Ladinas Barkley is a college professor in the midst of teaching one of his last master classes in acting. He is a British actor who remembers the days of sitting in the theatre and watching Lawrence Olivier play some of his most memorable roles. It is important to him that the students in his class understand what makes an actor someone who has the ability to change lives. Through the performance he speaks from a place of passion about the art of acting and the things that we sacrifice to be actors. In the midst of his lesson he taps into an emotional place that makes him share with his students the worst of the need for success revealing the day that his mentor, and teacher, began to sexually abuse him. In this emotional breakdown he tells his students that there has to be a line that they are not willing to cross for the promise of fame. His speech is almost poetic as he bares his soul and much like the ballots of Shakespeare he ends with his favorite monologue from Richard III saying, “I am I.” What are any of us willing to do for success? Do we loose ourselves to do it? (The actor must speak Shakespeare.)
Male- My Life's Master Class
- (Professor Ladinas Barkley stands before his classroom. He writes on the board, turns and speaks to the audience as if they are his master class in acting.) Lawrence Olivier and William Shakespeare, these are my two theatrical mentors. I would like you to write down your theatrical mentors. (Beat) Why? That is the question that I want all of you to be able to answer by the end of this lecture. Why my children? I can remember it like it was just yesterday. I woke up in my dorm room and looked outside to see a beautiful sunrise coming above the hills of England, I grabbed my jacket and out the door I went. I wanted to be the first person in line to see the new release of Lawrence Olivier as Richard III. You young people don't know what you missed and out on in the 50s. I sat in the front row with my bucket of popcorn and a smile on my face so big I may have been the only person in the room that couldn't stop smiling at this performance. Brilliant. Breathe taking. He made William Shakespeare's words sound like the best coffee you've ever had while sitting on the beach with the one that you love. (Laughs) Yes my children that is change through acting. That is the kind of memory that creates life. Act five Scene three: Richard III said: Give me another horse: bind up my wounds. Have mercy, Jesu! – Soft! I did but dream. O coward conscience, hos dost thou afflict me! The lights burn blue. It is now dead midnight. Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh. What do I fear? (Beat) What do I fear?