Photo Martin Smith, Origin8Photography.Com: The Very Versatile Mark Stratford Is Narrator, Lead Actor, And Presenter of Various Other Characters As He Gives A Masterclass In Storytelling In His One Man Show At The Award-Winning Brockley Jack Theatre, South East London, Tuesday 11th – Saturday 15th February 2025
A Masterclass In Storytelling!
We’ve Noticed That It’s Increasingly In Vogue These Days For Actors, Young And Older, To Describe Their Craft As ‘Storytelling’ Rather Than Merely ‘Acting’ Alone.
The Best ‘Storytelling’ Advice We’ve Ever Seen Given Was Infact Delivered Years Ago By Al Pacino In Conversation During The Excellent Interview Series ‘The Actors Studio’ Wherein He Reveals That For Him The Art of Acting Is In-Fact Not To Act But To Just ‘Be’ The Character Concerned.
That Thespian Insight Even As Mere Audience Members Has Ever Since Empowered In Us A Liberating Ability To Distinguish Between Great ‘Storytellers’ And Basic ‘Actors’.
Paradoxically In The Former Category There Can Be Those Who May Not Have Nor Ever Achieve Great Fame, Despite Their Great Talent For Storytelling. And In The Latter, There Can Be Those Who Are Overated And Have Great Fame And Acclaim Despite Just Possessing A Basic Inclination For Acting.
One Multi-Oscar Winner In Particular Comes To Mind. She ‘Acts’ The Same No Matter The Different Characters She Plays. That She Gets Away With It And Has Been Repeatedly Awarded For It Is A Complete Mystery And Deeply Annoying To The Point That We Simply Don’t Watch Her Performances Anymore Because Although Her Roles Are Many And Varied With Different Costumes And Span Several Decades She Always ‘Acts’ The Same. Now Blessed With Pacino’s Lens We See Clearly Now That Predictably And Repeatedly She Denys Us Great ‘Storytelling’ And Is Rather Tedious, No Matter If She Is In Amongst Great or Not So Great Cast Members.
The Great Storyteller Is What We Hunger!
To Engagingly Command A One-Hander, Irrespective of Gender, One Has To Be A Great Storyteller, Because Anything Less Would Simply Be A Disaster…Both For The Audience And The Performer.
In This Context We A Great Storytelling Masterclass Is Provided By Mark Stratford Who For A Eighty Minutes, Without Interval, Simply Is ‘William Macready’ The Rather Accidental Actor, Theatre Manager And Pioneer, And Eventual Close Friend of Charles Dickens.
Take Not Our Word For It, Treat Yourself To A Night In Theatre And Witness Him In Action. But Be Warned For It Flys By As He Is So Convincing As This Torn Theatrical Gent Subjected To ‘A Haunting Victorian Combination of Both Great Responsibility And Casual Social Contempt For The Acting Classes’ ‘That If Felt Like Listening To A Captivating Story Told By A Friend Who Just Happens To Be From An Entirely Different Era And Is Fascinating Nonetheless. He Has Mastered The Art of Telling The Story At Great Pace Without It Seeming As Though He’s Rushing It. It’s Captivating And Yet It Goes By Quick In The Alloted Eighty Minutes.
One Reason Mark Strafford’s Macready Is So Convincing & Compelling Is Because His Set Design Is So Minimal That It Demands That He Give All of Himself As The Stage He’s On Affords The Audience Little Else But The Man Himself. A Few Chairs And A Table Leave His True Talent No Hiding Place. He Gives It Large. And We Get It!
Strattord Is A Big Boy Who Has A Youthful ENERGY, A Flat Tummy, And Lightness of Movent Despite His Statuesque Physique of Six Foot Two And Sixty Two Years. He Just Naturally And Elegantly Commands The Stage And The Audience’s Undivided Attention. His Natural Presence Brings To Mind Peter Jones of Dragon’s Den And His Lightness of Touch Anton Du Beke of Strictly (Come Dancing). It’s A Fascinating Combination Not Easily Pulled Off.
Showbusiness Is Called Show And ‘Business’ For A Reason And It Is Simply A Matter of Fact That He Is Greying Yet Evergreen, Tall, Dark And Handsome, And Blessed With A Commanding Presence. Given That He Is The Sole Cast Member From The Perspective of The ‘Business’ Element of ‘Show’ Business This Aesthetic Blessing May Help Investors (Audiences And Those Behind The Scenes) Make Investment Decisions (of Time And Money) More Easily. But Ultimately It Is His Versatile Performance, Acting Ability, And Talent That Enable Him To Just ‘Be’ And That Will Keep The Said Investors Glad That They Made Their Decision To See Him.
Furthermore Stratford Has One of The Greatest Tools of Stage And Screen, Essential To All Great Storytellers, Namely A Voice That Is Persuasive To Listen To, With Layers of Warmth, Clarity, Ennunciation, Depth And Range, Delivering Where Needed – Sometimes Passion – And – Sometimes Pain.
Simple But Effective Too And Very Cleverly Done Is How This Aforementiond Evergreen Thespian Ages Himself Before Our Very Eyes By Using Not Only The Layers of His Voice But The Layers of His Clothing Whilst Yet Keeping His Aforementioned Skill of Movement Ever Equally Free And Convincing.
All Are Too His Great Credit.
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