Theatre making or Eating a metaphorical cop who is a symbol for Capitalism's face because you are a passive aggressive arty type.

So recently I was posed this question, by Simon (honorable mention).
‘What do you think is in it for a 'British Teen' who makes theatre?'. 
So to stop me going on a disorganised Nietzsche-esc internal rant which ends up criticising the fact the universe is infinite, I shall use some sub-headings with expanding size.

Personally:
I feel there is a lot to gain from making theatre myself as a British teen. It allows me to express creatively. It allows me to bring up issues, express insecurities, ask political questions and challenge pre-conceptions of both being British and Being a teenager. Most importantly, I get to be silly. This creative environment is non-judgmental and we offer to share ourselves and be judged on what we have to share. Where else does this happen other than in theatre making?
It’s something I believe a lot of people are missing, and our exposure to art in life and education is frankly poor. It allows us to question whether the artistic goals of personal growth are more valuable than the consumerist capitalist ideologies we are spoon fed by everything else.  *DISCLAIMER* (The following metaphor is poorly chosen but I think the passive aggressiveness comes across well).
It’s like that scene in Silence of the lambs, where Hannibal lector escapes the jail cell. The Cops are the media trying to prevent art which questions escaping the cell and theatre is Mr Lector. Then of course the consumerism is the guy whose face gets eaten.

Socially (in the place we live in):
The answer to this is well frankly more negative. As a society we have become disenfranchised with theatre as a concept. Take for instance, the Olympian, train’s hours a day for most of their lives to be the best they can be. Take the actor does three years training and that’s about it. There is no continual growth for the actor only approaching a steady state of mediocrity. No wonder we have become disinterested in theatre because there is no desire to make GREAT theatre. Name the last great playwright. Yes, I’m talking about Shakespeare. Yes, that was like 400 years ago.
 As an actor there are places we can practice  As a theatre maker (and a student) there are much more limited options. That’s because theatre is a logistical nightmare due to the above reasons… So as much as I’m annoyed by the lack of art spaces for us ‘British Teens’. I understand why there is none.

Nationally: I had an interesting conversation about National identity and theatre with a nice lady called Jen. She’s a researcher who asked me ‘Why is it that we cannot accept eastern European ideas of theatre because they are foreign to us?’. Well we do have a closed minded approach to theatre and the truth of it is, there is no real place for British teens to make theatre.
That said there are Brilliant institutions such as the national youth theatre which allow young people to be in high quality and forward thinking pieces.  This makes me think there is a possibility to bring theatre back into mainstream culture and use it to question the values of a mainstream media which is probably the only thing that annoys me more than the last boss in Tekken 3.

Universally:
Because the universe is so huge. There is no point to a British teen to make…  Wait, The subheadings were to stop me doing this…
And that’s just how Conall sees  it.

Dislocation followed by solitude then isolation.

So this blog has been on hiatus (ooh fancy word). Because, I've been stupidly busy with Le Crucible. But guess what it’s your lucky day in the words of Mr SWAZZINGGEERR ‘I’ll be back’ and this is me back! POW.

So because I took time out, to do some theatre, I thought. Why not have a seasonal edition! Then I thought naah. We’ll do one about MY FAVORITE LIVING ACTORS.
SO HERE IS LE TOP FIEEVVVE. In no particular order.

Lets get the obvious cliché out of the way.
DANIEL DAY LEWIS.

Firstly, he is an extraordinary craftsmen, the amount of research and commitment he gifts to a role is exemplary and this tradesman ship should be valued.
Secondly, there will be blood. (do I need to say anything more?)

And his less commended role in the film gangs of new York. Yes this film is RUINED by Leonardo do craprio. But DDL’s role as the Butcher is chilling and possibly the second best villain to grace the silver screen.

2.       Speaking of best villains. Javier Bardem, No country for old men. Chigurh, this character is chilling. It was this that introduced me to Bardem’s work. His metaphorical representation of this angel of death was a brilliant on screen performance. Then I watched Biutiful, OH MY GOD. THIS MAN IS BRILLIANT. WATCH ALL HIS FILMS. He was also in a rather terrible version of Love in the time of cholera which is one of my favourite books. But it was Javier Bardem so he was fine. I BLAME EVERYONE ELSE.

3.       Adrien Brody. Brody is to acting what fish and chips is to British culture.  He is probably the most natural on screen presence of our generation. He’s like thirty and already won an Oscar. Now here’s the thing. THE PIANIST. If you’ve not seen it get your clinex and watch in… now.  Also he co-produced ‘Detachment’ which is totally my new favourite film. He’s also beautiful in this film, playing a substitute teacher trying to avoid confronting the problems with the American education system. Watch it after the pianist. Just do it.

4.       Alan Rickman. Alan Rickmans silky voice and randomly situated pauses. Make him a clear pick for this list. He’s even good in a film called blowdry. Which to be honest is painfully bad, then Rickman kicks arse. Look at these performances in terms of Dogma and Rasputin. He nails them both in completely different ways. Plus he could play any character. Seriously. Pick up any script with any part and Alan fits.

5.       So we have one pick left. Whose it going to be Christian Bale? Kevin Spacey? Sir Ian Mckellen?(it would be Sir Ian if he didn’t sell out to make 9 hours of the Hobbit). Narrowly beating out Edward Norton and Forest Whittaker (lost for the criminal minds spin off) for the final place on the list is… Not Morgan Freeman (he’s number 6 ;). But it is non-other than, Jaoquin Pheonix! Almost purely for his undeniably brilliant performance as Jonny Cash. He’s a fabulous underrated talent and one to watch. I feel he is one who the baton will be passed to in coming years. Bring on some great films Jaoquin. 

You may well disagree with this, and it's by no means comprehensive. But that is how Conall sees it.

White torture, a response to Kyle (Or, the six people who are cooler than you but you never knew where cooler than you but are actually way way cooler than you).

Welcome back Kick ass diction critical annalists.
Firstly, Kyle is wrong. He is trippin' like a nun on MDMA. Just crazy wrong. His tendency for murder is bordering sociopath, he just wants to see people die. I would rather have my flesh eaten from by bones by hungry Justin Beiber fans than actually watch Easternders. His one poor reason, was not creditable and his rebuttal was basically childlike and well disappointing. So I am right because I am Conall.

If Kyle doesn’t post again. I killed his sociopathic murdering arse, for disrespecting Masterchef Australia. #Justice

On with my post. This one is catchily titled, ‘People who are cooler than you but you didn’t realise where cooler than you. But are actually way way cooler than you.’
I hope you not only purvey my opinion, I hope you look into the people on the list, and wallow in your own socially rejected misery.

1.       Lenny Bruce
A comedian from the late 50’s early 60’s. He was erm, a bit erm, radical? He was one of those opinionated people who voiced there opinions, sound like anyone you know?
‘A lot of people say to me, 'Why did you kill Christ?' I dunno, it was one of those parties, got out of hand, you know.’ He was arrested for indecency, and pissed off(on) Americans almost as much as Sadam Hussain, but he belittled their tiny fat arses. But like Sadam, his weapons where given to him by America, and he poked fun at republicans, politics and the politically correct revolution began.

2.       August Sanders
A German post WW1 photographer, famous for his portraits. He’s like the shaggy of the photography world. He may look like Hannibal lector, but I’m sure he is warm and fluffy inside. Well he’s probably mostly jellified rotten flesh now… But anyway, he was a socialist in Nazi Germany. And that is cool.

3.       Louis Armstrong.
He can play, cornet, trumpet, scat sing, has an airport names after him and can sing the pants of all your mama’s, sisters and aunties. Simultaneously. But he wouldn’t because he’s a stand up guy. Plus get this right, everyone loved him in an America full of racists. Plenty cool.

4.       Sir Ian Mckellen
On a graph of you to Sir Ian, your like maybe a o.7 Gradient at best. This mans coolness is exponential. Not only is he a Shakespearian actor, he played Gandalf ergo is the coolest man alive. Also his episode of extras is my favourite.

5.       Carl Sagan
The man who made physic’s cool. Pale blue dot is one of my favourite things ever.
When I think of cool I think of this man, he combines cutting fashion sense, physics, wit and a general humanist outlook on life. -1^(1/2) less than 3 Mr Sagan.

6.       Miguel Angel Jimanez.
Three simple reasons why he’s so cool.
His name, is the best name ever.
He’s a professional sportsman and his warm-up is to smoke an expensive cigar.
He’s nickname is the mechanic, because his love for driving really expensive cars. Like a boss.

I hope you will now realise there are many, many people cooler than you. Looking upon this list I have decided if I could become a combination of these people, I’d be an actor, playing a golfer in a soul musical, who has radical socialist views, swears a lot and loves astrophysics. With a massive personality disorder, depression, lung cancer, have everything I mean burnt by Nazi’s and be rejected by American society.
Everyone would probably hate me, but it would be so awesome.

And that’s how Conall See’s it.

Dating: I Hate Americanisms

This week is too serious for kick-ass diction intro. I’ve been thinking and I feel, this one is more deep and introspective and other stuff. So yeah, grab your wine, hold onto your Kant, pray for some Hobbes, realise it doesn’t matter because you’re a nihilist and then begin to purvey what Is the world of Conalls bi-weekly blog of kick-ass diction’s thinkers edition.

Recently, I’ve been you know thinking. Like with the think tank and I came up with this question?

How the Jonny Depp did we get from, taking a woman to a cave and being all grrr. To being like ‘oh darling you’re a princess’. And for this reason the topic of this week is ‘dating, what went wrong?’

UGGG woman, get to cave Ugg. Says pre-human Conall. But this all changed, and I have a rather intellectual theory about this. If you don’t want to read it, just restart in the next paragraph.
So here’s what I think, when we moved from the state of nature, a pre-social state.E.G cavemen. Where all resources where competed for and Women, sorry to say it guys where well, one. But when control was gifted to a sovereign, we lost the right to purely take resources. Therefor we lost power, because of this, we seek relationships, to convince ourselves that what we decide to do actually matters. Without girlfriend: What shall I do today, nothing. With Girlfriend: What shall I do today, this is a really important decision which Xlady will care about.

Welcome back, none of you read that did you?
Anyway, its like twitter, no one actually cares what you’re doing. We just like to believe someone does. It’s a stupid condition of people, they like to think their important. Take Boris Johnson, he thinks he’s an important politician, we all know he’s just a Human sized Michelin man, with a prepubescent Arnold Swartzannegger haircut, and a bicycle.
Moving On, not feeling important yet?
So alone, you can’t even see your own shadow?
Actually listening to Adele?
Want some tips?
Good, Conall’s here. AKA the love Dr.

SOLUTIONS to your own intolerable loneliness and how to get money from rich men.
Newspaper dating columns:
Like intellectuals? A great way to meet a man with a 6 figure pension and a mansion in his will, is the newspaper dating. Here is a brief guide, to getting the most out of it.
1. Lie out of your arse. You are a skinny twentysomething belly dancer. And I like David Bowie. HELLO RICH OLD MEN.
2. Translations, be afraid of acronyms they’re evil.
3. Curvy = Fat
30ish =40
40=50
50=60
young 60= BINGO.
nurse = likes to dress up.
pretty = 6/10
Cute = small
Small = less than 5 foot.
tall = Hello gigantor.
Looking for a good time = looking to WOOHOO
Looking for a friend = cat lady.
BBW = big brother watcher (avoid)
GSOH = ugly.
SWM = super white masochist.
WLTM = willing looking to murder.
Can’t read? Have that problem where you spend at least 79.87% of the time on the internet? I mean about 87.547% of people you meet on the internet aren’t just there to hunt little kids.
Try internet dating!
I recommend: Match.com the perfect place for unsociable lonely men to hunt women with young children!
Seacaptaindating.com, I actually really like this one, I love me some haggard seacaptain, but unfortunately they go out to sea a lot. So I rang home and said ‘Dad man, I’m so lonely’ ‘Son I thought you were hooking up with that Seacaptain’ ‘No, she’s at sea. And I can’t go on. DADDY I WANT MY SEACAPTAIN NOW’
datingachademic.com: a place for academics with dyslexia to meet up.
Uniformdating.com: You’ve thought about it. You there dirty minded one.

Third option: actually going out to meeting people. Go forth and multiply so sayeth the bible, use some chat up lines like. ‘Did you fall from heaven, or am I just slowly falling over?’ and are you a treadmill, because I just want to get close to you but can’t.
Places to meet women:
Wine bars
Salsa dancing classes
Cookery classes
Baby mother classes
Maternity section
Caves.
1Direction concerts.
Theatres.
Through Friends.

Places to meet men:
Garages
Football matches
Dive bars.
Sporting events.
Singles nights.
Websites.

Speed dating. I used to open with.
Hey I’m Conall and my ideal date would be, a thai food meal, followed by a contemporary theatre performance and a walk through a pine forest, followed by ball room dancing.

This didn’t get me much attention. So I play aloof and distant now.
Some people just think I’m a mute. But I guess that’s kind of cute.

This didn’t help at all did it.
But it was kind of cute right?

That’s how Conall see’s it.