24 stories by "Tristan Pate"
It's hardly surprising that, in a career as varied as that of an actor, we meet many different people who can change and shape us a performers. The tragedy is that we don't often fully reali…
From Blue Remembered Hills  to His Dark Materials to Blood Brothers, adults playing children is a common trope in the theatre. In this environment, far from the limitations of th…
This month Spotlight is hosting a consultation with its members, both actors and casting professionals alike, on the much discussed "low pay/no pay" debate. In recent years a culture of i…
It's a theatrical legend that Anthony Hopkins reads a script more than 250 times before starting work on a character. Whether this is entirely true or not, it throws up an interesting debate…
 It's showcase season in London, and across the country this year's throng of graduates are rapidly reaching the culmination of their training and their introduction to the wider acting w…
An actress I've recently been working with has been regaling me with some wonderful tales of a lifetime in theatre. Hers is an illustrious career which has provided her with a surfeit of ane…
I have always seen each professional engagement in an actor's career as a new opportunity to learn and develop. What is more creatively fulfilling than immersing oneself entirely in the worl…
We've all had those moments of sudden self awareness in life when we realise we are acting out a genuine cliché. Whether it's coming home from a bad day at work and melodramatically throwin…
Josie Long's comedy has something of a DIY mentality. Introducing herself from the side of the stage in full view of the audience, then chastising people in the crowd for looking at her and …
It's a brand new year. Months of challenges, opportunities and possibilities lie ahead, but for those of us inbetween acting jobs, in these cold winter weeks it is more important than ever t…
Since the inception of theatre, writers and directors have incorporated live music into performances to serve their stories. As well as providing atmosphere and enhancing the action on stage…
“You have killed my love. You used to stir my imagination. Now you don’t even stir my curiosity. You simply produce no effect. I loved you because you were marvellous, because yo…
Producing high quality drama for young people has always been fraught with challenges. Writers come across all kinds of difficulties in serving their target audience, while not patronising t…
This weekend marks the culmination of a four month programme of site-specific installations by Play on Words in collaboration with Loop Dance Company, in the form of the final installment of…
For all concerned, Jez Butterworth's play Jerusalem was an unparalleled success back in 2009 at the Royal Court " its run at the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs was extended due to rave reviews a…
A colleague of mine said to me recently that the most dedicated and professional you are as an actor is during your time at drama school. I can relate to that. I can clearly recall spending …
I spoke last month about the perils of rehearsal room block, those difficult first few days with a new company, and the worries I've often had about misunderstanding or misinterpreting a not…
Like most people, there are giant gaps in my film and theatre knowledge, and during this long and geographically far ranging tour, I have really enjoyed discussing and sharing films with my …
As well as being exciting, freeing and full of challenges, rehearsals can also be a stressful, frustrating and confusing process for any actor. As well as getting to grips with a role, there…
As actors, we spend a lot of time monitoring our experiences, and considering the human condition in order to reproduce it truthfully on stage. This can often take over our lives; we've o…
I thought that I would take a lighter approach to this week's blog and discuss the not-so-professional subject of stage pranks. This has proven to be a very popular topic from the huge amoun…
I'm sure we all had at least one of them in our class at drama school. The effortlessly confident, charming, effusive type who could swan through their training on natural talent alone; turn…
I was recently chatting with a friend who has just started a year long contract on an established show in London. We had much to catch up on, but talk quickly turned to our current jobs as w…
I'd like to talk a little about those motherly and fatherly figures in the early career of an actor: our drama school tutors. Wonderfully eccentric as a rule, but also full of knowledge, and…
