Listen Up . . .

New actors (and some old ones, too!) listen up, for the sake of your personal saviour! This isn’t sophistry or cleverness (well . . .I like being clever) – but, rather, an essential part of your responsibility as an actor.

In the last week, 4 –count ‘em – 4 clients have proven, once again, that the art of what I call “full body listening” continues to elude them. Full body listening. Right. What is it? It’s simply being attuned to everything in the dramatic circumstances that provide you with a stimulus for response.

Essentially, we can break the pack down into the following categores: First, what’s happening in the prescribed environment. Like cold or heat or a gunshot wound, or boiling an egg, or suffering from a hangover, or looking for your cat. And so forth. Second, your own emotional state – how you feel, your train of thought (careful now!), the tactics you’re employing to get what you want. And so forth.

Most importantly – and I’m continually amazed at how many actors ignore this one – What the other people in the scene actually say to you. Their dialogue. How many of you realize that it’s as important to study other characters dialogue as it is your own? Bunches of stimuli come from what the other actors do, say, perpetrate in your presence.

New actors, I’m afraid tend to get their words out and wait for the next opportunity to speak WITHOUT PAYING ATTENTION TO THE STIMULUS THAT COMES FROM THEIR FELLOW ACTORS – WHICH OFTEN GOVERNS THE NATURE AND QUALITY OF THE RESPONSE!!! This is not rocket science. But actors fail miserably at this essential task time after time.

In the real world all the natural stimuli affect us, bad and good, without our having to do anything about them. But in the world of play, we MUST create our response to the available stimuli if we hope to successfully make the dramatic situation real to our audience. Not optional, ladies and gents, not optional. Much more about this in future posts.