Actors in a pub (characters and setting)

I am getting back, if I may, to this evening I spent in a pub with my fellow thespians. It was very nice, even though on a Wednesday I am more tired and I tend not to go out for a drink. I only had a pint and a half, but I felt them strongly. Unlike my previous evening out with fellow actors last year, they were not from the same generation. And we were a small number: my teacher and four students all in all.

We would all like to act again, in one capacity or another. In my case I really miss the stage. I mean I really loved the radio play, but the stage is my natural element, I think, although I haven't tried the screen yet. In any case, it felt good to give and receive news to/from people with shared interest. As I mentioned before, art creates a special bond. I am not a very social person in general, but this is the kind of society I actually enjoy to spend with, it is the community I feel I belong to. I may never be a great actor (by this read: an accomplished/professional one), my career took a radically different path, but I feel more natural as an actor as I am as a anything else.

And I couldn't help observing the small crowd around us and its surroundings. The pub is I guess a natural place for an actor (to rehearse or to booze). But it is also a gathering place for teenagers who are not quite old enough to drink (or don't look like it), employees of a M&S and well, middle of the week drinkers, all either younger or older than me. The pub had the lovely if common name of George & Dragon, but it is a bland one, part of a chain, everything looks all creamy beige and it smells of fried chicken. It used to look quite nice before it was bought, now it looks like. Well a chain. I was lucky to be in good company, I also had my favourite beer to drink, so I enjoyed my time regardless of the characterless surroundings. And it was quiet enough so we could hear our conversations. Still, what a waste of a beautiful name. I might suggest another pub next time, a place with character.