I recently watched a popular video of Sam Neill speaking about mental health and acting, and it made me think about the difference between being an actor OR doing some acting. In the video he makes a case for separating your sense of identity from… Read More »Being an actor OR doing some acting
This year I had the opportunity to mentor a student from my alma mater – Victoria University in Wellington. It’s been such an awesome experience! Here’s what I’ve been learning about listening, dreaming big, walking my talk and challenging scarcity culture. I’ve been mentored multiple… Read More »Why mentoring is awesome
A reflection on developing a theatre project in 2020, and why it’s so much fun to invite others into your process. Recently, I underwent a weeklong development process for my solo theatre project Twinless. Read more about the work here. For the first time since… Read More »Inviting others into your creative process
I recently watched an NZ Equity Zoom about voice over, and the teacher David Coury started out by quoting Allen Ginsberg: “Follow your inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness.” This got me thinking about how clarifying and how magic poetry can be. As an actor,… Read More »The clarifying magic of poetry
The spiritual lives of actors fascinate me. In this blog I explore the connection between acting and spirituality, with reference to Mark Rylance, Brene Brown and Judd Apatow to name a few. Let’s get Spiritual! *cue Olivia Newton-John* A few years back I listened to… Read More »Why are so many actors spiritual?
A BUNCH of things were ‘supposed’ to happen for me this year. I bet you’re in the same boat. Here are some of my thoughts about loss, grief and compassion. Here’s my first ‘supposed’ to happen: In June 2020 (the 8th – 12th of June… Read More »What was ‘supposed’ to happen
Currently, we are in an age of adaptation, and resetting. This is a time to contemplate and reflect upon how we’ve been living our lives, both professionally and personally. So, here are some of my thoughts and three different approaches to an age old question:… Read More »Actors: when to work for free?
If you’re anything like me, then over the last month or so you’ve been bombarded online with ALL of the ways you could/should be passing your time in lockdown. Lists of links to online versions of stage productions, videos encouraging you to use this time… Read More »A love letter to overwhelmed creatives
2019 so far has been a year of slowing down, of processing, of creating and being confronted by buried truths. Allow me to expand. For me, 2019 has become a year of grief. This has come as a surprise on some levels, on other levels… Read More »Working title: Twinless
Over the last few months I have been working as a dramaturg on a multidisciplinary dance work titled ‘Rosemary’ for the Auckland Fringe Festival. ‘Rosemary’ is a meditation/exploration of the elusive symbol of the Mother/Virgin Mary. This was a wildly rich and at times daunting… Read More »The Virgin Mary on stage