Success!

This past week our class was assigned a “blank script”. In reading it, I found that it was a really general conversation broken into parts. There was no background information, no characters, no situation, no scene… nothing. All of those things were up to us, the students. We broke up into partners.

My partner and I decided that we were going to play an old man and woman. We gave the scene a setting, gave our characters conflicting goals within the scene, and wrote a subtext. Then we practiced, and laughed, and felt silly, and kept on practicing.

The day we were to present the skit before the class we came early to practice together. For some reason, I felt like I wasn’t connecting at all. I wasn’t playing this old lady well. People were going to throw fruit at me if I didn’t fix something. My mind was running through all the stuff I read in our book. It wasn’t until just before I got on stage that I figured it out. Who is this old lady? What kind of woman is she? What’s her background? Once I knew who I was playing, I new the sorts of mannerisms to use, and facial expressions and how she would respond to those around her. Then, I came up with an “as if”. It worked! When we went on stage, I connected!Plus, my partner did amazing! We nailed it! Nobody threw any fruit! Success!

I Had No Idea How Much I Didn't Know

I was in a play once. Once. In high school. I played “hair dresser #2” in a breath-taking rendition of Singing in the Rain. (Insert sarcasm here.) It was magic. I still remember my single line: “Your beauty mark is coming off”. I laugh every time I think back on it. There wasn’t a whole lot of room for character development, and I definitely didn’t get a standing ovation, but I really enjoyed myself. It was fun. Yet still, this is the extent of my theatrical experience, and I’m finding with every class I'm suprised at how much I didn’t know.

My first great surprise came as I was looking over the book we were assigned, “A Practical Handbook for the Actor.” I reads, “The only talent you need to act is a talent for working – in other words, the ability to apply yourself in learning the skills that make up the craft of acting. To put it simply, anyone can act if he has the will to do so, and anyone who says he wants to but doesn’t have the knack for it suffers from a lack of will, not a lack of talent.” I highlighted this in my book. I had never considered the idea that acting could be a learned art. I always thought a person could either do it or they couldn’t. I can’t tell you how delighted I am that this isn’t true! Perhaps my hairdresser #2 days are over... or maybe I'll just be a more convicing beauty mark fixer.