OOC Information
Preferred Form of Address on A&A: Rosina.
Contact Information: RosinaRowantree@aol.com
Other Characters on A&A: Commander Thomas Windham RN
How You Found A&A: Blame Jess

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IC Information
Name: Lucius Summersley

Avatar: Everytime I try to think of one, I find it slips from my memory...

Occupation: Character Actor

Age: 42

Gender: Male

Appearance:
The most important thing about Lucius is that in his own person he is unmemorable. He is a character actor who can bring so much to a part that the audience rarely notices that he is doubling or tripling up on minor characters. They do not shout: "Didn't he die in the last act?" He is convincing in whatever role he plays.

He is 5'9" tall, and sturdily built, possibly beginning to run to fat. But not in any way that would detract from his performance. He has dark hair cut short in case a wig is needed, and dark, brown eyes the colour of warm chocolate. When appearing as 'an actor' he will wear a velvet smoking jacket, and sometimes a cap, or with a loose, silk scarf tied round his neck. Away from that life, he dresses in tweed and dull, everyday clothes.

His speech too has a dual identity. Not counting the voices he uses on stage, his speaking voice will in formal situations assume a somewhat theatrical sonorousness. When relaxing, his voice has a chameleon quality, with class and local accents mixing, reflecting all that he has absorbed from the parts he played, the people he worked with, and the places he stayed in.

Personality:
It is impossible to discuss Lucius's likes and dislikes without mentioning the theatre. It would be true to say that he loves all aspects of the theatre - the dramas - on and off stage; the words high and low and sometimes almost unspeakable; the people he performs with, even if they repeatedly try to upstage him - Huh, they don't get away with that again; the towns and cities they visit, now each vying with the other for the plushest, the most acoustically perfect, the most expensive and the most tasteless theatre.

He has spent 40 years, more or less, in the theatre. All he has to show for it is the memory of a marvellous performance as Fluellen in Henry V, that he gave in three theatres in Kent, where they didn't notice that he was winging the Welsh accent; and some decent reviews for his appearance as the Porter in Macbeth. He had his first speaking role in Macbeth, as the eldest of Lady Macduff's children - the one who stands up to the villains, but is killed none the less, along with all the other pretty chickens and their dam, in one fell swoop. It has been an interesting life, but now, at 42, he senses that it is time to settle down. And the chance has come for him to settle in Lindebo.

It would be unfair to imply that Lucius has a drink problem. He drinks no more than most men of his class, is rarely drunk, and never drinks alone or simply to get drunk. He will partake freely with the others in the company – to celebrate success or to drown disappointment – and usually will become more affable as the drink takes effect, if rather talkative. But on occasions, when he is already worked up about something, the affability will be replaced by anger, and he will become aggressively argumentative. This has caused problems in the past, requiring him to leave good positions following arguments with management or with more highly regarded cast members.

Until now, his only relationships have been with women from the company, or sometimes local women - even decent local women who fancied something transient. But now he would like to settle down, even find a wife and start living a regular, stable life.

History:
Lucius was born to a married couple - Lionel Summersley (ne Sumpter) and Kitty Summerley (nee de la Pole, who before that had been Kate Charlton). The Summerleys were travelling players, appearing at provincial theatres rather than rural barns, and Lucius remained with them. They taught him to read - simple passages of Shakespeare, such as "To be or not to be" are as good material as "The cat sat on the Mat" - and reading for pleasure and career training were mingled together.

At the age of 19 he left the company his parents worked for, since he had ambitions to be better than his father - a difficult feat when you do not want to hurt the old man's feelings. But his skills lay in producing a believable minor player - the apothecary in Romeo and Juliet, the ship's captain in Twelfth NIght, Rosencrantz (or Guildernstern) in Hamlet. All important roles, without which the play would founder, but not the stuff of leading actors and national fame.

His career has been marred by a lack of stability, caused largely by his becoming quarrelsome when drunk. He worked for several years in the Theatre Royal in Newcastle upon Tyne, leaving following a post-performance drunken argument (almost a brawl) with the leading actor over an incident on stage. He returned to the travelling theatre, but was fortunate not long after to find a post in the newly rebuilt Theatre Royal in Bath, which he left after a party celebrating the opening night of King Lear, when he quarrelled with the theatre manager over the actress who played Goneril. Another short-lived period of stability, at the Theatre Royal in Brighton, ended in a similar fashion. The fact that the Theatre in Lindebo is not called The Theatre Royal is promising.

Strengths:
He is a good actor in his field, and works hard;
He is observant, and interested in people, if only so that he can absorb them into his acting, and in return:
Working as a character actor, getting absorbed into roles, has made him a good judge of character and hidden motivation;
A real sense of humour, although with no tolerance from practical jokes played within the theatre.

Weaknesses:
A normally affable character, he occasionally becomes argumentative and potentially aggressive when drunk, re-activating old quarrels and grievances;
He does not recognize his strengths as strengths;
He is depressed that a career that started off so well (Playing the Macduff child in a Charles Kean production!) has fizzled out into mediocrity.

Weapons:
Stage weapons - he can use a broadsword, a rapier, a claymore and probably a papier-mache pike. Real weapons - no way.

Hmmm... This lady just left him a house? Who was she? Did he at least know her well?

In fact, the history-section is pretty short in general... I'd prefer it if you did a bit more fleshing out there, if that's okay by you?

And he'll need another weakness or two. If he has a house, a steady salary, can read, is a man, etc... Yeah, one more weakness, or preferably two would make me very happy.

Other than that he looks good to me. Nice work.

That's what comes of trying to flesh out an idea at half-past-one in the morning: the plot-hole-filler (why does he want to live in Lindebo?) doesn't work.

Once I get rid of the little old lady, the rest can be rewritten to hide the gap. But I'll think about it until tomorrow and post again. I'll even work in a weakness or two as part of the re-jigging, which will in turn flesh out the history. Which should work better. Sorry.

Sorry about that, but things got in the way and I haven't managed to find out enough to give my story verisimilitude, but I'll get back to it on my return to England.

But it's lovely here in Grindelwald, by the Eiger, except that their computer keyboard is all wrong :D .

So please leave Lucius until I get back. I may not find another free internet access, after all, and I need to do some research.

Lots of love, and thanks

Rosina

Okee, will do, and have fun! See you when you get back online.

Back from Gindelwald, I have now managed to edit my original post. I hope it's all right this time. But do let me know if it's not, cos I'm still only learning how to do all this.

Sorry about the plot hole filler that turned into an even bigger pit :headwall:

Gah! I forgot about this! >.< Will get to it as soon as possible. Sorry!