Yourself in the Circumstances, Doing, Senses.

Before the new days of "Physical Theatre" and "Gesture," before these words crept into our theatrical vocabulary and completely took over, actors used to speak of "Doing" on stage. You would hear questions from your teacher or director like "are you really doing that action or are you just pretending to do it?" "Did you actually see, or were you just indicating that you saw something?" The distinction was and is crucial. And should be even for those who feel they want to be engaged in "Physical Theatre." And the reason is this - a complete and full Physical Gesture must have real biological implications on both the actor and the spectator. When we speak about "Doing" on stage, what we are actually asking and wanting from the actor to is to engage his/or her senses actively in the fiction of the play. When the senses engage, biological implications begin to occur. This is part the process of using your own experiences, your own self, literally among the circumstances of the play.