Acting is weird. I've never taken an acting class before coming to Sheridan and I'm only now beginning to realize that there's something dangerous about it.
I remember at theatre camp last summer (so I guess I lied - that was a sort of acting class), I did a monologue where I cried in it. It was about puppies dying. Mary Francis Moore told me that it was good that I was "feeling it" but that it just wasn't practical to put yourself through those crazy emotions every time you run the show. Since then, I haven't heard very much about actors protecting their emotional lives. If we are breaking down and on the edge of sanity, we're not supposed to take a break - we're supposed to use it in the scene. That's CRAZY, man.
So, let's say something bad happens to me. Do I use it then? Do I find a scene that requires me to be really upset? Will that be helpful to me? Will it be cathartic or will it just get me confused about my emotional state? If it helps my acting, do I go looking for bad things to happen to me? Do I make okay things into super emotional ones to feed my creative power?
I'm sure there are answers to all these questions, but none of them are probably very definite. Answers to real questions are usually "Yes, but..." or "No, unless..."
People go to the theatre to watch people have big emotions - so big that they can't find them in their lives everyday. How are people to pretend that?
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2 comments:
I was just reminded of the famous story
Sir Laurence Olivier played the villian in the thriller
Marathon Man and was teamed up with Dustin Hoffman.
In a particularly gruesome scene, Olivier (playing a
Nazi) tortured Hoffman by going at his teeth with
dentist's tools. The scene called for Hoffman to be
exhausted and sweaty.
Hoffman, famous for his method acting, went several
days without bathing or very much sleep. When he
came to the set in this condition Olivier said, "Dear
boy, you look awful. Why don't you try acting?"
This brings up something interesting I learned last week. It turns out that the Greek word for "hypocrite" is closely related to the Greek for acting.
That is, the hypocrites of the Biblical day were viewed (rightly) as being actors - they put on a show, but in their everyday lives. I know I've talked about this with you a bit anyway, that we do things to provoke other peoples' responses. To go and do this intentionally - that does make sense, but it's not soemthing that I want to try! I think I'll leave the acting to you ...
Danny
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