Ashley Wright won't have much time to relax this summer.
The Port Coquitlam native is not just playing the lead character of Sir John Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor, he'll also be portraying the Earl of Salisbury in King John.
Both shows run on the Studio Stage in Vancouver's Vanier Park as part of the annual Bard on the Beach festival, until late September, with Merry officially opening tomorrow.
The son of PoCo Coun. Michael Wright, Ashley Wright was last seen at Bard in 1994 when he was cast in Merry as well as in King Lear.
"I love Shakespeare," he said. "I love the challenge of making the text understood for a modern day audience, let alone all those wonderful words that you get to say every night."
And he has had many opportunities to immerse himself in dramatic literature over the years.
After graduating from UVIC with a bachelor of fine arts, majoring in theatre, Wright moved to Edmonton - one of Canada's leading arts scenes - for a decade before settling in Toronto.
Recently, Wright has performed with such companies as Canadian Stage (Fernando Krapp Wrote Me This Letter, Omnium Gatherum, As You Like It, and Of Mice and Men); Tarragon Theatre (The Fall, The Red Priest, The Black Rider, and Slavs!); Factory Theatre (True Love Lies); Passe Murraille/DVXT (St. Christopher); and Stratford (The Trials of Ezra Pound).
The award-winning thespian has film and television credits, too, including in Copper, Missing, Murdoch Mysteries, Princess, Degrassi - The Next Generation, Ultra, Solitaire, and Intern Academy.
Still, Wright admits it hasn't been easy road.
"A lot of colleagues and classmates, by the time they reach their early 30s, they're thinking about getting out of the game because there's not a lot of money and it's a hard lifestyle. You're out of town a lot and a lot of people opt to go for something more secure than something that doesn't require as much travel," he said.
A few years back, Wright also had second thoughts about his career.
He considered taking up law but friends and family convinced him otherwise. "They said, 'You're an actor. You're not a lawyer.'
"I guess I'm successful in the sense that I stuck with it," he continued, "and I think the longer one stays in it, the less competition there is and the more established one gets the more opportunities there are."
Asked if he has any sage words for young, struggling actors, Wright says with a laugh, "If there's something else that you're really passionate about and makes you just as happy as acting, go for it."
You can see Ashley Wright as Sir John Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor and as the Earl of Salisbury in King John on the Studio Stage at Vanier Park until late September. For tickets, call 604-739-0559 or visit www.bardonthebeach.org.
