Nick Backstrom

Letters from a voluntary exile: The Bellman’s Map

by Nick Backstrom 30 August 2011

I have just spent the last two weekends exploring using the Bellman’s Map. The Bellman’s Map is from Lewis Carroll’s The Hunting of the Snark, where the Bellman, the captain of the group, presents them with a map that is “A perfect and absolute blank!” which his crew is delighted with, as it’s one they [...]

Letters from a voluntary exile: An alternative life …

by Nick Backstrom 18 November 2010

Hello Greenroomers,
Something unusual happened to me this month; I got work as an actor!
Coming to a new city is daunting. One has to re-establish oneself without any of the support networks (or fewer and smaller ones anyway) that one had in the old city. I have to go out and network. I have two problems [...]

A fifth letter: Thoughts while sitting in a waiting room

by Nick Backstrom 21 July 2010

Hello Greenroomers
I had another audition the other day for a TVC. It was one of those dispiriting ones when they want to see what faces you can pull. I hate them. Oh well, it’s just TVC casting laid bare really.
Auditioning is of course the curse of our profession, a necessary curse. But at its best, [...]

Soul food: a fourth letter from a voluntary exile

by Nick Backstrom 7 July 2010

Hello Greenroomers
Last night I watched Ratatouille, the excellent Pixar film featuring a rat (who is an excellent chef) and his adventures in a Paris restaurant. It also features Anton Ego, a critic of devastating reputation. Although Ego is used by the writers to satirize the role and cult of critics (as if his name wasn’t [...]

Letters from a voluntary exile: a third letter

by Nick Backstrom 2 June 2010

GUEST POST: Nick Backstrom is an actor and writer, formerly based in Brisbane and more recently in Melbourne. He also sings, teaches and directs, though rarely at the same time. Nick’s Melbourne relocation will form the basis of his occasional posts to Greenroom. He would be delighted to respond to any comments [...]

Letters from a Voluntary Exile #2: … and so it goes …

by Nick Backstrom 17 March 2010

GUEST POST: Nick Backstrom is an actor and writer, formerly based in Brisbane and more recently in Melbourne. He also sings, teaches and directs, though rarely at the same time. Nick’s Melbourne relocation forms the basis of his occasional posts to Greenroom. He would be delighted to respond to any comments or [...]

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