WHY DO IT?

    As it was, I played rough parts, mad parts, old and young
parts, which was just how I wanted it. It was not until our
final year that one or two members of staff tried to box me
into a 'classy' mould. One of them,an actor playwrigbt with
working-class origins, had written an autobiographical play
about his marriage to a posh Kensitngton girL He cast me as
his wife, and this was the first posh girl I had had to play. 1
could not get a handle On her, and had little interest in doing
so. I remember the writer cornering me one day in order to
tackle my resistance.'But she's a Kensington girl,you can do
that standing on your head: Now, standing on my head
I wouldn't have minded!
    It is not that there is anything intrinsicallly wrong with
posh parts, just that in this case the characters poshness was
her only function. Besides, like my fellow students, I was
interested in the exotic. We were all trying to transcend our
autobiographical data, and in a sense LAMDA was the inter-
section of our respective journeys.
    Not for All Markets
    If I had conformed to the posh-girl type, I might have had a
speedier start in the mainstream of the profession.As it is, I
do not regret one inch of the circuitous route I actually took.
When I came out of LAMDA, my light was still quite well
hidden under the bushel, and although this was not a
conscious tactic, it helped narrow down any job offers to
those that would suit me best. On the whole, if your message
is hard to read, you can trust that those 'get'  you will be
good for you,,and that those who do not will not.
    Plunging In
    One of the few people to read my mesaaae when I auditioned
for various drama schools was Frank Whitten. He was VicePrincipal
of LAMDA, and the teacher who has had the most
lasting influence on me. He took us for improvisation classes
and would never explain the purpo&e of an improvisation or
acting game before we g'ot up to do it. He was confident that
the 'meaning' would reveal itself retrospectively.We were to
leave behind reason and intellect, like socks and shoes at the
edge of the swimming pool, plunge in and play. The more
uncritically we took part, the more certainly the point of the
lesson would get through, and because it was experienced
first-hand, it would stay in the memory far longer than any
lecture or verbal exposition Through Frank's skillfully devised
improviiations I experienced a sample of every acting
principle or problem that would come up in my professional
life and I constantly refer back to him.