What a day! As actors froze their toes waiting for the door to open, we were busy unboxing our fantastic array of performance books, monologue collections and plays, not forgetting the Actors and Performers Yearbook 2019. This “yellow pages” or “little black book” for the performance industry flew off the shelf, but don’t worry if you didn’t manage to get one, they’re still available here on our Actors and Performers Yearbook page.
The first friendly face to stop by our stand was Rob Ostlere, author of The Actor’s Career Bible, publishing in March this year. A few lucky people were got the chance to speak to the author and get a copy of his book ahead of publication, getting a head start in putting this original and innovative career advice into practice. As Rob dashed off to Windsor for the start of a tour of Tom Stoppard’s Rough Crossing, actors finished their auditions and started to fill the room.
Actors circled through the sea of stalls and landed with us to rummage through our modern plays and monologue collections, searching for the best audition pieces. Many women were looking for strong female parts, if you’re one of them, take a look at Christopher York’s Build a Rocket, or Ian Kershaw’s The Greatest Play in the History of the World.
A highlight of our day was a seminar by Daniel Dresner, author of A Life-Coaching Approach to Screen Acting, accompanied by actor Abiola Ogunbiyi. ‘Be empowered and live the career you want’ covered what it takes to build a career in the entertainment industry. With an audience ranging in ages from 12 to 80, this interactive seminar offered practical advice on the right attitude, realistic goals, drive and determination in order to step up to the next level of success. Watch the full seminar on Methuen Drama’s Twitter page.
After we waved off our final customer and the hall was empty of actors, we raised a glass with Daniel to a great day full of talented and ambitious performers.
The seminar received a fantastic reception, and as all the other stalls were beginning to wind down, our stall was flooded with people trying to get a copy of Daniel’s brilliant book, and queuing for a signature.