Freedom Seeker by Beth Kempton

Author:Beth Kempton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hay House
Published: 2017-02-16T00:00:00+00:00

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~ The glimmer of gold ~

Allan Girod was working as a history teacher in a small town in Western Australia when he was dragged into the local amateur dramatics society. A self-confessed ‘super-introvert’, Allan was terrified, but the moment he stepped onto the stage he came alive. Performing allowed him to pretend that he wasn’t shy and that he didn’t care what others thought of him. In character, Allan was larger than life and he loved it.

After a particularly challenging year of teaching, Allan decided to quit and try acting full time. Despite having no formal training, he went straight into a job in a production of Road Train. The show had rave reviews and gave Allan a real taste of acting, but after a while he lost confidence in himself and quit to work as a tour guide. He began with basic tours, but as his experience and reputation grew, he found himself leading adventures into the Australian Outback. One day a traveller fell ill and, although Allan coped, he realized that he felt wholly unqualified for what he was doing.

This is a recurring theme for Allan: he dives in without thinking, which allows him to be bold and brave, but after a while his rational mind catches up and the inner voice gets louder, telling him he’s a faker and not good enough. Along the way he has racked up many amazing experiences, but Allan’s inner voice is so loud it knocks all the wind out of his sails and he retreats into himself.

After a while he decided to give acting another go. In another astonishing demonstration of courage, Allan created a show in which he challenged himself with all the things he found most terrifying: solo performance, characterization through movement and audience interaction.

To make sure he didn’t back out, Allan booked a tour of Canada. His performance attracted critical acclaim and he loved the energy of the tour, so the following year he decided to take it back on the road to a host of additional Canadian cities.

One night on tour, after the show, he checked his email to find a note from a guy named Marc-Andre, who was Casting Director at Cirque de Soleil. It was an invitation to audition for a clown position. Allan’s first reaction was one of sheer excitement, followed by abject terror. The audition required him to do a two-minute clown piece, but he didn’t have any ready. So he spent several hours constructing a detailed email listing all the reasons why he’d regretfully have to decline the best job offer of his life, and hit ‘send’.

But Marc-Andre wasn’t about to take ‘no’ for an answer. He turned up at Allan’s show the following night and told him, ‘You are exactly what we are looking for. Just do your thing.’ The audition paid off and he was offered the role of The Giant Clown in Corteo. It was a massive career break.

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