One good TEAM deserves another....

The last acting job I did was with TEAM Educational Theatre Company.  I played the principal role of Josip, 'the boy from Nowhere', in the award winning play "Jumping on My Shadow"by Peter Rumney, which toured around Ireland for over 4 months & half months from February to June 2008.

Due to popular demands, TEAM is bringing back "Jumping on My Shadow" for another run from January to June 2009, and the original cast has been approached to reprise their respective roles.

Now before TEAM, theatre in education would have been something entirely new to me.  And I had always said it was only going to be an experience for me.  Thankful it was a good one, which I really enjoyed and was grateful to have had such a fulfilling experience throughout the run.  However, wouldn't one TIE show be enough?  Is it worthwhile doing another?  I had pondered on this thought, and had wondered what direction I want to be heading as an actor?  In the end, how often would an Asian actor in Ireland get the opportunity to act for a solid five-six months???  Plus with the current recession & my plans for a change in scenery for summer 2009 (more on that in future... ) the TEAM offer probably came at the right time, so I was happy enough to return to fill the the boots Josip, which is perhaps one of the few roles I enjoyed portraying the most, given the multi-layers to the character and also allowing me the opportunity to demonstrate my physical abilities with various kickboxing techniques and flips etc.

What made the grueling run of "Jumping on My Shadow"most enjoyable was the people I worked with.  Being on tour, one of the most dreaded thing is to be working with one that is so difficult or hard to stand... But I was ever so thankful I had 3 wonderful talented actors to work with (Dave Ferguson, Georgina McKevitt, Maria Ann Hylton) and one cool Aussie stage manager, Kate Ferris, and in the process I had made myself some truly awesome friends!

Sadly, the downside is with the exception of myself, none of the original cast members would be returning for another spell of "Jumping on My Shadow".  Kate is returning to Australia, so TEAM have hired a new stage manager.  So that makes me the only surviving member from the original 2008 tour... Looking on the bright side, I think working with the new cast would bring something refreshing to me (having done the show almost 70 times now!) and gives the whole show an all new dynamic but equally as great as the previous bunch! Here's hoping they would be as great a crowd to work with like my buddies...

Miss you guys!

Peace & Best Wishes,

Alan