Apologies for the lateness. This is a scattered representation of what we talked about. It sounds much more negative than it was. I think we were naming the concerns we had about being female and/or having a working class voice in a manner akin to smoothing out the wrinkles in a sheet. We were looking for answers but started by naming the problems. This felt like the start, rather than the end of something.


Down the centre of the argument:

Acting Bodies
Naturalism has it trapped us in one way of reading female/working class bodies
Sex: is sexiness a necessity for female actors ? Will you get more work?
True Stories
Telling your own story
Myths about neutrality of certain bodies/voices
Representation
Maleability
Privilege


Closer to Bodies
Casting
Time equalling Money
Are we only telling one story?
Activism
Narrative theatre
Devising
Energy
Disability
How much time do you spend in the presence of people who have power?
Exposure
Schooling
Opportunity
It is time to destroy the myth of the self-made person
Whatever the privilege, someone always pays.
Who gets to the top
Who calls the shots?
Who has the money?
Gate Keepers
It takes money sometimes to access free spaces


Closer to Working Class voices

Does neutrality exist
Taking opportunities
Being in context
Can you afford to take risks?
Wanting to do more than one thing but feeling limited by how you are percieved
Bias - unconscious/implicit
Believe-ability
Vulnerabilities
What about the extra work involved
Adverse Childhood Experiences
What if we value experiences?
How much/often do you think about money?
Are you prepared to challenge authority?
Positives of a working class voice
Loss of funding for support
Financial burden - are some people paying more in time to catch up? Starting later
Financial responsibility (a mental state)
Debt.

Successes: Diversity School
Watch how Alexandra Ocasio Cortez became a congresswoman in Bring down the house on Netflix.