Diary… Shakespeare visits Headway East London


🔹Back at Headway after our Winter break in Tenerife, I first got a snap of Katya’s Shoes (and Pringle socks) to go on the Instagram feed I have started. 

These shoes have appeared previously, so I asked her to try harder in future.

🔹Then we got to do a rudimentary acting class with RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) actor Graeme Brookes, who is currently performing in ‘As You Like It’ and ‘Measure For Measure’ at the Barbican theatre.

He started by explaining the iambic pentameter, the beat of Shakespeare’s verse and the importance of word/syllable emphasis. 

Then he got us doing 4 lines of Shakespeare:

All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts…

Graeme asked us to consider the meaning of each line for us as individuals, to keep that idea in our heads and then say the words. 

S did “All the world’s…” then E, then M and finally S (a woman) delivered the last of the four lines.

Graeme told us in relation to the final line that when he is not acting he is a child-protection social worker.

S told us that before her brain injury she was a “banker” in a vast number of different countries. Now she is an “artist” at Headway’s studio, Submit to Love.

When each member delivered their line, they found themselves ‘acting’ without even knowing they were doing it, adding shrugs and raised eyebrows quite naturally. 

The workshop was a big hit with everyone and I think Graeme even learned something (that’s him, the tall guy, right at the back of the photo).

The Actors’ Guild of Headway

🔹Later I did an interview with film-maker artist-in-residence Posy about my brain injury and its aftermath, centring on identity. 

I also grabbed a shot in Michelle’s office of a box full of plasticine heads made by Headway members.

Then, after lunch of risotto with asparagus and beetroot, I did a couple of waxy monoprints, while B went on and on about how Connie looked like Harry Potter today, with her unruly fringe and her roundy wire-rim glasses…

When Harry met Connie
Guess which one is meant to be Meghan Markle and which is the Liberian schoolboy…

…And marvelled at the work of this month’s featured artist, Jon.

Jon’s genius is in layering the paint

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