Guest post by Greg Wohead, a Texan actor in London

This week fellow American actor in London Greg Wohead tells us about his experience in the UK and his upcoming solo show The Many Apologies of Pecos Bill, which he also wrote. Anyone living abroad will relate to what he says about identity and how your perception of home changes with distance and time.

Greg Wohead

"I moved to London in 2005 to go to drama school at East 15 Acting School (which, strictly speaking, was Essex, but for a Texas boy it was close enough). I met some great people at East 15, and after the course finished I wanted to keep making theatre with them, so I decided to stay a little while longer. Seven years later I’m still here and have no plans to leave.

I have mixed feelings about being an American actor in the UK, to be honest. On the one hand, it wasn’t hard to find my niche in the industry as an American actor, which was great. So many British actors I know have real trouble standing out from the crowd because there are so many people who are similar to them, so as an American it was usually easy to know how to package myself when approaching agents and casting directors. On the other hand, that niche can sometimes feel very narrow, which in some ways has always made me feel less in control of my acting career than I’d like to be.

I have had some great experiences as an actor in London (I’ve especially enjoying doing radio dramas), but have still found that a great deal of jobs that came my way aren’t as creatively stimulating as I’d like them to be. So for that reason I started making my own solo performances, which has made me feel much more in control and creative. Funnily enough, it has made me more successful in other parts of my acting career - I’ve had more ‘industry’ (to use a kind of horrible term) people come see my solo shows than have ever seen me before, and the confidence I’ve gained by making my own work has meant that I go into auditions feeling stronger.

I’ll be performing my newest solo show, The Many Apologies of Pecos Bill, at The Yard in London later this month, 25-28 September 2012. It’s a show that’s about distance from a place - in my case, Texas. As an American in the UK, I’m curious about what it means to be ‘from’ a place; how your identity is caught up in that place and how your perception of that place warps and changes as a result of distance through time and geographical location.

I’ve had a huge amount of fun making this show; it includes embarrassing true stories, tall tales, Jerry Hall and Pecos Bill, “The Greatest Cowboy of All Time”. I’ll be accompanied onstage by a brilliant musician, Mat Martin, who plays banjo and guitar.

The Yard is worth checking out, too, if you haven’t yet. It’s a brilliantly supportive new venue in Hackney Wick built from leftover materials from the Olympic site.

The Many Apologies of Pecos Bill is on at The Yard as part of Heaven is a Place on Earth - A Festival. You can book tickets here: http://theyardtheatre.co.uk/show/the-many-apologies-of-pecos-bill-sock-puppet/ "

Greg's website is gregwohead.com and his Twitter account is @gregwohead