The Great Acting Blog: "Actor As Individual Creative Artist"

The notion of the actor as an individual creative artist, is a notion I often advocate on this blog. That is; the actor taking responsibility for his work, defining an aesthetic, not “standing around in the dark, hoping to be picked”. The benefits of such an approach are myriad, not least among them is that the actor can build the body of work he wants, work with people he likes and who share his concerns, and also, the actor can maintain self-respect by being self-reliant and rewarding himself for his efforts. In short: the actor-auteur.

 

It's difficult to find a better exemplar for this approach than the great Steven Berkoff, who went and wrote and staged his own plays, and the plays of others, back when nobody was striking out on their own. Berkoff's aesthetics are his own, strikingly individualistic. And so it is then, I have decided to publish some take-aways, from Berkoff's recent five minute interview with the BBC, in order to further the conversation on this matter.

 

 

• Berkoff says that theatre matters, that it's the last form of communication between people, where you can express the most fundamental thoughts, ideas, and emotions, and do so instantaneously.

• Althought Berkoff writes and directs, he's says he is first and foremost an actor, because acting is something he can do immediately, and because he can also dip into other writers. If he was only a playwright, then he couldn't express himself in Shakespeare, Wilde, Sheridan etc.

• He says that acting, writing and directing are all part of the same tree.

• Says all actors should, at one time, be writers and directors – Shakespeare was an actor and a writer. He says it makes a richer compost if people are expressing the three elements together.

• Says that when you're directing yourself you're not actually directing yourself, but that the audience response, ie – their attitudes, their silence, their laughter, will tell you and teach you.

• Says he did one man plays because he didn't want to wait until he gathered a whole group of actors together, with attendent costs and logistics, casting, agents, and dealing with the temperaments of 8 or 10 actors. He says a one-man show is a unique communication – it gives the actor greater scope because he doesn't have to deal with other actors.

• Says his own plays are poetic and expressionistic, not naturalistic.

• Says “Total Theatre” is use of the imagination. Modern theatre has returned to Victorian theatre with huge sets and flying people. Says that Total Theatre is the ability of the actor to express the genius of the body, express the story without set.

• Says you need to be a good actor to play a villain. Says the best actors play villains.

  
  

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The Great Acting Blog: "Why We Make Art"

What happens if he doesn’t get it?

I always taught that this was a key question when analyzing a script for action, as in: What does the protagonist want? What happens if he doesn’t get it? In Oedipus Rex, Oedipus wants to raise the plague on Thebes, in Bob Le Flambeur, Bob wants to rob 800 million bucks from acasino, and in The Wizard Of Oz, Dorothy wants to go home. The stakes are high in each, the characters have a lot to lose.

My theory on why some people become artists is that the tension of not creating work is so tremendous that they cannot bear it, and so the artist will rush off, often against all reason, like some kind of junkie, and make work. People are not driven to become artists because of politics or out of some intellectual predilection or even by the desire to do good works, but because of some unbearable tension which may only be relieved while the artist is at work. This tension exists in all people, but for the vast majority it can be satiated by consuming some form of art (reading a novel, listening to music, watching a movie etc), and for some others the tension may be a little stronger and so they take up some form of art as a gentle hobby, but it is only a small minority for whom the tension is so fierce that they must immerse their lives in work, giving up the comforts of a regular life. This also explains why the drop-out rate is so high (certainly it is in acting); when the young hopeful sees that  regular work (let alone fame) is not forthcoming, they quit and pursue something less arduous and more routine. For an actual artist, quitting is not an option, their work is their life. For the artist, creative rythmn is everything, as is the sense of a repression being lifted at the close of a piece of work, these are the moments an artist lives for, along with his new, thrilling discoveries.

So what happens if you don’t get it? The “it” here meaning work. Well, the true artist will find a way to work, he’s driven to do so, otherwise he’ll go mad. The ones who sit around moaning will soon fade away, and perhaps that is for the best.

The Great Acting Blog: "21 Principles For Better Acting"

"Learn your lines, find your mark, look `em in the eye and tell `em the truth." - James Cagney

 

As I come to produce my next short film, my mind is a-clutter with dozens of small details which can pre-occupy to the exent that my own performance in the film may suffer. So, in a bid to ensure the standard of my performance doesn't drop, I've decided to renew, refresh and re-state my acting principles, and in so doing, ensure clarity, simplicity and a laser-like focus. The list is not exhaustive, but contains those issues which are uppermost in my mind at the moment.

 

 

(in no particular order)

 

1. Everyone tries to do the best they can.

2. Total commitment to my action.

3. Total commitment to my acion requires will, disicipline, and courage.

4. Tell the truth.

5. Be simple.

6. Practice my action til it's habitual.

7. Have the strength of mind to analyse the script correctly.

8. Ensure every line of dialogue is encompassed by my action.

9. Only concern myself with action.

10. Be generous.

11. Trust my preparation.

12. Preparation is a point of departure, not the destination.

13. Don' try and force the moment to conform to my preparation, improvise in the moment in response to what is actually happening in the moment.

14. Memorize the lines until they are habitual.

15. Your performance is a presentation before an audience.

16. Character is created in the mind of the viewer by the juxtaposition of the actions of the actor with the fiction of the script.

17. Relax.

18. Give everything.

19. Use your imagination.

20. Any emotion which is not organically created by my attempts to do my action, is a lie.

21. The outcome is no concern of mine.