This month we hear from Ross, whose acting at Scunthorpe Little Theatre Club helps him to feel more comfortable with his autism and has taught him lots about himself.
Hi, I’m Ross, and I’m a proud member of Scunthorpe Little Theatre Club.
I first got involved with the club when a friend of mine asked me to come read for a role. It was a main role, and for a pantomime. This posed an issue to me, since I’d never acted before, and I had a bad experience with a pantomime when I was young, due to problems with my autism. I decided to bite the bullet, and give it a go, and I’m so glad that I did. Admittedly it took me a while to get comfortable with the group and the whole experience, but it gradually became easier.
The pantomime was called Frankenstein the Pantomime, and I ended up playing the title role of Frank N. Stein. Figuring out how to learn lines was nerve wracking, and as we got closer to theatre, I started to wonder what I was doing. I felt like I shouldn’t be there, like I was an imposter pretending to be an actor, and when we finally got to theatre, I felt like I was going to break and mess everything up.
But once the tabs opened on stage, and we began the opening number, all my nerves just melted away. I gave the best performance I could have done as a beginner, and actually ended up with some fellow members of the club expressing surprise that it was my first show, as they thought I’d done a really good job.
Since then I’ve been in four more shows, and at the time of writing this, am about to begin rehearsing for my sixth. I have been Frankie in Frankenstein, Dr. Samuel Johnson and Mr. David Keanrich in Blackadder III, Buttons in Cinderella, Tony in Abigail’s Party, and Abanazar in Aladdin.
Each of these roles have taught me new things both about theatre, and about how to be more confident and comfortable in my own skin. I owe so much to my friend who got me involved in this, and to the rest of the club who have welcomed me with open arms, and made me feel part of the family.
The next show we’re doing is The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer, in which I will be playing Michaelangelo, Harry and Palamon. It’s going to be really good, and delightfully mucky, so please consider coming to see us perform such a well-known and legendary set of tales.
Thanks for reading.