Pretending to be a role is very different than being the role. It gets really messy when you discuss this with the acting community… because the style of off shoots of METHOD acting Have become integrated in our teachings. The teachers of today were among the first or second generation of this approach. It is imbedded and systemic…it can’t be undone…like the vine that a German guy brought to NC and it now covers all the trees and looks like a forest but it is a vine killing the forest itself…looks can be deceptive.
I went to London in 1995/6 and worked with the best teachers from RADA that we now working at Webber Douglas I was kind of like the vine…going there to learn what they were doing but in a way…starting to expose the alternative American training to these classical teachers…perhaps they saw the future…a. Bunch of emotionally unstable artists…just waiting to happen.
Here is a perfect example of how my American approach to acting was received.
I was the ONLY American actor there and they accepted me into a class of post graduate students. I was beyond thrilled and thankful.
we had midterm performances and I did a monologue that I thought was amazing. I mean I broke down on stage crying and opening up my heart. I was amazed how OPEN i way, how connected to my true self…and what happened after that was that the school threatened to kick me out.
They were very confused by what I was doing and said…”why are YOU crying? That’s not your job! That is the job of the audience!”
It was such a wakeup call. I was sitting across from an acting instructor and she was holding a tissue box and I was just crying again. Now from her critique of my amazing breakthrough movement…and she was like..
“what the hell are you doing?” That was ugly and sloppy and not professional at all”
all I see in my memory bank is a constant flow of tissues.
I am not sure I ever fully adapted their approach as my first language but it gave me structure to my work in many ways.
After they suggested I consider leaving the school I cut my emotional connections off and started making fun of the teachers ( this this was s suggestion of one of the teachers themselves) in My final showcase monologue of a high strung woman…..pretending to Steward Pierce our high strong voice teacher.
This time I was greeted with accolades…. They were fully impressed with my IMPRESSION of a character- my ability to ACT…not become…
I remember this one teacher was like do you want to know who we were all most surprised by? I was feeling like such the pathetic student I was like…no…
She smiled and said. YOU.
It was such a huge shock and wake up call.
However. I rarely see classical teaching anymore and even London theater…in their contemporary theatre seemed so become so American- talk about the tail wagging the dog.
Tag: emotional fitness
Letting go of …Drama
NOT being in charge is like softly being ticked on my arm…It isn’t something I like at the start…it is actually a little annoying and boring and I can watch my child like self start to feel uncomfortable in the calm but I have begun to hold ground…transmute the irritation and let the wave pass over me.
Funny how being OK is something i have to get used to!
Truth is, I am much more comfortable in DRAMA…I can function well in it and high emotions are more normal than copesetic situations.
I can trace this back and I have but the point is at the end of the day when you understand that a calm relating feeling eventually get boring and yet…I know it is the healthier way..unless something has actually HAPPENED…but for the most part…
Life can be VERY VERY calm and chill and flowing and my new approach is to allow those around me …the ones I am physically connected to to guide me.. I hold my own disposition but I take action as in where and when though those that have more…hmmm more need to control
WHat this does is that it alleviates me from the position of pretending I am someone who wants to control…and it allows the person who is great at controlling and leading…ie- my husband…a place to do it without resistance.
I am sure this is due to the fact that I am NOT dying to be anywhere else. I think a great deal of disatisfaction is when there is somewhere else you’d rather be than where you are..this —-for me taps into the feeling that —-something else would make me more content/happy/satisfied/ etc
But the understanding I am in right now is that the ability to keep a society unsatisfied in ever are is the ability to create turmoil, purchasing, hate and aggression.
SOmeone has to be OK and content…There has to be an anchor in the world…people who are thankful for who they are, what they have, what they look like, what they can and can’t do…someone has to be like that…
In a family as well. I am becoming more and more aware that the more OK i am with being a mom and a wife and taking care of the family ( I don’t do everthing…my kids and husband cook and food shop and are very self sufficient ) but the vibe…the energy or the person that is THERE…that is important and I have the opportunity to be that…so I am going to take it and enjoy it..and stop complaining that I am not something OTHER than me..
It feels like…a rambling river…
I am entertaining myself my challenging myself in kind physical challenges…( I’ll explain soon)