Ruth Curtis - Oxford High School 1971 - 1982

Acting

Acting is a profession you should only go into if you cannot see yourself doing anything else.  It is not enough to want to be an actor, you have to need to do it.  It is a profession which offers no security, often long periods of unemployment, often low pay and difficult conditions.  However for me it is the best profession in the world.

I did a drama degree at Hull University combining academic and practical work and with an excellent theatre space run by the drama department students.  As part of my course I did a TV / radio option and a theatre directing option and had to learn about all the technical sides of theatre in order to direct a main house production.  As both an actor and director I have found it invaluable understanding even to a small degree about lighting, sound and stage management. 

Through personal contact I started working with a professional theatre company whilst still a student and went on to join them full time after graduating.  I did everything from making costumes to booking tours, painting sets to writing press releases and as a consequence learnt a tremendous amount about the running of a small-scale touring theatre company.  Along the way I also led drama workshops for a wide variety of organisations and after two years with the company chose my last project with them to be as Play Officer for their first major community play rather than acting in a nationally touring play.  This choice probably delayed my career as a jobbing actor by several years but launched me into the field of community arts and gave me skills which I might never have developed if I worked merely as an actor.

My next job was as Arts Development Worker covering all the arts for all the community in the Doncaster area and I also taught acting on a BTec course, whilst somehow fitting in other freelance project work including devising/directing for young people at the same time.  After two years in Doncaster I made the decision to set out on my own and entered a strange period doing a huge variety of projects, directing, leading workshops, writing, taking on consultancy work, and tour booking for two performance poets who also wrote plays specifically for me and we formed a company to put them on the road.

We toured mainly to primary schools with highly physical participatory storytelling performances which always fitted in with National Curriculum areas.  It was hard work having to plan up to a year in advance to seek funding, book tours and get the shows together but it meant that I was not dependent on the whole casting process to be doing what I love - acting.  In order to have an income all year round I was still doing other freelance work including directing, leading workshops, doing voice overs, consultancy and teaching.  After four years of setting up primary school tours I decided to put the company on hold and sought a new agent and started on the circuit of responding to casting breakdowns, auditioning and making sure I was available to take on acting contracts at short notice which meant forgoing most other work except temping.  I have had comparatively excellent success as a jobbing actor and in between acting contracts am lucky to be able to work freelance as a legal secretary for a firm of solicitors who understand that I may disappear for weeks at a time or have to go to an audition at a day’s notice.  I do quite a lot of role play work which helps fill in gaps between longer contracts and each week I scour web based casting reports for contacts to send off my CV and photo to.  I am a member of a cooperative agency which means I help other actors get jobs as well as being in control of my own career.  After sixteen years in the profession I still would not rather do anything else.

I am more than willing to talk to any GDST members about any aspect of working in the theatre or arts but am obviously unable to offer work experience. Contact me via the Minerva Network Development Office.