Ashley Hunking

the art of unemployment

'Look at all the poor bastards, who got to go to work while I sleep." These are the lyrics to Everytime, a song by Canadian singer songwriter Sarah Harmer. I will be performing Everytime this weekend at Capilano College Theatre in North Vancouver.

A long night at the Westmark

Stepping off the plane, I inhale the brisk Yukon air and am thrilled. I've returned home to participate in the Nakai 24-hour Playwriting Competition in Whitehorse held at the Westmark, marking my first attempt at playwriting.

Playwriting and stage smooching

Life intervenes. My acting class has been postponed to an unknown date because my teacher's mother has become seriously ill. What now? I ask myself.

late blooming geniuses

'What's the rush?" My acting teacher Kate quickly responds to my request for her help in putting together an audition tape to send to talent agents. It's pilot season. I watch all my classmates scurry off to auditions and I am envious that I am not

exposed you fake

The wreck unfolding on stage made me cringe. "Now you tell me a story!," the frozen student blurted weakly while stiffly stuffing sandwich props into her mouth. And, to add insult to injury, the remaining bread in her hands crumbled, as if on cue. The act

My fears are bears and stripping

What do you mean I am not ready? My heart pauses mid-beat. My brain flip-flops like a fish on a dock. My breath evaporates and I struggle to swallow strings of dry woolly saliva. "Your craft needs work," says an acting coach I've known 20 minutes and...

gathering memories for some future oscar night

Actors need work experience to get an agent and an agent to get work. At times like these, I wish Goldie Hawn or James Dean were my creators.

Murdered by a psychotic artist

My acting debut in Bloodshots (a 48-hour horror film festival) is today! Flat on my back in bed, my eyes are wide open; the clock beams 4:45 a.m.

Living by instinct

We learn a lot about our true desires in childhood. Children are instinctive. I felt a calling to be a performer.