Wrapping up the 2011 Actor’s Intensive

This is a guest post by Morgan Brayton, one of the students of the 2011 Actor’s Intensive.

Morgan is a comedian, writer and performer who lives in Vancouver with her wife and an excessive number of cats. You can see her on The Debaters for CBC Radio & Television or as one of the hosts on Knowledge Network. Her one-person show Raccoonery!  won the Critics’ Choice Award at the 2010 Vancouver Fringe Festival and is currently nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award. Find her online at morganbrayton.com.

Eleanor Roosevelt said “Do one thing every day that scares you”. This is a stupid idea. Listen, Eleanor, life is challenging enough most days without running about looking for scary things to subject oneself to. Far more practical is to save up all your fear and do something once every few years that strikes abject terror in your heart. That is how I ended up applying to the Arts Club Actor’s Intensive.

I’ve been acting professionally for more than 20 years. By that I mean I have made my living as a film & TV actor, waitress, administrator and bookkeeper. Mostly I am a comedian–which is an actor nobody takes seriously. For years I’ve been taking the road less scary. I’ve talked myself out of being a “real actor” and banished myself to a life of being the funny girl on the outskirts of success. Lately, however, that hasn’t been enough. So, when I heard about the ACAI, I knew I had to be part of it. Learn from some of the most well-respected figures in Vancouver theatre? Sure! Fill some of the gaps in my training? Yes please! Risk finding out that I can’t really do it? Um…

I wasn’t alone. The program brought together a group of 14 students who were, in one way or another, in the same place. Some of us had taken time away from performing to grow our families and were ready to come back. Some of us had been defeated by the demands of a performer’s life and chosen the stability of a day job instead…only to have our hearts wake us up at night, insisting there was something else we should be doing. Some of us were just plain stuck artistically. Whatever the reason, we all ended up wanting more and knowing we had it in us–we just needed help to find it. Enter Scott, Dean, Jennifer and the rest of our coterie of amazing instructors.

The program wasn’t easy. We worked our asses off. We had breakdowns and breakthroughs. We trusted each other. We tried what felt wrong. We failed. We embarrassed ourselves. We supported each other. We got called out. We wrung, we pressed, we spoke through straws, we found the values, we got gooey, we stopped “acting” and just talked. We found out that the places we’ve been weren’t a diversion but a resource. Eventually, we forgot to be scared and started showing just how brave we really are.

Above all else the ACAI gave us, this is what I’m most grateful for. Thank you to everyone who participated for helping me tackle the scariest part of being an actor—my own fear. Take that, Eleanor.

Back row from left: Michael Charrois, Yasmin Abidi, Morgan Brayton, Mike Waterman, Corey Payette, Dean Paul Gibson, Amanda Marier, Bill Pozzobon

Front row from left: Joanna Redfern, Tim Vant, Arianna McGregor, Liz Kirkland, Christina Wells Campbell, Jennifer Clement, Michelle Martin, Matthew MacCaull

Missing: Scott Bellis