DOG was first performed (under the title Pitbull) at the Warehouse Theatre, Croydon, on 13th August 1993.
"A day in the life of yet another strange beast whose energy still attracts one to define and examine. A man with his dog, but a pitbull, one of those creatures I had been reading about, or, should I say, had forced down my gullet as ravage after ravage appeared in the papers as the beasts tore into innocent young flesh. It seemed to go with the British low-class yob culture more prevalent in the Thatcher years as class-division widened and the social fabric decayed. It went with the pub, obsessive drunkenness, football and xenophobia.
So this is a comedy of manners if you like, performed by a simple direct, strong, unconfused guardian of British morality. The dog merely amplifies the insane and undirected energy of its owner. Curiously, his beliefs are not vague or confused but are held with dedication and conviction which makes him in a way repulsively ATTRACTIVE."
ACTOR was first performed at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, on 31st January 1984.
"I was, on the recommendation of my friend John Joyce, looking for material for a one-man show. One doodles as the information bubbles away in the unconscious and suddenly there is an eruption which seems to be feeding from a deep current of energy within. Years of struggle, unemployment, auditions, begging letters, agents, directors who didn't re-employ, self-loathing,, disappointment, lack of courage, self-worth, self-pity leading to paranoia, neurosis etc. – this is the life of an actor as he tries not only to express the best part of himself but is condemned or rejected as part of his daily life. It is a harrowing profession while you are in the pleading position. So these thoughts store themselves in what seem small compartments in your mind, festering away like a compost heap and suddenly there is a break in the soil.
I was partly inspired by a Marcel Marceau sketch where he walks apparently on the spot forever and the world passes him by. I performed this on the spot as the actor walks through his life watching it slowly disintegrate. The player's life is a hard one and the actor's present low status is further confirmed as neophyte directors grab more media space for their ‘conceptions’ than actors who have given many more years to their craft. However, that is another story."
