excitement. Then I just say, âLet go, let God.â Itâs a ritual Iâve always done. Itâs all about me getting out of my own way; I get out of my way to let the higher power come in and guide me. I let go and let God.
Once on stage you have to be truly in the moment, following each one as it comes to pass. Thereâs no living in the moment quite like there is on stage, apart from, perhaps, childbirth. If youâre thinking ahead, youâre mucking up. If youâre doing a post-mortem about what went slightly icky a moment ago, youâre mucking up. Itâs like skiing slalom â like downhill racing. You canât think âIâve just flicked that postâ; you have to think, âIâve got to do this one and this one and this one.â With âlet go and let Godâ, youare released to be in each and every moment of the performance, conscious and awake to its unique magic. If I didnât do this Iâd be nervous, ego-ridden, fixated on wanting to do well, and fearful.
You can apply it to any situation that demands some kind of performance. If youâre going for an interview, or to an important meeting, itâs the only way to be. As long as youâve done your best to prepare. After all, youâve got to do the work â this isnât about expecting God to do it for you. If youâve done your preparation, take off your mental pinny, wash your hands and say, âLet go, let God.â Just be in the moment. Only put in the energy that each moment requires. Donât try too hard. Trying too hard is trying too hard. Trying too little is too little. Just be there. If youâve done the work, just being there is enough.
Charlton Heston once said to me, âWeâve got the best job in the world, but donât tell anyone. Theyâll all want to do it.â And I can remember Kenneth Cranham breathlessly exclaiming, as we came off stage during a performance of The London Cuckolds : âOh Steph, this is better than sex!â Itâs true; it can be a lot of fun â as well as hard work. And itâs not just actors who have licence to play.
Chapter Four
Sixties Chic
I remember talking with a friend about whether she should buy a silver fox fur coat or do an acid trip with R D Laing. It was 1967 and we were at the epicentre of a movement that was sweeping the Western world. For a minute or six, love was there on the streets. It was tangible, it was vibrant and I was living in the front seat of a radical social experiment we were creating from one moment to the next. The whole of youth seemed to be involved in an expansion of consciousness. Our mentors and guides were magicians and wondrous folk.
R D Laing typified the time. A psychiatrist and psychotherapist, his approach to mental disorders drew as much on philosophy and real-life experience as it did on medical theory. Rather than individual people being mad, he thought it was society, and the institutions that control our lives, that were insane. In harmony with a spirit of the time, his approach was based on compassion and humane understanding. Though he was totally against the use of anti-psychotic drugs in the treatment of mental illness, he thoughtthat mind-expanding drugs â like LSD and mescaline â had the potential to unlock the unlimited reservoir of our imaginations and give us insight into the wonders and mysteries of the universe. He was also an advocate of communal living. At Kingsley Hall, in East London, patients and therapists lived together; an experimental alternative, challenging what Laing thought was the inhuman system to which people with mental illnesses were usually subjected.
We were pushing against the world of our parents in order to gain momentum and move forwards. We wanted to do things our way â to smash the mental manacles that we felt had limited our parentsâ lives. We were fearlessly forging our way towards a brave new
Once on stage you have to be truly in the moment, following each one as it comes to pass. Thereâs no living in the moment quite like there is on stage, apart from, perhaps, childbirth. If youâre thinking ahead, youâre mucking up. If youâre doing a post-mortem about what went slightly icky a moment ago, youâre mucking up. Itâs like skiing slalom â like downhill racing. You canât think âIâve just flicked that postâ; you have to think, âIâve got to do this one and this one and this one.â With âlet go and let Godâ, youare released to be in each and every moment of the performance, conscious and awake to its unique magic. If I didnât do this Iâd be nervous, ego-ridden, fixated on wanting to do well, and fearful.
You can apply it to any situation that demands some kind of performance. If youâre going for an interview, or to an important meeting, itâs the only way to be. As long as youâve done your best to prepare. After all, youâve got to do the work â this isnât about expecting God to do it for you. If youâve done your preparation, take off your mental pinny, wash your hands and say, âLet go, let God.â Just be in the moment. Only put in the energy that each moment requires. Donât try too hard. Trying too hard is trying too hard. Trying too little is too little. Just be there. If youâve done the work, just being there is enough.
Charlton Heston once said to me, âWeâve got the best job in the world, but donât tell anyone. Theyâll all want to do it.â And I can remember Kenneth Cranham breathlessly exclaiming, as we came off stage during a performance of The London Cuckolds : âOh Steph, this is better than sex!â Itâs true; it can be a lot of fun â as well as hard work. And itâs not just actors who have licence to play.
Chapter Four
Sixties Chic
I remember talking with a friend about whether she should buy a silver fox fur coat or do an acid trip with R D Laing. It was 1967 and we were at the epicentre of a movement that was sweeping the Western world. For a minute or six, love was there on the streets. It was tangible, it was vibrant and I was living in the front seat of a radical social experiment we were creating from one moment to the next. The whole of youth seemed to be involved in an expansion of consciousness. Our mentors and guides were magicians and wondrous folk.
R D Laing typified the time. A psychiatrist and psychotherapist, his approach to mental disorders drew as much on philosophy and real-life experience as it did on medical theory. Rather than individual people being mad, he thought it was society, and the institutions that control our lives, that were insane. In harmony with a spirit of the time, his approach was based on compassion and humane understanding. Though he was totally against the use of anti-psychotic drugs in the treatment of mental illness, he thoughtthat mind-expanding drugs â like LSD and mescaline â had the potential to unlock the unlimited reservoir of our imaginations and give us insight into the wonders and mysteries of the universe. He was also an advocate of communal living. At Kingsley Hall, in East London, patients and therapists lived together; an experimental alternative, challenging what Laing thought was the inhuman system to which people with mental illnesses were usually subjected.
We were pushing against the world of our parents in order to gain momentum and move forwards. We wanted to do things our way â to smash the mental manacles that we felt had limited our parentsâ lives. We were fearlessly forging our way towards a brave new
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