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COLLEGE LIFEtalent and to discovering theworks of today that will becometomorrow’s classics.A long time ago my motherpassed on a very sage piece ofadvice to me. She said that themost important way to have asuccessful life is to be rich inall the ways that have value.I believe in the notion of givingback, challenging yourself todo something that takes youout of your comfort zone andgives opportunity to others. To me,this is the way to lead a life that is both professionallyand personally rewarding. I have as much to learn fromall of you in this experience of coming to Oxford asyou might hope you can learn from me. I want to stayengaged. I want to listen. I want to hear from you whatyou want. I’m open, I’m interested and I want you toparticipate and challenge yourself and yes – even me.Chekhov said, ‘Man only gets better when you showhim what he is like.’ What is our job in theatre? For theactor, it is to become someone else; for the writer toput forth ideas; for the director, to interpret thoseideas. What’s the first step in that process? To seethings from someone else’s point of view. Theatrepractitioners have to be good at seeing things fromother people’s perspective. This seems to meenormously important in an age of fundamentalism,where everywhere we look people are refusing toKevin Spacey with theMasterI believe inthe notion ofgiving back ...consider a position which is nottheir own. Theatre forces you toempathise. I think this can havea hugely civilising influence. Ifyou are habitually required tounderstand other people in orderto portray them better, it becomesvery difficult to be prejudicedagainst them.I believe the arts must andshould be supported. If moretheatres close in our provincialcities, if more cultural centresface a threatened economic future, and ifmore of the smaller venues lose their funding, thenthe more our cultural landscape will be threatened.If we lose more of the places where emerging talentcan develop, then where will a young person go tolearn their craft? How does someone get to work ona national stage if there’s no place to start out whenyou’re young and eager to challenge and developyour talent?Those of us here must do our bit and be at our verybest as we seek our own paths, challenge our worldsand achieve our own ambitions. I think it important totry to stay open to new ideas and be willing to listento those around us because, as I’ve learned, new ideascan come from anywhere. Sometimes they’re the onesthat get chucked over the wall. Our job is to make surethe walls we create are not so high that the new ideascan no longer reach us.12/CATZ WELCOMES KEVIN SPACEY