Expat Lifestyles - Working in Uruguay as a Writer and Actor

By David Hammond -

Jonathan Lamb was born and raised in England, where after studying at Bradford and Oxford he began a career with the British Foreign Office, moving in 1993 to the European Commission. But in 2005, after 23 years of having his life directed by others, Jonathan Lamb went off script: finding the opportunity to follow his personal passions of writing and acting in the small South American country of Uruguay.

Jonathan’s first exposure to Uruguay was in 1984, when he was assigned to the British Embassy in Montevideo. He found life cheap, sunny and above all friendly. During his two-and-a-half year post, Jonathan witnessed the country’s first free election in almost 12 years, following the military government. At the local tennis club he also met a lovely Uruguayan woman named Beatriz, who would become his wife and leave the country with him.

Over the next 19 years Jonathan worked in Europe, starting in England, then Romania during the Revolution, and finally as a Head of Unit in the European Commission in Brussels. However, throughout his education and formal career Jonathan held onto his creative interests. As a student he wrote revues and satirical articles, and while at the European Commission he made time to write short performances of comic verse.

It was in 2004 that Jonathan realized that starting a new life in the sun provided the potential to live without the job. He was eligible for a small pension that could go a lot further in Uruguay than in Europe (especially since Uruguay does not tax foreign source income). Also, selling his mortgaged home in Europe and buying a home in Uruguay for cash provided even more financial freedom.

Besides the financial benefits, Jonathan loved the culture of Uruguay and was willing to trade some British efficiency for Latin warmth. He acted on the opportunity, and in 2005 the Lamb family moved from Brussels to Montevideo. They have never looked back.

In Uruguay Jonathan found a demand for gringos in TV commercials and doing voiceovers in English and became a professional actor. He also wrote, directed, composed and played the music and acted in the play Drama of the River Plate, which sold out when it opened in early 2009 in Montevideo and Buenos Aires theaters, and is still running in a Spanish translation.

The Drama of the River Plate is the historic account of the Battle of the River Plate, the first major naval battle of the Second World War, which took place off the coasts of Uruguay and Argentina. The play focuses on the questionable decisions of Hans Langsdorff, the gallant and humane captain Aof the German pocket battleship Graf Spee. For some reason Langsdorff, whose orders were to sink lone merchant trade ships, engaged in battle with three Royal Navy cruisers at the entrance of the River Plate.

I asked Jonathan his opinion of why Hans Langsdorff went against orders to engage in such a risky endeavor? He responded that he believes Langsdorff was reaching to a higher ambition than his mission required - a sentiment that Jonathan Lamb seems to understand.

Samples of Jonathan’s CD of poem’s titiled Lamb Couplets can be heard at his website www.jclamb.com - Read by actors like Prunella Scales (Fawlty Towers), Robert Hardy and Imelda Staunton (Harry Potter), as well as Uruguay’s ex-President Luis Alberto Lacalle who reads Jonathan’s poem “Uruguay” in Excellent English.

A very sweet Uruguayan TV commercial in which Jonathan does the voice over: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilweMcin6bo.

Contact Jonathan Lamb at: lambfam@adinet.com.uy


Subscribe to our free newsletters Everything you want and need to know about - from overseas employment ideas and opportunities, to international retirement tips, from where to buy bargain real estate investments abroad, to how to ship out and set up a brand new life overseas.

Easy subscription, easy to unsubscribe - No Spam

Back to Expat Daily News Subscribe in a reader