Authors: Lisa Gee
‘The actors I know,’ Boyd Tonkin told me, ‘are, in most cases, the opposite of egomaniacs. They are people whose skills of cooperation and group working are incredibly highly developed.’
Aside from the economic imperative, which has, through the ages, always been a powerful factor propelling people into the entertainment business, why do people perform? I asked Catherine Hindson, who lectures in performance studies in the department of Drama: Theatre, Film, Television at Bristol University. She told me about the discipline, introduced and inspired by American academic and director Richard Schechner. ‘Performance studies thinks about performance as a more general, extensive and complicated thing than what happens on a stage or a screen. Performance is something that human beings do, very naturally. It’s something they share. So, any kind of ritual, any social occasion or event involves a human performance, and when we engage with other people, when we participate in those rituals that make up our everyday life, be they very small rituals, like going shopping, or bigger, more recognised rituals, like weddings or barmitzvahs, we are performing as human beings.’
So performing is a natural part of what it means to be human.
Everything
we do is, in this sense, a performance. But that doesn’t explain why some people are ecstatic on stage pretending to be someone else, while given the choice, others (like me) prefer hiding under a duvet. Or why, when you watch your child’s first nursery class assembly, there are some three-year-olds standing there heads up, singing (or shouting) at the tops of their voices, and grinning excitedly into the audience, while others stare at their shoes, twiddle their plaits and mumble. Catherine, mother to a small daughter, doesn’t know, either.
I asked Sam Keston (now Dora’s agent), Sylvia Young and Maggie Melville-Bray if they think the children who perform are in some way different from their peers.
‘Before they are given their first “break” or once they’re established?’ Sam asks, before answering both questions. ‘Raw talent is indefinable but very easy for us to spot. A sparkle in the eye, an awareness, an inner confidence, wisdom beyond his or her years. These children are often very centred. Again, though, it depends whether we’re talking stage or television. The screen loves vulnerability, and self-possessed children appear far from vulnerable! Once they are working,’ she continues, ‘these kids exude a sort of adult “way”. Going to work in the theatre, or carrying a big TV or film role, is far from a hobby. It’s a massive responsibility that is likely to put them into a different headspace from their schoolmates.’
Sylvia and Maggie aren’t sure there is any difference. ‘You do,’ Maggie says, ‘see a spark of something and then it’s exciting to develop that. It’s the same with swimming. Or showjumping. It’s an enthusiasm too.’
‘I think it’s inborn,’ says Sylvia. ‘It’s an instinct to get enjoyment from something that you hope is also giving enjoyment to others. A stage performance is totally different from anything else. The adrenalin. There’s something unbeatable about theatre.’
‘Performing,’ says Maggie, ‘is like winning.’ But she also thinks that if there is something different about performing children, it’s
that
they’re not scared of failure. ‘They’re not frightened of falling flat on their faces and having to pick themselves up again.’ It is, she says, a characteristic of successful people, who fail more than unsuccessful people. ‘It’s a personality type,’ she says. ‘They relish a challenge.’
Dora certainly does. She’s the same upfront, enthusiastic person she was when I asked her if she wanted to audition, but also different, changing in the ways that all children change as they grow. She wants drama taught at her school (good idea) and to do more auditions and more performing – professional and amateur. Having witnessed a motorbike accident (thankfully one in which no one got hurt), she’s changed her mind about motorbikes and now doesn’t want one because they’re too dangerous. But she would still like to go into space. ‘Mummy,’ she announced recently, ‘it’s really not fair that children aren’t allowed to.’
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Version 1.0
Epub ISBN 9781407007441
Published by Arrow 2009
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Copyright © Lisa Gee 2008
Lisa Gee has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work
First published in Great Britain in 2008 by
Hutchinson
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ISBN 9780099522591