One Actor - Another Show

After having troubles securing rights to perform publicly the last Alan Bennett piece I had worked up, I decided it was time to knock over my writer's block and start to write my own monologue. It's still in the workshop stage. I have had some very positive feedback about the printed script. Videos in the talking heads genre of a rehearsal of the scenes of the play have been sent to some theatre types for feedback. I am not yet sure how it will translate onto the stage. Video and live performance are two very different things. The monologue is inspired by Mr. Bennett's monologues; but unlike them, it is not dark. It will be interesting to see how this turns out. This link is to a Youtube video of a rehearsal of Scene 1: The Lace - Scene 1 Rehearsal .   Although I would definitely like to perform more Bennett works, I shall pursue the writing of my own works if the muse continues to inspire me.  In the meatime, I have performed for the pure joy of performance at a number ...

Now that I am finally settled in Nova Scotia, I have managed to find the time to work on learning another script. But this time I am learning it for myself as Samuel French has refused me, without giving a reason, a licence to perform it.  I did not like this script at first, but the more I read it, the more I came to like it. As with many Alan Bennett works, the play has a dark undertone. It might be described as a black comedy.  Most of Mr. Bennett's monologues have been written for women and have been performed by the grand dames of British theatre. This one is also written for a woman; but unlike some of the other monologues, the character could easily be a man. I have modified it very slightly so that I do it as a male character.  The play was to be performed as a benefit for a local foodbank before Christmas. However, I did perform it for a few members of my family and a few friends at our home, which actually provided a perfect venue for this work. And people we...

Well I had thought that I would undertake another monolgue before now. But now we are moving from the wonderful arts community of Warkworth, nestled in the Northumberland Hills of central Ontario to new horizons on the east coast of Canada. Moving is taking all my energy right now and all my enthusiasm. Once settled, I have a hunch that a new script will present itself.

It is not easy for me to find monologues that inspire me to perform them. The two I have most recently performed did just that. I have been looking for new scripts over the past few months. Two scripts sent to me from overseas have been dark and dated and others I have read have simply been depressing and filled with a sense of despair or hopelessness. I do not have to like the character or characters I am portraying. But I do have to have some empathy for them. There has to be some humour, however black, to make an audience smile or wince from time to time. I want an audience to learn something too. Even when the message is challenging or uncomfortable, an audience needs to share at least some of the character's feelings or relate to some of the character's behaviour. So I keep looking. I have even thought of writing something myself; but script writing is a talent I have yet to master.

The “ Importance of Being Oscar ” by Irish playwright Micheál mac Líammóir, not to be confused with “The Importance of Being Ernest”,  was written in the late 1950s and was first performed in 1960 by Mr. mac Líammóir himself. Actor Paul Rapsey performed this challenging play in Cobourg and Warkworth Ontario in 2017 to great acclaim. The play is a monologue in two Acts about the magnificent but tragic life of Oscar Wilde (1854 – 1900).  Wilde was an Irish playwright, novelist, essayist and poet in the late Victorian period. He achieved fame at a very young age, but it was notoriety that was his downfall.  Wilde had a very public and torrid relationship with the son of an aristocrat, the 9 th Marquis of Queensbury, whose name is given to the rules of boxing. Queensbury set out to destroy Oscar Wilde with the aid of the English establishment, which had taken umbrage at Wilde’s witty, very public and literary critique of their outdated social norms and moral hypocr...

Paul Rapsey presented “ Bed Among the Lentils ”, the award winning script by British playwright Alan Bennett in various venues in Ontario, Nova Scotia and England in 2016. The performances were a resounding success. Paul  returned to his first passion of acting after retiring from a thirty-year career in social justice law in 2015. During the 1970s he performed in many genres including summer stock, childrens' theatre, avant garde, classical theatre and mime. He gave up his professional theatre memberships (ACTRA and Equity) in 1995 when law seemed to offer him all the theatrics he needed at the time. He has now chosen to only undertake roles that challenge his mind and his skills, and that also challenge society’s stereotypes. He prefers simple sets and relies on the power of a playwright’s words and the engagement of an audience’s imagination to create vital characters and mood. The play is a one–hour monologue written by Mr. Bennett in 1987 as a screen play for the BBC ...