Notes From a Discussion - Stanislavsky/Strasberg, ETC.

The practical problem with the with the kind of work you are referring to is that it simply produces just that - an image. It makes a moment, an instance of something. But it doesn't give the actor a sense or a means of continuing on, of creating moment by moment by moment, and then letting the cumulative effect take its toll. Having watched and participated in many of these exercises (which are often willy-nilly or "another tool in your belt" kind of thing) I can tell you that the structure and format of the work is such that it ends at the creation of the "image" or "the moment." Now in that moment, within that image, the actor often has a very general "feeling" of being alive, having some sensations, some thoughts, some impulses, etc. But they are not understood or accepted to be something which actually leads you to the next bit of behavior. Rather they are accepted and understood to be static, or they are simply understood as a "see, you can produce feeling by this means of fantasy or physicality." The problem arises when the actor has to continue, has to do the next thing, the next bit of behavior, the next action. He/She does not know how to recognize and follow real deal impulse and so the next thing they do is something they think they should do and in that old way they turn to copying other actors, copying cliches, etc. As you said, back to square one that Stanislavsky tried to deal with. So these moments, these images, that are created in these formats may indeed be a kind of 'art" but they are not the living art of the stage that Stanislavsky was advocating. Now if you have someone like Michael Chekhov who was trained to and could work impulsively in the moment in a continuous manner and He or She was seeking to find a way to make a particular moment more "poetic" lets say, then such an exercise could possibly come in handy. But to think or assume that such exercises actually teach an actor what and how to do on stage over a continued period of time is wrong, because they don't. Strasberg's work on the other hand as an example, you know of course much better than I do, teaches actors how to recognize the impulses and how to continue with them - i.e. to act! The structure and format of a Sensory Exercise or an Improvisation doesn't end with the arousal of general feelings of experience. It uses smaller thought and desire and sensation or physical actions as an impulse to move along to the next thing and the next thing and the next thing, keeping the mind and body engaged at all times over a particular longer period of time as an actor must do.

Boomtown Profiles

Our city is a boomtown! Exploding in Arts and Commerce like never before. The young and the innovative and the ambitious have arrived in Tucson all at once. Given that I always seem to spend a portion of my day walking through our Downtown area and having the chance to see and meet many of the people on the scene, I think its time to finally start writing about some of these good people that are making great things happen. So, I'm gonna start that theatre artist profile section that I have always intended. And since I personally have a wide variety as interests (as many people do) I'm sure I will throw in a few business and civic minded people as well. Expansion and activity is the norm around here - time to get with it!

Ten Lessons on Top

Here are the titles of ten "Lessons" to be presented weekly as part of a scene-study class I will lead beginning this month.

Lesson One - Ethics and Discipline of an Actor's Mind.

Lesson Two - Active Analysis of a Playscript.

Lesson Three - Acting is the Essential Breath and Heartbeat of Theatre.

Lesson Four - Personal Experience Gives Rise to Spontaneity and Specific Behaviour.

Lesson Five - The Mind Asks, and the Body Responds.

Lesson Six - Creating a Logical Sequence of Actions.

Lesson Seven - Scenic Presence and Creative Expression.

Lesson Eight - If You Don't Feel It, Then It's Fake.

Lesson Nine - Joy and Creative Enthusiasm.

Lesson Ten - Mastering a Technique. Freeing Oneself From a Technique That One Has Mastered.

Question!

How can, and why does, an actor condition his/her mind for creative work?

Don't Think I Won't Be Using Emotional Memory!

Moment by Moment - so it goes

I had the opportunity to work for a few minutes with an actress of supreme talent. And what a few minutes it was. This was an audition situation. A rare happening, for me. The director in his wise ways gave a discription of the background of these characters leading up to their meeting, but did not describe what or how the meeting should happen between the two. But this is a director who imagines and thinks in behavior - what the character is doing and thinking and feeling - and speaks as such. Just before we started reading he said "and you two take your sweet time." Music to my ears of course. The main point though to this post is the ability of the actress I was reading with to be present and alive throughout, in big and small ways, and to work specifically in silences and in speaking, deeply and interesting and revealing. As the director was describing the what had been happening to the characters, I was letting it "sink in" and finding in myself what I thought and imagined to be what it was like to be this character. You know, the old "What would you do if you were in this situation?" I knew the characters pain and embarrassment would have to be there, but the action of the scene was going to be these two people rediscoving each other, through that pain and embarrassment. As soon as we started, I knew it would be "easy." Because of the actress I was reading with. And my actor instincts quickly said pay attention and let things flow moment by moment by moment. The directors wisdom about going slow was because he knew the specifics of behavior that existed in the silences, the thoughts, the laughter, the longings, etc. Finding a sudden treasure of an actess like this (although I was aware of her abilities before we started the scene) is an incredible artistic gift. Especially in that kind of situaton. And it reminded me that when you work on stage for an hour and a half with that kind of attention and moment by moment specificity, acting and theatre comes completely alive in the most unexpected and spontaneous of ways - the creative subconcious in full force. But to do what she did in those few brief minutes you have to have all those "things" we talk about all the time - you have to be relaxed, you have to be aware, you have to have actual literal thoughts, you have to allow for sensations to flow through you, you have to speak the lines out of the context that is your body and mind in that very moment...

Notes on Acting

Let’s say it’s well into rehearsal (months, not weeks) or perhaps even along into performance now with spectators present, meaning that I have actively explored and assessed all the facts and circumstances of the play fully and am acutely aware of relationships, intentions, actions, etc. Long ago I asked myself, what would I do if I were in that situation and/or what would make me do (behave) as the character seems to be behaving in this situation. Now I am supposed to be “acting.” So the question is what is it that I actually do during this time? What do I think, what commands do I give my body, etc? How do I create this behavior that is supposed to happen as “the play?” My answers here are based on my actual work. This is the stuff I do for better or for worse. I keep tabs on it. I notice it. I compare it. So to write about it is simple in some ways. But let me start with some things I don’t do. I don’t think much about the circumstances or the situation of the play in a pretending sort of way while I am on stage. I might say I never do that - but never say never you know. I don’t remember doing it recently. I don’t try to pretend or imagine that this person is my brother or I am in the forest or it’s time sing, or whatever the particular circumstance of the play is asking for. My mind is doing many things but it’s not pretending at all. Mostly I think of personal situations or issues or experiences that have happened to me during my life. Occasionally I give those thoughts a small imaginative twist - such as might happen in a dream, like putting two things in one place that in actuality never would be together. But these things are real to me never-the-less. Sometimes my mind is giving commands to my body, such as relax, or breathe deep and slowly, or move with this quality of energy, etc. Those type commands are things that have been noticed and needed over the process of rehearsal and have been integrated by me at particular times to create specific effects. Other times my mind is being aware of or creating the awareness for me that I am on stage, present in front of the audience. I make this fact a conscious part of my work, but I do it as sense of “sharing” or “giving.” If I have a main point to this post, it is simply that I do not make myself aware of or consciously work with the circumstances of the play while I am actually onstage acting. That integration has already happened - but what is needed to inspire that integration of imaginative fictional circumstance to real and actual behavior and life, is the very real part of me that thinks and feels and knows and understands. And that happens via the memories of my own life which I literally carry out on stage with thoughts, sensations, and sometimes physical actions. That’s how I act!