That's it, I'm an actor!

I suppose most of my friends already consider me an actor, having done walk-on work on telly and am-dram, but now I finally feel justified in using that title for myself without qualifying it with some term like "aspiring" or "in training".  And all this because I have taken part in my first ever professional stage play

I've have been in training for stage work at The Houldsworth for more than a year, I think, albeit in a sporadic manner as the classes have changed shape, type and teacher.  Now I'm part of The Houldsworth Academy, enjoying more advanced training, and hoping that I can sweet-talk our boss, Sally Lawton into putting me on the books for her agency, Strawberry Management.

It was also The Houldsworth that gave me the chance to consider myself professional.
Some years ago the lovely people at Whitefield AODS allowed me to audition for The Importance of Being Earnest, the role being Dr Chasuble, despite the fact that I couldn't take part due to a clash with the World Naked Bike Ride.  It was good practise.
This time it was The Houldsworth's turn to stage the show, so I auditioned for the same part and got it!  I flatter myself that I got the part because I was the best, but it's entirely possible I was the only one who applied.  Frankly, I don't care.  I got the part and that's what matters.

We rehearsed for slightly more than a week.  No, that's not a typo.  We really did have a week to rehearse and it was one of the most intense experiences I've ever had, especially when I consider that I also had two parties and a busking gig between the last rehearsal and the beginning of the show.

The other actors amazed me from the first moment.  Their ability to play with their roles in such a relaxed and creative manner was an education in itself.  I had to be pushed.
Sally suggested that I play Chasuble as jolly and exceptionally camp.  I wasn't sure about it at first, but as it's a good idea to trust your director I gave it a go.  So I watched YouTube clips of the campest, gayest characters I could find and came up with a weird conglomeration of John Inman and Graham Norton.  It worked beautifully.
Another strange idea was to reset the play in 1990s Manchester high society.  It was also a stroke of genius because it allowed us to play with the script and to avoid expensive sets and costumes - important considerations for an unfunded fringe theatre.
I surprised myself with how I managed to learn my lines in such a short space of time.  The amount the main characters had to learn was ten times as much and most of them combined it with jobs or university courses.  It's all but impossible to describe how impressed I am.

So now I feel extremely chuffed and proud of myself.  I have successfully auditioned for a role in a play and played that role in a real theatre on a real stage in front of a real audience.  I didn't "corpse" onstage (although I came extremely close) and I'm being paid for it.
I'm not being paid much.  In fact, I don't know how much but it won't be a lot.  Profit-share doesn't pay very well but I don't care.  If I get paid, that makes me a professional, as far as I'm concerned.

And that means I'm an Actor!
Love and thespianism,
Seán