Frome will have a rare opportunity later this month to gain invaluable insight into the requirements of professional acting, and evidence of how, with the right guidance, acting is available to all regardless of background and age.
The Professional Actors Showcase at the Merlin Theatre on Saturday 27th September will feature actors aged 33 to 67 who are all locally based and trained by host Mark McGann. The show will feature an ambitious series of movingly poignant, funny and electrifying excerpts from recent award-winning National Theatre and West End plays and will be followed by a Q & A.
Mark, an acclaimed writer, actor and director, lives in Frome and is known for leading roles in television and theatre including Lennon in the West End, The Grand, the BBC’s The Hanging Gale and Shackleton.
“Acting can be taken up at any age by anyone from any background,” he said. “I passionately believe everyone can act, as we are all born with the genetic ability to copy behaviour we witness to survive.
“If you are lucky enough as teenager to be offered a place at a prestigious drama school, then yes, embrace it with all your heart. It’s a fantastic opportunity to learn from professionals how to utilise your youthful prowess appropriately on stage and screen.
“But it would be inaccurate to consider this the only, or even optimal professional pathway. Actors literally come from all backgrounds and ages. It’s a job for life. As a living art, acting highlights the human process so it requires maturity and commitment and perhaps most importantly, complete acceptance of the vital public service it provides.
“The best training should imbue the actor with this greater sense of purpose, beyond personal gratification, to help them serve most effectively and meaningfully.”
New chapter
The actors gracing The Merlin stage for this showcase include Mary Eadie, who, having trained and worked as an actor in the 1970s, spent 35 years as a teacher before a move to Somerset saw her fan the flame that had always burned within. Thanks to Mark’s guidance, she has signed with a theatrical agent and is shaping a new chapter as a professional artist.
Sara Hinks, whose daily life is dedicated to organising and providing complex care for her severely disabled son, has also benefitted from Mark’s guidance. “Profound life experience is gold dust for the artist,” said Mark. “The emotional intelligence and resilience required to survive challenging circumstances have clearly provided Sara with a deeply moving courage and compassionate need to perform. As an actor who understands the preciousness of time and the need for art to shed light upon the loneliest paths, her honesty as actor is both powerful and moving.”
Other actors include Roger Lamb, who brings four decades of experience to the stage; India Joyce, a former student at Bristol Old Vic who discovered her passion when seeking to build social confidence through drama classes; and Lyn Blasby, who became the first member of her Somerset family to see a ‘proper’ play in her 30s, becoming so transported by its magic, it inspired her to want to share the gift with others.
“Be prepared to radically reframe your view of what is possible to achieve as actor in Somerset, if you are willing and open to discovering the unique artist within you,” added Mark. “Come and be inspired by others who have already discovered a new vocational path.”
For a full running order of the programme, including work from Jack Thorne, Duncan McMillan, Alan Bennett and William Shakespeare, go to merlintheatre.co.uk. For further information about Mark McGann acting tuition, email dramadirect@icloud.com.
