Retirement!

I have often heard from retired folks: "I am busier than I ever was when working", "I never have time to sit and put my feet up" or "I never have time to finish one project before I am on to the next!"

And now that my retirement is complete, I can certainly agree with the above. It seems, however, that my first love, "doing theatre", read producing, directing, designing and coaching, just wont let my mind rest.

I seem to see or at least I hope I see, in reflection, 20/20--the things I did well, the things I did poorly, the things I didn't understand and the things that I understood by intuition. It is not an easy view so far, by any means.

So how do I, in retirement, share my view of theatre gleaned from 42 years of producing. A blog, some fearless soul suggested. And off my partner went to get a "Dummies" book on setting up a Blog for Gordon. Seems like two brave souls marching forward into the shadows of the internet and faceless communication with others.

Now here I sit, book in one hand, other hand on keyboard, cat in lap reading about RSS, web feeds, widgets, templates and the like. And understanding nothing, absolutely nothing.

Fortunately for me, through the magic of the internet, I have been greatly encouraged by a niece who has a blog; she is anAmerican from Wisconsin now living in London married to an actor. She has a garden and a cat and a blog! And she set up her own blog! I am envious, greedy actually, of and for her skill and expertise in this never-never land of the internet and blogs!

Now what you see on the blog at this moment in time is a product of my niece and her encouragement, a dummies book which is beyond comprehension and my interest in blogging. The site might improve or it might not. I honestly have no way of knowing which way it will go, but I'm sure going to give it one hell of a try.

If things get bad here setting this blog up and changing it occasionally, please hold onto something; I've got the cat here and if things get really bad, I'll bite his tail for a bit of emotional stability.

That said, the reason for the blog. I will gladly share any information or experiences I have had over the years with anyone with a thirst for expanding their view of the theatre and of theatre production. Gladly. I will give examples from my work in the theatre because everything I have done in the theatre is grounded in some experience that I have had, good or bad. I will not be sharing the names of anyone. But everything I share with you will be from an actual incident that I have had or witnessed. Everything.

There is one thing that I have always told actors working with me in play production: Please do not blindly accept anything I have to say. (Doesnt that fly in the fact of the director as the ultimate boss/chief/control freak!) But take it inside, think about it, make it yours, and if you can't, come back and let's talk about it. Talented actors are creative and the director needs to know how to work with that talent, however huge or infintessimal it might be, to bring it to fruition and up to par with the other actors on stage.

A few of the subjects I will start with if no one has any question are:

1) The relationship between the artistic director, the director and the coach.
2) The dramaturg and his importance to the production and one facet that he almost always misses in his search.
3) How an actor can and must protect his talent from abuse.

For starters.

Let the games begin!