Coffee, anyone?

Kate Walder returns to AussieTheatre as a regular columnist. Drop in weekly for a coffee (or something stronger) with Kate…

Hello everyone! I’m back. Some of you may remember me from such classics as “Coffee with Kate”, “The girl who became psychotic in the UK” and “F*&k off I’m meditating on an Italian mountain.” For those of you who are new, welcome.

In 2009 I wrote a series of columns documenting my life as a first year out of drama school graduate. As I embark on my fourth year in the industry, it occurred to me that perhaps I should revive the column. Fourth year out, I hear you ask? Why is that relevant? Have you been cast in a professional show? Are you famous yet?

NO! Of course not. I make a LIVING out of being an almost employed, prematurely jaded, cabaret-by-default artist. I’m writing in my fourth year out because if you remember correctly, I like to do things the wrong way round, in reverse order and at inappropriate times. For example: move to London before I have a career, write a one-woman show before I have a career, retire from my career before I have a career. So there is no particular rationale to my decision to return to Aussietheatre, other than that it just felt like time to unleash my existential rants upon the theatre-going public again.

I suppose I should quickly fill you in on what I’ve been up to. It’s been amazing. I have played on every international stage you could think of. I’ve played on stages in countries that haven’t even been invented yet. I’m cosmically famous. My unprecedented ascent to inter-galactic stardom has been so swift that it’s going to take light years before anyone actually gets word of it. But trust me, it happened.

Oh who am I kidding? I can’t lie to you guys. I’ve been living a fairly normal life as a performing artist in Sydney, which has looked something like this: teaching, ushering, auditioning, serving duck parfait in a French restaurant, more auditioning, wanting to kill myself with the closest baguette in the French restaurant, writing a show, resigning from the French restaurant, travelling overseas, returning home, selling wine over the phone with other starving actors, realising that selling wine over the phone steals your soul, practising yoga to recover soul, writing a new show, constantly engaging people in conversations about the meaning of life and sticking quotes all over my bedroom so that I don’t feel completely bipolar.

For the record, my mental health is just fine. This is how it is for us creative types (all the actors are nodding in agreement, all the non-industry readers are rushing home to have a serious talk with their child about never dating an actor). But there is much fun and many discoveries to be had in a life that is constantly changing.

Over the course of the year I’ll attempt to provide a bit insight for the readers who aren’t in the industry, a bit of solace for the people who are and a bit of light entertainment for everyone! I really am delighted to be on board with Aussietheatre again and if there is anything you’d like me to talk about, please feel free to write in to the website [or leave a comment below].I look forward to many short blacks and quadruple strength lattes with you all. Until next week!