acting as a kind of schizophrenia

So – as expected – Suzuki and Viewpoints were exhausting after having the weekend off – well not off, but after not doing it for a few days. No about 12 hours of rehearsal between Saturday and Sunday and all that drinking on Friday and Saturday. I know the party aspect makes us all a bit more tired the next day, but it is so important for a change of pace. And, to get to know each other a bit more. They shook up the groups in the morning today – which actually turned out to be quite nice. New energy, new people to watch stomp. I did run into like three people in Viewpoints largely because I don’t know their rhythm or movement pattern yet.

As with last week, I spent a fair amount of metal energy thinking to the afternoon and the performance. Looking at it more objectively from above with the audience in a circle in the space it turned out to be a nice piece. Although there was a director involved – it really felt like a group creation. And I was quite pleaded that Anne found it “structurally fantastic” and Leon called it “a really elegant composition.” The bulk of the rest of the notes were focused on the performances. Since three of us played disembodied voices and we only had one person on stage she got the majority of the comments. She really did have a tough job with this piece, but the comments were really helpful in terms of what questions to ask, how to approach such a piece, and how to develop specificity. I could tell she was a bit upset with this attention focused on her in notes, but, as I told her, she just got an incredible master class in acting – things she can work on for the next decade or more, and aren’t we all here to find a way to improve and develop a way to work that hones these skills?

I guess I responded to the comments about the structure because that really is more important to me. I don’t consider myself an actor. A performer, maybe, but acting, no. So why don’t I step up to direct? Well, I get the opportunity so infrequently that I know I would become a total dick. I can already feel a short temper rising due to exhaustion, so I probably don’t need to push that on anyone. Plus, I kind of dig generating the ideas that get refined by the group. I must admit, had I been in the position of director for the last piece I would have opted for one of the earlier concepts, and not allowed the process to organically develop toward what we ended up with. Listen more, talk less.

A couple of the points that were made about objectives for this next composition is that it should not overwhelm, but be a container for great acting. So, this should be interesting going into the next piece as I am the only male in the group and probably can’t avoid acting. Well, at this point it is kind of inevitable. The first piece was movement based. The second one I was just a voice. So, with the third perhaps I can work on this acting thing a bit. I really like Anne’s point that acting is a kind of schizophrenia where things talk to you. I am delighted that (blond) Emma (there are two), who was in my first group, is directing. I already feel like we have a good working relationship, and she had some wonderful ideas for the first piece. As we are heading toward the end of this month-long adventure, these will be the last compositions. We will get notes and have a few days to readjust and rework before presenting them on the final Thursday. Our director graciously gave us the night off to re-read the play and pull out specific moments or ideas. It will be nice not to jump right into the next piece so quickly.