happen.  And, by the time we’d sat down and been invited to close our eyes and think about how we were, I was feeling uncharacteristically highly strung.   

 

I didn’t want to let all that stress go to waste and also find it easier to learn from my classmates’ experiences if I’ve done my bit so was glad to be first on stage today. 

 

That is, I was glad until our tutor asked: “What’s the worst that could happen if you let go?  Will you explode and will your blood and guts be all over the floor?”  I actually felt like that was a distinct possibility at that moment but, as it turns out, he was right and the uncomfortableness and all the rest does pass.

 

I’m not going to go into the ‘hot mess’ details because I wouldn’t want anyone planning to do the course to read this and pre-empt how they’d react.  Best to go in blind so you can respond truthfully.   So, let’s just say by the end of it I had scratch marks on my hands (subconsciously self-inflicted) and had tears (not just mine) in my armpits. 

 

I’d also done a lot of shouting, which I never do.  My aversion to shouting extends to having to leave the pub when it gets really loud and my friends refer to this as me 'evacuating the tunnel of screams’.    Shouting and screaming usually splinters my brain and renders me unable to take in the words.  I also generally consider it an ineffective form of communication (unless you’re trying to communicate general pissed off-ness, I suppose).  And, if you’ve read any of my previous blogs about performances I’ve seen, you’ll know I’m much more of a fan of the understated.

 

Anyway, I digress.  It could have been a minute, it could have been a hundred years, but my partner and I probably spent 45 minutes freewheeling through the sad, mad, glad cycle.  Fortunately, we ended on glad* (* read this as gentle hysteria) so I sat down feeling a huge relief and like I’d achieved so much more today than yesterday.    

 

I don’t know if I got it more today because I was more open to listening or because what we were taught yesterday had sunk in a bit or because I just really didn’t want to be bad at it (probably mostly the latter, if I’m honest) but something seemed to work.  We also had a bit more direction today and were fed some lines, which I found massively helpful.

 

Some of the things I took from today include:

 

-“The exercise isn’t called I’m ok, just stay away.”  If it was, I would have smashed it.   I had to manipulate myself a bit to get going – a few self-admonishments reminding myself that I didn’t want to fail spurred me on quite nicely.

- Listening doesn’t mean being quiet until it’s your turn to speak.  Nor does it mean doing the ‘active listening’ (being quiet until it’s your turn to speak but nodding while they talk to show they have your attention) that many people will recognise from dreadful business skills training courses.  It means actually listening.

- I do not like being wrong.  This is not new information for me but having people call me out on it is. I hate being questioned.  I do everything my way and am happy for everyone else to do their thing their way as long as they don’t invade me.  Maybe that’s way I’m struggling a bit with some of the ideas on this course – because they’re calling into question some of the ideas I’ve held as fact since studying theatre at university.

- It’s actually harder to hold back than to give in (especially when you’ve got someone eyeballing you and a tutor being pretty unrelenting) - I have the scratch marks and pounding headache to prove it.

 

As we sat down, our tutor said something about having seen a glimmer of a reaction and that we’d see more tomorrow.  My knee-jerk was “no, you won’t, that’s all I’ve got for you” but then I thought that yesterday too…

 

 

The £30 a Day Challenge – Game Over

3 MARCH, 2013 · 0 COMMENTS

February is over and with it the £30 a Day Challenge.

Last week was a combination of failure and general meltdown. It led me to take on fewer jobs this week as I tried to pull back some time for myself.

But despite that it’s still been a week of chaos. In the outside world a mixture of jobs, meetings and motivational speeches. In my acting class more tears, laughter and screaming; vampires, flamenco dancing, insecurity, joy, sadness, connection and loneliness.

Here are the highlights…

Saturday 23rd February – finding a soulmate

My friends are seriously awesome. So awesome in fact, that they’ll pay me to spend a morning taking a series of photos of them for an internet dating profile!

Sunday 24th February – old friends, new beginnings

A friend I’ve known since school moves out to Australia in a few weeks to embark on a new adventure with her boyfriend. The only thing standing between her and her new life was a house full of stuff. My job for the day was to help clear, sort and throw out. Getting rid of mountains of stuff, even when not my own, felt therapeutic and I’m increasingly wondering what life would be like with only what I could carry. .

Tuesday 26th February – an historic day!

Talking to a friend I confessed I’d like to try my hand at public speaking. She set me a challenge to try it out by the end of the February. A few days later Wembley’s The Coming Soon Club had agreed to let me use their space to host my first ever motivational talk.

Here I am in full flow…inspiring my audience to take risks and face their fears…

…and here is the packed out auditorium. My flatmate Lisa (right) and my Coming Soon Club contact Alison Minto (left). Don’t they just look hugely inspired by my words or wisdom?

It may not have been quite as well attended as I hoped, but I remind myself what a good story this will make one day as I deliver my motivational speeches to crowded venues. Proof that we all have to start somewhere…

Wednesday 27th February – meeting Good People 

Wednesday was an important day for me. Weeks ago I came across the Good People website, thought they sounded like the sort of people that might be interested in the challenge and got in touch to see if they could help me out. My instinct was right and CEO, Richard Tyrie, got right back to me, enthusiastic about my project.

Whilst our meeting turned out to be a little late for the challenge, meeting Richard was well worth the wait.

Good People’s mission?

“To unlock an abundance of good opportunities, so that more people can use their time, skills and networks as a force for good.”

During our meeting Richard asked what my gift was.

Our gifts. It’s something I feel increasingly strongly about. Many of us believe we’re not gifted. But whether we know it or not, we all are.

But life is such that we’re often not given the opportunity to discover what our gifts might be. And if we have been given that opportunity and been lucky enough to discover what they are, we’re all too often educated to believe they’re not valuable.

Imagine a world in which each of us knew what our gifts were. A world in which we were educated to build our lives around those gifts and use them as a force for good. Imagine the power that we would each have individually. Imagine bringing our gifts together and collaborating on projects that held great meaning for us. Imagine the difference we could make. The good we could do. The problems we could overcome.

This is the world that Good People are working towards. And little by little, I hope to work towards that same thing right here. My journey over the last 6 months has given me something very special. The opportunity to start discovering my own gifts. The opportunity to experience what life feels like when we’re working on something that matters to us.

There are extreme highs and unbelievable lows in my new world, but ultimately I feel stronger, more valuable, more capable, more powerful, more alive than I’ve ever felt before.

And as I look back over this project and think about the Alzheimer’s Society, one of the driving forces behind it, I’m reminded again how fragile and precious this life is. That’s why, now, I’m choosing to live without regrets. Still with fear. Every day with fear. But with a little more courage.

I’d like to thank everyone who has employed me over the last month, donated to the Alzheimer’s Society, sent me messages of encouragement and support. With your help we’ve raised a total of £195. I couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you.

Tell me, what’s your gift?

“Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What’s a sundial in the shade?” – Benjamin Franklin

Dealing with overwhelm

28 JANUARY, 2013 · 8 COMMENTS

Aggghhhhhhhhh!  SHIT!  Aggghhhhhhhhh!

That was me for the first half of last week.

I’d been waiting for Monday for what felt like an eternity. It was the day I finally started my 16 week acting course at the Actors’ Temple. Every afternoon, Monday to Friday.

In my mind, life was going to get busy, but manageable. Mornings (for February at least) I’d be figuring out ways to earn my £30 a day for the challenge and raising extra for the Alzheimer’s Society. Afternoons I’d head to my course and I’d go from there to any shifts I could pick up at my part time theatre job.

But after a week at the Actors Temple it became evident there were a couple of major things I hadn’t factored in…

1. Each session is like running a marathon. It leaves me physically and emotionally exhausted in theextreme. It’s like living your whole emotional life in the space of 4 hours. Every. Single. Day.

2. Homework. They DIDN’T SAY there’d be homework before I handed over my cash to pay for the course. And yet I found myself, in week one, having to write and learn a monologue.

SHIT. SHIT. SHIT.

How the hell am I going to cope with all of this? How will I fit in homework between my £30 a day challenge and working at the theatre? When will I find time to eat? How will I cope with the late nights and early mornings? How will I find time to blog, respond to emails, stay fit, keep up with the people who are important in my life?

So for the first half of last week, instead of feeling busy but in control, I felt totally out of control and completely exhausted. I found myself stuffing peanut butter and jam sandwiches down in the 10 minutes I had between acting classes finishing and theatre shifts starting. And cadbury’s cream eggs at midnight when I got home from those shifts (oh, the shame!) and having melt downs in front of my poor flat mate who was probably wondering how on earth she’s going to deal with me for the next 16 weeks!

My plate was overloaded. And I was overwhelmed.

But 16 weeks of overwhelm was not going to get me very far. What to do?

1. Live with the overwhelm, for a while.

I’ve always fled from overwhelm. My brain registers immediate panic when I think there’s too much going on and I find the first opportunity to make my life less busy so I can go back to having a comfortable existence.

But I’ve learned this week that an important part of becoming an actor is getting comfortable with the uncomfortable. So if my partner is in front of me screaming at me that I’m a bitch, or if I’ve got a seriously good looking guy holding my head in his hands inches from his, looking deep in to my eyes, or if I’m in floods of tears in front of someone because they’ve told me I’m a demanding cry baby (all of which happened this week, by the way), those things are seriously uncomfortable for me. But staying with it and living through it, eventually makes it less so.

 

And I figured I could probably apply this to my life too.

On Monday and Tuesday last week I was just about ready to pack in my £30 a day challenge, or the acting course, or the blog, or anything that would give me a sense of control back. But a couple of constructive conversations with people who could see my situation from the outside convinced me just to let the days go by and see how my feelings changed.

And change they did. By Friday I’d settled in to the course. I’d done 3 late shifts at the theatre but miraculously hadn’t yet turned in to a pumpkin. I’d found a few minutes to work on my monologue, done some work for my blog and met a couple of friends for lunch.

I can fit in more than I thought. Breathe.

2. There’s only now

My overwhelm was based on my idea of what the next few weeks would be like. I’d formed an image in my head based on my past experiences and what I expected to happen, none of which was the reality of the situation.

Accept each day, each hour, each minute, each moment as they come. All we have is now. The past is over and the future is yet to come.

Right now, in this moment, everything is ok. Breathe.

3. Failing is ok

I’ve connected with a lot of people in the last few months who are following a more unconventional life path. And something they’ve all told me is that failure is good, that it’s where you learn the most, that if you’re not failing, you’re not trying hard enough. And yet my stubborn nature still finds that hard to accept. Failure has always meant weakness and an inability to cope.

But fail we must if we are to succeed. Whoever learned to walk without falling over, to ride a bike without falling off, to speak without getting the words wrong?

Getting things wrong is an essential part of eventually getting things right.

The £30 a day challenge is yet to start and no doubt that feeling of overwhelm will come once more as I try to deal with an even fuller life. But if I live with it for a while to see what the reality is, take each day as it comes and remember that failure isn’t my enemy, it will all be ok in the end.

Tell me I’m not alone! Share your overwhelm stories and your top tips for dealing with it.

You can send your Comments and feedback to Leah by going to: http://www.whereislife.com/2013/01/28/dealing-with-overwhelm/

'The most honest form of filmmaking is to make a film for yourself' - Peter Jackson

 

(Pictured above: Foreground: Lesley Willis and Tom Radcliffe on the Four Week Film Course)

 

We are very excited to be launching a Film School element to The Actors' Temple from January 2013 enabling everyone and anyone to aquire the basic skills necessary to start 'doing stuff'.   Introduction Weeks led by our new tutor and industry professional Lesley Willis will be open to:

• anyone interested in filming from a technical point of view, 
• actors interested in developing their own projects,
• filmmakers wanting to develop their skills,
• anyone from any background that has ever dreamt of filmmaking. 

The starting point will be our Introduction Weeks in Camera and Sound and Introduction Week in Editing (evening options available), progressing to our Four Week Film Course which integrates actors, directors and filmmakers and culminates in the production of a short film.  The emphasis will be on open collaboration with everyone being involved in the creative process.

Pictured above: L-R: Rick Stupple, Scott Wagstaff, John Pickard, Lauren Cooney, Kate Elson and Lesley Willis.

'Don't worry it's not some mad cult! 

For me The Actors' Temple is a place I go to explore and wade into the deep realms of human behaviour. Over the years it's enabled me to grow as an actor and more importantly has led me to discover the more truthful and positive ways to live life.  I've also started to realise that we are all capable of creating our own work within a vibrant community that is real and from the heart. 

If you want to make things happen you can. Get around the table!!' 

"The Actors' Temple is the place to me, 

to understand what acting is truly about with honesty

and I'm fortunate to have found this place.

A real emotional and practical acting experience.

Each day I spend there is a new discovery" 

 

http://www.foucan.com