First of all apologies for not having posted so much recently. A resolution for 2012 is to be more frequent with my posting. I will also be starting a new PHOTOGRAPHY blog to display (show off!) some of the pictures I take, as I become more and more fascinated with the art of photography. On that note I must add a further apology as to the quality of the photograph accompanying this blog post. As I am in the photograph I obviously haven't taken it myself, and the unfocused, shakiness of the picture is the responsibility of someone in my family who shall remain unnamed! However, I wanted to post the picture because it marks for me a return to the place where I stepped onto a stage for the very first time when I was 9. Before this it was also the place where I went to the theatre for the first time, and where my love of performance, theatre, show-business and all that started. I had the chance to revisit this place –The Memorial Hall in Dereham, Norfolk– earlier this month, and to inspect the results of an exciting £3-million refurbishment. I was thrilled and delighted to discover that despite the revamp, the hall had the same atmosphere that I remember from my childhood, and the stage retained its magical allure. I was so excited to step on the stage again for the first time in 31 years –even in its bare, working-light lit state- and feel that same rush of energy and magic that drew me into acting in the first place. I would have loved to have performed something there again, but we were only on the briefest of visits. For me any stage is a temple of possibilities and magic, but revisiting this one was truly special. So perhaps I am the one shaking here, rather than the photographer!
