This is a book about life and this is a book about acting.

Exploring Shakespeare’s dictum, “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players,” Bill Carr proves it isn’t just dramatic hyperbole but true. During his life, Bill has tried to live authentically while being very conscious he was acting. We are all acting, he claims, and some are better actors than others.

The same skills that work on the stage also work in life. Each requires the same attention to detail and a co-ordination of the inner life with the outer manifestation of that life. So Bill decided to improve his use of theatre techniques to better manage his own life. Now he shares those discoveries with readers.

Through exercises in the Play Journal and relating (often hilariously) his own life lessons, Bill will help you take the performance of your life to the next level – whatever you conceive that to be. Acting Up is about self-creation, taking control of the creative energies in and around you to be who you want to be in any given moment on your life’s stage. It asks you to follow Socrates’ advice, “Know thyself,” and challenges you to manifest that self in each moment. This is no easy task, but the alternative can be too costly.

The ideas here are gifts Bill received throughout his life from mystics, philosophers, seers, artists and seekers, who, like him, have experimented along the way, each offering bits and pieces that resulted in this book. Acting Up is part of an ongoing experiment in living. As you take part in the exercises, you join a company of artists dedicated to the adventure of self-discovery and, ultimately, self-expression. Perform your life as it was meant to be performed. It’s your show, so start acting up. 

Bill Carr is a multi-media artist, an actor, humorist, writer, speaker and social activist. For more than 25 years, he has been making people laugh at what’s trivial while helping them think deeply about what counts. Bill inspires laughter and consideration, offering his audience a fresh perspective on what they face every day. At the root of his work is helping people reflect on the beauty of their innate creative humanity. For more on Bill go to www.arcworks.ca

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