Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Things are Starting To Happen

MuleBoy's dissertation is finished. I asked for permission to print it out at work and now have it sitting in a drawer, awaiting one mini-amendment that required a panicky phonecall from his work. He has, by sheer jamminess, managed to get a full time job at the place where he was going to have to quit because they didn't have enough hours. He has but three essays to do and then he will be finished. He is set to graduate on 24 July, a day which I plan to celebrate fully.

The thing that has glued me to my place is done and I am nearly free to pursue other things. But I still don't know what to do. I am so fundamentally struck with ennui at the idea of continuing in admin but am not skilled in any other areas. I've been looking at placements but all are unpaid and we can't afford for either of us to be doing that sort of shenanigans for a while. And the wedding and honeymoon are in the way of most suggested dates. I'd love to join the Actor's Company but that costs 11 grand and, despite the structure of the company which allows people to work part time, that is extremely past my means. And I want a period of living at least a little bit within my means. That'd be nice.

My goal at the moment is to save for a postgraduate course at a drama school. Within this time I plan to look for other things to see if I'm better suited for them instead. I found something quite spectacular at the Donmar Warehouse which is my short-term goal. They've started a new thing, which is a trainee casting person and is supported by a bursary, so is paid. I phoned to find out what I could do to get it next year (it's a year post that starts in February). I'd need some casting experience beyond the amateur dramatics so have emailed a few companies about shadowing them. I think I have the skills for casting, particularly in the way that I can memorise actors and their careers. But it's frustrating that in order to get something paid I have to do something unpaid, which is similar to the sort of jobs that MuleBoy wants to go for. I may also continue to write and read film stuff and, if I do anything good, may send it to people.

I don't know what to do, as long-term readers will be well aware, but at least I am at the point where I can look for stuff rather than just wish for stuff to happen in the future. I've applied for a couple of adminny jobs already in order to make a start in London and can genuinely start to make plans. It's a relief.