Sunny Days are for Sitting in Bed

Hey Abyss,

It's Wednesday and I am thinking that this may be a good day to get into the habit of writing on. At least for the rest of the summer, which is going by so quickly!

Not much has changed since my last post, I am still doing the readings for Mr. D which has been awesome. Hanging out with the cast and just being treated so equally has been really encouraging.

Not that I have been rejected my whole life, just its nice to feel like part of the team.  There is really no way I can make what I said sound less pathetic so lets just leave it as that...It has been a really wonderful experience.

I went into see my agents yesterday and I potentially have a feature film audition coming up, it just depends whether I can get into audition before I leave for Guysborugh, which is where I am teaching next week. So, that is good news, It would be a day player spot, which is perfect because I am not in the position to have anymore than a few days on set. I say this only because after my frugal two months of living off my girlfriend I will finally have a surplus of money from teaching for the last half of the summer, so I don't want to have to bail on the kids.

I am really looking forward to teaching again this year, I feel after being away at school and just coming into my own a little but more I have a clearer image of how I want to teach and what things to start instilling in the talented rascals that give me company every year for four weeks. Kids really teach me so much about my own craft, they are so true to their emotions and provide such a blunt and unfazed view of reality. They tell you straight up if you are bad or good, or funny or stupid and its with this honesty that you learn as an adult to stop being in your head so much and just let life move through you.

Teaching them truly is a continual inspiration.

Yesterday we received out tentative itinerary for the upcoming school year and I am beyond excited to work with the people we are which includes: Nina Lee Aquino, David Yee, Adam Lazarus, Jodi Essery, Wenyi Mengesha, Maiko Bae Yamamoto, Antoine Bedard AKA Montag, AndrewWade, Jill Kiely and Many others.

I feel so blessed to be attending a school that gives me such opportunity to explore so many facets of this profession.

Last week I went to see a show called She Has A Name, and I was rather disappointed with it. I paid 27 dollars for the show which had an amazing premise so I felt I was going to be blown away. The opposite happened and I was continually distracted by the moving fabric of the set pieces, instead of the text. The show is currently touring Canada and the company is based out of Red Deer. The piece is about sex trafficking in Bangkok, but never really delves into the sheer madness of what occurs there. They raise awareness with the piece but does not leave me with nightmares about what the poor boys and girls go through everyday. And in my opinion, if you are going to do something controversial I expect to see controversy. But perhaps that is just me. The text was written by Andrew Kooman and was produced by Burnt Thicket Theatre.

Then I went to see Shakepeare by the Sea here in Halifax and I was blown away. Perhaps it was due to the disappointment of the last show, or perhaps the cast was just phenomenal. I think it was bit of both.


Thats it for now,

Night Abyss.

Empty Pockets, Full Heart.

Hey Abyss,

I have been super lazy on the entries of late.

First off the important business.

Auditions to date: 2

Jobs Obtained from Audtions: 0

I am currently working as a reader on the set of Mr. D, which airs on CBC (I'll post more info on the show in a link below). A reader is either someone who reads the opposite character of the sides in an audition or, in my case, is asked to come in and read the day-player parts of the script in aid of the actors and writers to get a feel for how the episode will run.

Kind of like workshopping a theatre script.

I am having a blast doing that and get to hang out with all the main cast, which is awesome. And the money is great, which is really wonderful at this point considering I am still paying for THREE apartments. But that's a long story.

I have been going to as much theatre as I can afford and have seen a wide variety of it. The standout so far is a show called Science Inaction written by Griffin McInnis who is the playwright in house at 2b Theatre Company. The show was really really great in all respects. I love walking away from a show that excites me about my own career, that I say, "I want to do that kind of theatre". It made my week.

So thank you Griffin and Wits End Theatre.

I have basically stopped looking for a Joe Job considering that I start teaching in two weeks, but money is tight. It has been a real struggle this year for money, but I have finally come to terms with the fact that  I am going to continue to have money problems my entire under-waged actor life. Luckily I have a girlfriend who allows me to mooch off of her like a leech, I don't know how long that will last...

Coming up: I am currently involved with a public reading of Michael Healey's controversial play Proud, and that will be going up on the 7th of July, which is Saturday! I am stoked for that and am really hoping for a good turn out. I am playing Jake.

With all my spare time I have been trying to get on top of the things in my life that need some attention, such as getting my passport and acquiring my dual citizenship. As well as getting healthy again and trying to dress better.

It is funny, the less you have the more you experiment and make things work. I really only have enough money for food and the gym, so that is all I do. This is ultimately not a bad thing, I feel really great both inside and out and am not spending all my money on things I don't need. It really is sometimes better to downsize because then you see what you really need and use.

Life lessons.

What a trip.

I am going to post some links to the aforementioned things and hope that you check them out and enjoy them as much as I did.

Science Inaction --> http://www.witsendtheatre.ca/science-inaction.php

Proud --> http://torontoist.com/2012/03/first-outing-for-prouds-prime-minister/

Mr D. --> http://www.cbc.ca/revenuegroup/mr-d.html

Follow me on Twitter @wayne_burns and check out my IMDB.

Night Abyss

A little less conversation.

Hey Abyss,

The last few weeks have been a combination of really busy and really slow. I am currently still looking for a job due to my dwindling bank account and have found myself employed at multiple establishments with no guarantee for work, which is quite helpful at this stage.

Currently I am an actor, a pirate who can do children's parties, a knife salesman, a camp councillor and I am waiting to hear back from a garbage collector job. I am really holding out for the last one because it is promising continuous work and a reliable paycheque. With possession of this job I will swiftly change my name to Wayne 'Garbage Man Extrodinaire' Burns, as recommended by my ever supportive mother.

I had a job interview for Apple on Saturday and it was such a great experience, they really create an environment that you would be crazy not to want to work in. The operative word there being crazy. Everyone is just so happy and loves life and the products. All part of their marketing scheme, which of course has made them over 50 billion dollars worth of sales. As the rep said, "That is 6,000 dollars per square foot of the earth...", thats a lot of monies.

Here is hoping that I can find something to make me money, other than having to resort to selling myself and changing my name to Wayne 'Stripper Extrodinaire"Burns. Of course Channing Tatum did it and now there is movie being made about it.... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1915581/

So with all of my free time I have been spending most of it with my Sugar Mama girlfriend who has basically allowed me to leech off of her for the last month in promise of me hitting her back with the funds when I become employed. What a great girl.

There has been no auditions for anything...which is rather depressing. It doesn't look like this summer is gonna be as lucrative as the last one, unfortunately. I have been involved in two shows though since my return and they went really well. The first was SOLOICIOUS which was spearheaded by Sebastein Hiens and was performed at the Bus Stop Theatre in Halifax (http://www.facebook.com/Soloicious). It was a festival of sorts where about 8 performers all did solo work that spanned many mediums. It was a sold out evening and will hopefully make a comeback next year. I was so impressed with the talent involved in the project.

Next show was something called a evening of short plays, which is exactly how is sounds. This was put on by Once Upon a Theatre Collective in the same place (Bus Stop Theatre: http://twitter.com/#!/onceupontheatre). It was an awesome experience as well. We had about 12 hours to direct and perform a piece, a challenge but well worth it.

That has been the extent of my perfuming in the last little bit, other than a reading of Michael Healey's play Proud which was rejected by Tarragon Theatre in Toronto. And a play by Mark Ravenhill called Shopping and Fucking, which was interesting to say the least.

That is all there is right now, but I will keep you as updated as possible and will tell you what interesting things I find in the garbage while picking up all the things you throw on the ground.

Check me out on twitter @wayne_burns, and my IMDB and check out the interview and review of SOLOICIOUS below.

Night Abyss

Reviews: http://www.twisitheatreblog.com/archives/1229
                http://www.twisitheatreblog.com/archives/1188
                http://www.twisitheatreblog.com/archives/date/2012/05/page/2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Ravenhill

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/theatre-and-performance/michael-healey-and-his-play-proud/article534494/