Jeff Tabley | Writer

So, tell us a bit about who you are, and how you first got involved with Epiphany Space. 

Hi. I live in Newcastle, just north of Sydney, Australia. I earn a living teaching English, History, and Drama. I discovered Epiphany Space during lockdown when your group kept the creativity flowing by producing virtual plays, watch parties, virtual coworking, and networking events. It was too early to tune into Wine Wednesday, as it was 10 AM Sydney time - you didn’t seem to care that I am literally on the other side of the world, 7497 miles away…

It is an inspiration to work with some of you and experience some online events. Thank you for the privilege of introducing me through The Spark.
 

Who inspires you? What creative people or creative works make you say, “I want to do that”? 

Maia Akiva and Shelby Bond are two Epiphany Space members that I got to know best, and I aspire to be more like them. Maia, because she has a heart for working with people in rehab and writes so well. Shelby, because he creates wonderful characters, is spontaneous and hilarious. 

I admire works by Charlie Chaplin (especially The Great Dictator), Shakespeare, George Orwell, and Raymond Carver. They are champions of the everyday people. Movies such as Birdman and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood really surprise and inspire me with their plot lines. Absurdist drama from Harold Pinter and Eugene Ionesco inspire me to write for theatre and film. 
 

What are some of the challenges you’ve faced along the way, and how did you deal with them? 

My main childhood and adolescent struggle was loneliness as my father was military, and ‘absent’ a lot of the time. I went to boarding school and at 16 became a tearaway teenager. As an adult, I had to rethink my father/son relationship and forgive him because I learned he was in the secret service and was sworn to secrecy for 35 years. Like a lot of servicemen, he suffered from PTSD. My mum was amazing and raised all five of us kids with no single-mother’s benefits back then. She always encouraged me and supported me - even when I ran away, lived a wild lifestyle, and got into trouble. I had many career and relationship failures. 

I faced many career and creative challenges such as the disappointment of failing at my desired career as a writer way back in 1990. I wrote a play based on Raymond Carver’s, “What we talk about when we talk about love”. It was a flop because I obviously did not know much about love and could not articulate it. I suffered ‘imposter syndrome’ as a young artist after successfully auditioning for a prestigious university. It is really debilitating when you think of yourself as ‘less than’ other people. I was called a ‘space cadet’ at university and had to learn to just go with it. My faith as a believer in Jesus Christ has given me value as a unique human being.

Now I don’t care so much about what people think of me. I simply aspire to let my art speak for itself. I also gained self-esteem from raising a family for 26 years with my wife Linda and we have four wonderful children. When my parenting duties eased off, I walked back into the theatre in 2019 as a writer, director, and performer and see myself as an emerging artist again.

I realized it is never too late as an artist. If I neglect creativity, I neglect my spirit.

I look forward most to socializing, working, playing guitar, and surfing with mates. These things keep me feeling happy and healthy. I learned that everyone needs someone to love, something we enjoy doing, and something fun to look forward to.