Grinder's Grumblings

I especially like the "How to get started in Acting" one. Check out the video - Sir Ian McKellan on Acting - it offers the best acting advice EVER! How to get started in acting How to make an acting resume

29-and-a-half never loooked so good...

Apparently this is an article that's appealing to a lot of people on Helium - Enjoy! How to save money on theatre tickets

Hitchin’ at the Junction A “Gay Nineties” Melodrama in One Act By Eric Goudie 1 st Draft © November 2009 Scene: The Train station in Ennotville (the name can be changed to a local reference) on a hot summer’s day. A small rectangular building with a ticket window and door forms the station-master’s office upstage left. A bench sits just centre of the office, and a large lever for switching the tracks likes SR. The lever has two positions – one marked “Into Town” and the other marked “Elora Gorge” (or other local reference to a deep gully, ravine or cliff). The lever is currently in the “Into Town” position. A single line of train tracks run across the front of the stage. Music Begins Offstage Voices: Oh we are the good folks of the drama Come here to brighten up your day With a story ‘bout your Grandpa and Grandma And life as it was in times of yesterday. Here at the (Ennotville) railroad junction Some trouble will happening today But ev...

It's an election year in Centre Wellington. The polls don't open until October (and even then I think we vote by mail-in ballot) but already it seems that the campaign is in full swing. The signs are going up, the letters to the editor in the Wellington Advertiser are getting filled with rhetoric and Conservatives, Liberals, New Democrats, Greens, Christians, NIMBY's, special interst groups, lobbyists, bureaucrats, wanabes, hot-heads, lunatics, businesspeople, and councillors are gearing up for what promises to be a long and ugly campaign. I have a sinking feeling that this election will bring out the "ugly" in a lot of people. We've got some polarising issues this time around, and as much as I'm saddened to say it, theatre may be one of them. I've been deeply hurt by some of what the misinformation already, and if it becomes one of the issues that catches fire in the campaign much of the work I and many others have been doing for the past ten years wi...

The Playwright’s Circle at Grinder Productions Grinder Productions is a live theatre company committed to producing theatre that dares to be different. What could be more different than a new piece of live theatre! As part of our commitment to advance both stagecraft and the Canadian canon of dramatic literature Grinder Productions is pleased to announce the creation of our playwright’s circle. Our Goals To give ordinary people a chance to tell their stories through theatre To workshop, review and discuss new plays, providing substantial, constructive, honest feedback to the writer To reward playwrights with the production of their plays Our Process There are three tiers of the playwright’s circle, each reflecting the increased levels of commitment to the writing process: Short Drama: Members will create short scenes, two-person dialogues, comedic sketches, monologues, songs, movement pieces and other dramatic materials generally...

It's actually Friday that I'm writing this, though it won't go up until Monday. The only reason I'm compiling my posts for the coming week now is because quite frankly that's all that I'm really capable of at the moment. Fridays are usually the worst day of the week for me, with the previous five days of sleep deprivation culminating in a dense fog that often doesn't lift until around 2pm on Sunday. This week has been compounded by a couple of relatively late nights and the horrifying reality that we can't sleep in either Saturday or Sunday of this week, so another seven (no, I lie - eight - we're busy next Saturday too) days stretch out before us, laughing like a madman at our misfortune. So with the choice of getting nothing done and falling even further behind I've decided to cross one thing off of next week's list, in the hopes that I can move one of my overdue items to Monday, when hopefully I will be more coherent... Until then, I'l...