Mark Street

I had a fantastic evening watching our gifted young performer Rolene-Annie Samba Lukeni deliver her monologue at Kings Place near Kings Cross. Nineteen finalists selected from over sixty-five drama schools and universities showcased their talents in front of a full house as part of the Spotlight Prize 2025. Each actor was outstanding, and the award could have easily gone to any of them, but unfortunately, it wasn't Annie's night. She held her own and proved to an audience of industry professionals that she is truly a formidable talent. A skilled young actress with a bright future ahead.

I have to apologise for an earlier post that implied Mark Twain had said, “politicians and diapers should be changed often, …”. Instagram have messaged to say that Reuters Fact Checkers have proven that Mark Twain didn’t say this and the post will be removed. It is nice to know that Instagram check for fake news and it reminds me just how easy it is to pass on a headline or quote when it suits your own world view without fact checking. As Bill Withers (definitely) sang “You can hang up a million slogans
in your house
But before you put it into operation before
you man your station, you ought to take
it all in and check it all out, and find out
what it's all about.” In this case I didn’t check it all out. However, I do stand by the idea that the quote implies. I live in the UK and we have had the same political party in power now for 13 years and in my humble opinion they are talking absolute ball s**t and running the country in to the ground - my country’s diapers need changing. In the words of Lord Acton “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely” That seems to be the case with our self absorbed, privileged bunch of autocrats. And that quote was fact checked. 😀

Fact checking…

“Art is, like magic, the science of manipulating symbols, words, or images, to achieve changes in consciousness. (...) A grimmoir for example, the book of spells is simply a fancy way of saying grammar. Indeed, to cast a spell, is simply to spell, to manipulate words, to change people's consciousness. And I believe that this is why an artist or writer is the closest thing in the contemporary world that you are likely to see to a Shaman. At the moment the people who are using Shamanism and magic to shape our culture are advertisers. Rather than try to wake people up, their Shamanism is used as an op**te to tranquillize people, to make people more manipulable. (...) In all of magic there is an incredibly large linguistic component. The Bardic tradition of magic would place a bard as being much higher and more fearsome than a magician. (...) If a Bard were to place not a curse upon you, but a satire, then that could destroy you. If it was a clever satire, it might not just destroy you in the eyes of your associates; it would destroy you in the eyes of your family. It would destroy you in your own eyes. And if it was a finely worded and clever satire that might survive and be remembered for decades, even centuries.” Alan Moore

The old rhyme “Sticks and stones might break your bones but words can never hurt you” doesn't hold water. Throwing words around without considering the implications or harm it can do is destructive. For those who know exactly what they are doing is indefensible.

Hi.
I thought I would post an advert for the short I am working on with my good friend and director/teacher Simone Vause for a producer to join our team. It is called "The Awakening," and explores the marginalization of the older generation. This film isn't sad and melancholic but celebrates getting older, of sharing life’s experiences in a culture that seems to fear age. The script is adapted from the short visual narrative written by Simone who noticed a change in other people's perceptions over the years. It uses flashbacks and dance/movement to beautifully transition through key moments of an elderly lady's life and a young careworkers realisation that she may have more in common with this elderly woman than she initially thought.
it is a nine-page script and we have estimated a 3 to 4-day shoot in and around London.
We have an Art Designer attached and a choreographer who has extensive experience in the feature film and theatre industry. We have some of our budget but are currently applying for the BFI Short Film Fund.

If you want to help and get on board in any capacity please get in touch.

[email protected] or [email protected]

We will send you the treatment and script

Congratulation to Michelle Yeoh. She is great in everything I see her in. When she comes on you know you are in for a treat. Just one of those actors that ooze charisma and talent. 'Bout time.

Michelle Yeoh won a Golden Globe for best actress and jokingly threatened to 'beat up' the piano player who tried to cut off her speech Yeoh gave a moving acceptance speech, saying her win was for "all who came before me who look like me, and all who are going on this journey with me forward."

Terry Hall kept it real and his music was the soundtrack to key moments in my life. “The bottom line is, respect each other, and love each other. It’s a bit idealistic, but it’s all that there is.” R.I.P. Terry Hall

This is a post from a new page that Simone Vause and I will be using to share updates as we embark on this new short film project. Please follow the page. We will be kicking into gear next year but want to start creating a following and reach as many people as possible, so friends, followers and family please follow and share this page. This a lovely visual poem exploring/celebrating age and the value of experience shared. We have a designer on board and if you go to the page you can see her website: Camille Etchart. 2023 here we come!!!

This story was originally developed for the stage. This is an early design of the tree that is an integral part of this visual poem. Illustration by designer Camille Etchart who we are really happy to announce will be working with us on the film. No need to build a tree of course as we will be scouting for the perfect location and the perfect tree but I think we will have plenty to do to keep Camille busy. PLEASE SHARE AND FOLLOW OUR PAGE
Here is a link to Camille's website.
http://www.cvetchart.com

Script Analysis – Keep digging and asking “Why?”

“Why?” is the most important question we can ask. That’s true in life and when analysing your text. Why does this character want this? Why do they say that? Why do I want to tell this story? If you don’t have an answer, then you make assumptions and worse, you make judgments. If you don’t know the answer keep digging into the text, scan for clues, do your research and place yourself in the character's shoes until you can empathise and accept the choices they make.
“Why ?” can also fire your passion/desire to want to tell your character’s story. I remember something I read in Augusto Boal’s book “Games for Actors and Non-Actors” that struck a chord when he uses Macbeth to explore a character’s “will” (Boal A, 2002:41), that if we can dig beneath the text to find a relatable reason for the choices the character makes, we can fuel the passion in ourselves to want to tell their story. For example, many people when asked “What is Macbeth’s objective?” may reply “He wants to be king of Scotland”. Not many of us can relate to that. I mean I have no chance of becoming king of any country. If I question this further “Why can’t I become king?” it raises more questions: “How is it that someone can just be born into privilege?” “Why don’t we all start on a level playing field with the same opportunities?” If I keep going with this line of questioning, it brings it home to relatable concepts and ideas that fuel my passion to tell the story. It is more interesting to me to explore this whole concept of an individual’s right to reach their full potential regardless of their bloodline or class than to, as Augusto Boal puts it, just reduce the story “to a series of psychological battles between a number of individuals or groupings desperate for power.”
Asking “why?” your character is doing what they are doing (Identifying the character’s reason) is also a “generator of emotion” (Boal A, 2002:42). Defining a specific reason that you can picture/imagine motivates every action. I see it in class when I am working on a scene with my students, without an idea fuelling their actions they are just left with empty words and gestures. The example that Augusto Boal uses to explain this is via a boxing match. If you are playing the boxer with no idea as to why you are fighting the conflict is “exclusively objective” (Boal A, 2002:42) but if you find the reason in the text then you create the drama. For example, suppose the boxer is fighting to win the prize money that will pay for a lifesaving operation of a family member. In that case, each punch is fuelled by the image of that person, that family member. If you can imagine that from your own perspective employing Uta Hagen’s substitution technique then you “strengthen(s) your faith and your sense of reality” (Hagen U, Respect for Acting, 1973:44)
So in short, don’t just learn lines based on assumptions and judgements, delve down under the text to identify intention, and keep asking why it is they do what they do until you can honestly say to yourself “If I was in this set of given circumstances I would probably do the same”, if you can’t honestly say this then keep asking why, keep looking for clues, constantly try out your choices by imagining yourself in the situation using substitutions to strengthen your connection to the given set of circumstances, don’t generalise but find that one reason you can relate to and commit. Remember there is no easy road to true creation.

See the potential in all of us."Change the narrative that exists and contribute to the narratives that build" https://youtu.be/XyfapW7D1O8