One of the positives of this vile Covid 19 pandemic is the production of John Wood’s memoir, HOW I CLAWED MY WAY TO THE MIDDLE.
The actor had been asked to commit pen to paper previously but quickly lost interest in the subject the moment he sat down to chronicle his career.
At the beginning of 2020, John found himself treading the boards at the Ensemble Theatre in Sydney playing in Crunch Time, David Williamson’s swan song.
During this time, he was thinking if David was calling it quits maybe he should pull up stumps too, but then reconsidered. What could he possibly do if he wasn’t acting. Then Corona closed Crunch Time and he had time to work on this book.
John confesses that he has not found the writing of HOW I CLAWED MY WAY TO THE MIDDLE all that enjoyable, finding it something of a revelation to revisit his life and find so much of it pretty dull. Like anybody’s.
Of course, there’s been much of John Wood’s that has been pretty interesting, and no doubt many readers, primary among them, the many viewers who value his work in the long running Rafferty’s Rules and Blue Heelers tv series, who will enjoy the insights and anecdotes of working in Australian theatre and television.
John was bitten by the acting bug while still at school and the itch continued through his early and brief career with Victorian Railways. It was with Melbourne Youth Theatre, under John and Lois Ellis that he found his way forward. It was Lois who prompted him to apply for NIDA.
A self confessed theatre luvvie, John relishes regaling the reader with theatrical bon bons, whereas his reveries of television, the medium that has brought him a wider fame, have a love hate aspect to them.
There’s obvious love for actors, crew, writers and producers, but not much love for network executives, but I guess that goes with the territory.
There’s a meandering chattiness about the work, an editorial choice, I assume, to allow, or rather, evoke, conversational storytelling, with digressions and the odd repetitiveness.
HOW I CLAWED MY WAY TO THE MIDDLE is dedicated to John’s family, past, present and yet to come, particularly his wife, Leslie, whom he met while still in their teens, and who has endured the slings and arrows, the tyranny of touring, the dissonance of distance, the outrageous fortunes of being spouse to a thespian for fifty years. There’s an abiding discretion but a clear declaration of love, adoration and gratitude.
Replete with a centrepiece of photos both personal and professional, HOW I CLAWED MY WAY TO THE MIDDLE, like its author, is entertaining and forthright.
HOW I CLAWED MY WAY TO THE MIDDLE by John Wood is published by Penguin.