Today's post is going to be a little different than my previous
ones. Something amazing has happened in these past two days and I really want
to share it with you guys. This might all come out a little jumbled because I’m
so excited to finally put it down on…computer, so please bear with me :)
Since I actually
became interested in theatre, I had always had this feeling like theatre was
about something bigger than life. For some time now I've known that it's
actually pretty realistic. Even those odd pieces with aliens or whatever have
some realistic, human basis to them. I always say that theatre isn't about
giving lines to a person and screaming "Action!” It's so much more than
that. I think today it finally hit me exactly how much more.
Aren't we cute???? :D |
These past two days were odd for me. We spent most of our time with Andrew, whom I love. He taught me something I wish I had learned ages ago. Now, because there are certain people who may or may not read this blog, I cannot go into much detail about what I had previously learned for theatre. What I can say is that is what not very useful information. I work best when I'm given specific instruction, which is exactly what I’m given here. When I say instruction, I’m not talking about blocking or anything like that; I’m talking about even before you touch a script. I’m so very thankful to have had an amazing acting coach who indirectly prepared me for the rigorous training I’m receiving here at RADA. She’s always been hard on me and would rarely compliment me unless I reached a breakthrough in my work; even then, she continued to push me to become a better actor and to study all sides of theatre, not just the script. Here at RADA, I’ve been taught a very special thing. It’s kind of hard to type out, so I’ll just give you the jist of what he said.
The bottom line: An actor’s gift is to embody stories, not
characters.
As artists it is our job, our duty to relay information to an audience.
Honestly, all a good actor is is a really good storyteller who knows how to
communicate with you. Information is how we communicate with the world. Let the
emotion happen; never force it or any emotional state. If you do so, you
suddenly become that untouchable stock character that theatre-goers cringe to
see onstage. The information should always be your first priority because that’s
what an audience responds to. As human beings, we don’t like to be told what to
feel, so why wouldn’t that also apply to a character?
In order to do this, Andrew talked to us about basic human need. I
know I’ve personally been taught (at one time) that “to want” was the way you
found purpose in a scene. What I know now completely changes that. Stakes must
ne unbelievably high for an actor onstage. There must be a life-changing, life
or death reason why you do or say something. You can live without something you
“want”….but what about something you “have to have”?
Yeah, I thought it was odd, too when I first heard it.
Have to have. What the heck is that? It’s what you can’t live
without. If that thing didn’t exist, you would be easily frustrated and annoyed.
This is what allows for a show to be different every night because you have to
have certain things sometimes and not others. Instead of playing “sad” or “angry”
in a scene, use the text! That’s what it’s there for! The text is your basis
for everything in a play, well that and good direction. Using “have to have’s”
is way more useful for me because it doesn’t take a lot of effort. There are a
lot of general have to have’s to choose from, so you make them more specific by
saying, “I have to have________, so my strategy is (to) ________”. For example,
I’ll use my scene in Romeo and Juliet. I play Nurse when she returns to Juliet
to tell her of Romeo’s marriage proposal. I said to myself, “In this scene, I
have to have calmness, so my strategy is to get Juliet to leave me alone”.
Eventually, I shifted to, “I have to have understanding, so my strategy is to
reassure Juliet that all is OK”. When I stand in the wings, I close my eyes and
I hear Andrew say, “Feel the floor; it’s there to support you. What do you have
to have and how do you get it? Remember, this scene isn’t about you or the Nurse
or Juliet; it’s about the information you must give to everyone. What you have to
say is important, and it will get muddled if you only play emotions. Open your
eyes and stay connected. Go”.
I started the scene with no preconceived emotions and just had my
have to have’s in mind. Without anything else bogging me down, the scene went
beautifully! I was so ecstatic. As I watched the other groups, I realized: This
is everything I want. I want this feeling every day. I have to have this
feeling every day…and my strategy is to audition and audition and audition
until I get into a school like (if not) RADA.
What freaked me out the most about this method of have to have (other
than the fact that is somehow worked) is that you can use it with yourself. I
know I have to have connection and love with/from others, so my strategy in
life has become to make friends quickly and make sure we stay in contact. It's one of the hardest things in the world for an actor to turn the attention onto themselves and really check in with themselves. Just like with a script, my have to have's will keep changing as I keep changing...it's normal.
Andrew made sure that we understood how important it was for us to
know our scripts (and to begin to get to know ourselves) backwards and forwards. Like I’ve mentioned before, he’s a
very technical director, but when it comes to putting a show on its feet, he’ll
wait until the very last second to block it. We didn’t stage our scenes until
today, the last day of Shakespeare. I’m so happy that we didn’t because it made
so much of a difference to have all of that undivided time to really understand our
scenes, and our scene partners, like the back of our hand.
I'm not sure if you can clearly see Andrew (my teacher) in the back on the left side...haha |
So, with one week down and one to go, I’m feeling more than bittersweet….
I'll just leave it at that for now.
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