This summer has been one of understanding and slow focused self growth. I have had the opportunity to work on things for myself and prepare for the coming year of
What has struck me in all of this preparation is the idea that it is quite literally all about image, both about physical and emotional. As I have been practicing and reading every night new technique from my Sanford Meisner book (a really well-known acting teacher, offshoot of the Stanislavsky Method), I find myself attempting to read as slowly as possible and trying to process the simplicity. Acting is all about sharing a message, a moment, or a piece of life.
I have recently taken to taping lessons I read next to my mirror. Some sort of self-affirmation reminder. So after class and spinning when getting ready for the day, I am reminded of my thoughts: getting out of my head. The mirror makes me aware of myself, my image, my reflection, while these words remind me that my being and tool are not simply about my outside but what I can give to others.
The quotes that frame my mirror are the following:
“Everything in acting is a sort of heightened, intensified reality – but it’s based on justified reality” – Sanford Meisner
“There is no such thing as nothing” –Sanford Meisner
“Public Solitude” –Constantin Stanislavski
Each share important and different messages. The first reminds me that every act has an objective. And every character although very real, is not real. As Meisner would say, its about finding what is genuine and sharing it.
The second is about silence. A silence on stage should be full. The stage should not be silent because it is written but because something is happening underneath. A tension, anticipation, something.
The last is the core. Public Solitude refers to when you do your everyday actions. Brushing one’s teeth, biting one’s nails, walking up the stairs. All are things we simply do, and don't think of how we 'look' when we do them. That’s how you find at and honesty in acting. The beauty in acting is when something is done, not ‘acted.’ Being in a public forum such as theatre and not ‘performing.’
These 3 are by my mirror. They remind me that while I sometimes get caught up in going to spinning to be fit, put on my day makeup, or stress about headshots and agencies I ask myself to consider what drives me to do these things. It's not the business. It's not the Disney-image or Jessica Simpson glamor, but to share a fleck of life, and to keep searching for something possibly simple but always human.
1 comment:
I like how you are working through your own acting philosophy (and borrowing and patching together parts of other's philosophies) in this post. It seems significant that there is no-'body' in the mirror: you are off to the side. It is as if you are questioning the very presence of the actor in formation. You don't give your reader an 'image' of yourself; you give your reader ideas of what that image might look like. This is interesting and complicated.
Here are some questions for you: What is the relationship between private image and "public solitude"? In other words, how is an actor supposed to 'act' in day-to-day life? Should the actor's "public solitude" reflect one's comfort on the stage of everyday life? Or should one cultivate a image of privacy such that the actor is inaccessible *except* when on stage? I guess I am wondering how your feel about the public persona of an actor: should one's daily persona be consistent with one's acting 'self'? Or can one's daily persona be completely incongruous with one's stage presence? These are some questions I had as I was reading. There are a couple sentences that do not make sense, such as this one: "That’s how you find at and honesty in acting." Make sure to proofread.
Post a Comment