A while back a friend of mine had a dream, in which they visited me in Toronto. Â In the dream, in the course of showing them around the city, I took them to a club for actors. Â Not a night club, but a “club” in the classic sense: you know like a place where people go to hang out, play cards (or whatever), talk shop, and socialize. Â I told her that there was no such place, but had to admit that it was a shame that no such place existed. Â And it really is.
As I mentioned before, when actors come together to work on a show, they form an ad hoc family, and when the show is over, that family dissolves.  That family will never be together in that way ever again.  During the rehearsal process, that family of actors socializes, networks, talks and acts as a support group.  It is, for a brief while, a community.  One that separates all too quickly.
What if there was a social club for actors? A place where we could get together, hang out, chat about the business, or chat about something other than the business. Â A place where a community could be formed that lasts longer than a show or a season.
What’s preventing this from happening right now? Â Perhaps location. Â One couldn’t expect to have a designated location right away (as nice as that might be). Â But what about a restaurant or bar or pub? Â The place would have to be quiet enough that people could talk, it would have to have a reasonably priced food (both vegetarian and not), and it would have to be welcoming to the group. Â Or perhaps, instead of that, start off with a pot-luck dinner type thing.
Either way, as far as I can see, we could all benefit from such a thing. Â A place where we could form a community, where we could benefit from each others’ experiences, and where we could socialize with like minded people.
Thoughts?