Robert Frost

I'm going to be reposting some of my favourite posts from my old blog and I thought I'd start with this post about Robert Frost that I wrote on Saturday 20th July 2013:

Robert Frost was an American poet. Most of you will probably have heard of him, despite having been dead 50 years. The reason; he was an influential character and his poems depicted the realistic manner of the world. He had works such as 'A Soldier' which is talking about the soldiers that fight for us and 'The Oven Bird' which is telling us, through a woodpecker's perspective, that life is too short.

However my favourite thing that Robert Frost has ever written was “In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on.” The reason why this is amazing to me is because it really captures, in my mind, the main message of life. No matter what life throws at us and no matter how many time we are knocked down, it doesn't matter because life will carry on despite our troubles. This message for me is something that all people should live by, because if they do then they worry less about what went wrong and are more likely to focus on the positives, that life carries on.

Robert Frost, Poet and Legend

1874-1963

Thank You

In my life, I have been lucky enough to meet many people doing what I do and many of them have made an impact on the way on my life. I look up not only to my celebrity idols, but my real life idols, people that have affected my life positively. Because I started so young I had a lot of people teach me things about not only acting but life. I wouldn't be the man I am today without these very special people. There were also some people who have affected me because I try my hardest to be nothing like them, but less about them and more about the good people.

Mr Broomfield - Although it was a long time ago and I don't remember this time in my life very well, there is always someone that sticks in my mind and it is Mr Broomfield, my year four teacher. I remember that he was such a caring man, who taught me a lot about not being afraid to be different. When I was in my early years, I was slightly ahead academically, so I was a bit of trouble child because I never saw the need to do work, but Mr Broomfield taught me that I have to keep working to stay ahead. I was also a very hyper and weird child and I always kind of knew I was different to other children, but he never treated me any different, instilling in my mind that it's okay to be a bit weird. I owe a lot of my self confidence to this man and it is a massive shame that he was taken from this world to early, as he could have shown so many people the things he taught me.

Mr Shaw - Another teacher that I have fond memories of is my old music teacher Mr Shaw. I am not a musical person, so it may seem odd that he had such a impact on my life, but he did. Mr Shaw was different to other teachers, because with him, it always felt like he actually gave a damn about YOU. Not just the you the pupil, but the you the person. He made me realise things about myself that I never understood. He also is responsible for the spark that lead me to where I am now. I remember sitting in his office in year nine talking about my options and I told him that day that I wanted to be an actor. And he told me, that in order to do that, I would probably have to act, so for two years he pushed me to get experience and get involved and thanks to him, I have experience. I remember the last thing he said to me, about a month before he passed; I was thinking about auditioning for a pantomime at the local theatre, but I still had doubts about whether or not I was good enough and he told me "Go for it. You have to believe in yourself or you'll never get anywhere".

Stuart Spendlow - Now Stuart was one of the first people to give me a break in my hometown outside of school. He cast me as Friar Tuck in the local pantomime. I was 16 at the time and the things that Stuart taught me were extremely important, because at that time, I was starting to think bout my future. Stuart made me the most confident I had ever been in my life, because he never once judged me, even when I messed up all he ever did what encourage me to get back up and try again. He also helped me out whenever I was having trouble with family or friends. He also helped me through dealing with the death of Mr Shaw and kept me positive and gave me something to fight for. But most importantly he made me feel like somebody cared about me and that somebody believed in me and that is why I have his message to me framed on my bedroom wall.

Ms Walton - Now Ms Walton is possibly the most important person in my life because she saved me so many times that I can't even count. She was always there for me whenever I needed help, whether it be personal or work. She like all the others believed in me and that gave me comfort, because it meant that I could do anything I wanted. She was a friend when I needed advice and a teacher when I needed a push. I remember one time, I was having a terrible time at school and I was ready to lash out and I knew that there was one place in that entire school that I felt safe and that was her room. She, on that day, made me realise that people that say horrible things are the ones that need help, because they lash out at the people they want to be like. In those two years I had terrible lows and the only thing that kept me sane, were theatre and her words of wisdom.

Aaron Kenyon(my brother from another mother)- I met Aaron at university this past year and although we were just friends at the start of the year, we have grown so close that I can honestly call him a brother. I know that I can talk to him about anything and I know that he will listen and help me. If anything the best thing about our relationship is that we are honest with each other, there is no crap. We've learnt so much about each other and I know that this guy is one of the best guys in the world and he deserves a lot more than a shout out in a blog for everything he has had to endure. I can't wait for many more years with my brother from another mother.

There are many more I could list, John Hewer for being an amazing director/friend and making theatre the best experience ever. My family for always letting me do what I want and supporting me in everything I do. My friends, old and new, to name a few Ashley Standland (a great friend of whom I've had some brilliant times with and who actually told me about my first audition), Ollie Ewin (who not only was a great friend through sixth form, but is now with me at uni still having a laugh), Helen Crawshaw (We have a great relationship and I always enjoy being in her company because she's ace), Sophie Grundy (There is a photo at the bottom which sums us up), there are so many more. You guys are always there making life enjoyable. Malcolm Raeburn for teaching me so much about the industry I want to enter. Emily Bowman for helping me achieve so many things as well as always being there.

I am blessed to have had and still have these people in my life because they have made me into a strong independent and confident person with dreams as big as the universe and an attitude the chase them.

Oh and here's that photo, seeing as I couldn't find the words for our friendship:

Rehearsals...

So, I have not been posting as often as I wanted to with this blog, but I have been crazy busy with the Riverhead Producers event and my rehearsals for Miscreation. However one event has now passed so I thought I'd do an update on how Miscreation rehearsals are going.

The rehearsal process has been an absolute blast so far, because of a few reasons; we are all friends and enjoy each others company, we have an amazing director, and we have a hilarious script. Now that we are getting closer to the performance, it is starting to get more difficult (we still don't have a set, YIKES!), however we try our best to keep rehearsals fun, so that we can all still enjoy the fact that we are working on something that we can ll be proud of.

I am extremely proud of this production, not just because of all the adversity that we have faced, but because of the outstanding talent that will be on stage, showing that Louth may be small, but it definitely has talent.

The One Year Anniversary

So on Saturday night the Riverhead Producers had our one year anniversary. The event featured four music acts and a comedian. We also had food and drinks. This show was an amazing testament to what young people can do when they work hard and have a clear goal in mind. The event brought back some of our favourite acts that we have had as well as some fresh new faces, as a celebration of all we have accomplished and as a sign we aren't going to stop anytime soon. The audience loved the event and we received great feedback throughout the night, confirming that we are leaving a positive impression in people's minds. Not only did we pay tribute to what we have put on stage over the past year, but we also paid tribute to our fearless leader, of whom without we would be lost. Overall the event was amazing and I am extremely proud of everyone involved, but as they say... Onwards and Upwards! 

Writing

Okay, so I like to think of myself as a bit of a writer and I'll be using this holiday to focus on carrying on some projects I had to hold off because of my university commitments. Although my schedule is very hectic with a play coming up in July and event this month and a musical in August (details of that to come soon), I am going to be trying my very best to get as much writing done as possible. So here are some of my ongoing projects:

1) I am currently writing a play about four friends in their last summer together before they all go their separate ways. Of course, there will be some ups and downs, but the thing about this play is that it will not follow the stereotypical Hollywood script of resolution in the end. The ending is yet to be written but I have some ideas that will shock a few people. I love the characters I have written because each one is a little piece of me. I can't wait to finish this and hopefully pass it to a few of my writer friends to see what people think of and the dream would be to have it put on the stage.

2) I am also planning on getting together with a friend and rewriting our sixth form play 'Bedlam'. The play was a farce (intentionally) and we were really proud of it, however since we have both been at university together we realised that it needs a lot of work, because most of the time it made no sense. Hopefully I can find some time to at least start thus one, because I feel that this one would be really popular.

3) I also started writing a novel about a fourteen months ago and it got put on the backburner because of university, but I hope to start writing it again soon. It is an adventure novel and I have currently got twelve chapters and I am extremely proud of them and some of the plot twists. I feel the characters are relatable, lovable and yet remaining comical. I don't know whether this will ever be released as I know how hard it is to get a book published, but I will certainly try my hardest.