Hey Abyss,
I know that I have been commenting on how much is left of the semester in recent posts, but I cannot get over how the time flies. The school has this warp effect where the days are so long that they seem to slug by, but we are always working so the weeks just disappear.
A pointless clarification, but it's there now.
This week has been really great, we have made a lot of progress with Midsummer Nights Dream. As I have stated before, Joe is awesome. Him and I were talking about what he feels is the most important thing in performing Shakespeare, and he is a huge advocate for bringing it back to reality. Going through and understanding everything that you are saying and acting it from a true place, rather than an idea of what Shakespeare acting is. He has such a natural approach to the text, and I think that is because he revears the "story" so much. He has said, many times, that we as actors/directors/writers are to tell the story to the best of our ability. As soon as a production becomes about indulging, or making it "interesting" we are veering away from what the story is.
Could this be the secret to what makes good or bad Theatre?
Speaking of indulging. That word has been quite prevalent in my vocabulary this week. I think that it is such a pitfall in all acting. As soon as you start making the scenes about you and your ability, you have abandoned your fellow actors and made it the You Show. Now, that may sound awesome to some people, but I can guarantee you that you wont get work. As soon as you start pulling focus and being distracting on stage, sure you may get some laughs (in High school), but in the real world that kind of behaviour doesn't fly. It is about listening, to your scene partners and responding as realistically and true to the text as possible.
It is certainly a hard thing to do, and I still struggle with it everyday. The more we can listen the more realistic our responses can be.
This year has been a long journey for me about reclaiming my artistry. For some reason I lost sight of who I was and what things I loved when I started training here last year, and as much progress as I have made and as many things that I have learned it has only been the last few months that things have started to crystallize in my mind. I am here for me, to teach me about myself and how I can improve the talent that I have. How to become a stronger person and performer. And too be frank, I have wasted so much energy on trying to make sure everyone likes me, and it isn't as important as I thought.
For some reason I can't help but think of this The Weekenders episode.
For those of you who don't know me, Tino is a younger version of me.
We had a meeting with Alisa Palmer, our Artistic Director, on Thursday and she talked to us about the plans for our third and final year, and what we can expect. Tomorrow we are meeting Tadeusz Bradecki, he is currently directing Guys and Dolls at The Shaw Festival, and he will be directing our first show in the Ludger-Duvernay Theatre at The Monument-Nationale. The play is still undecided, but I am anxious to meet him.
Alisa also mentioned that over the next three weeks we will be meeting Ian Watson who will be working with us on our classical monologues in preparation for Theatre Ontario auditions. Alisa has spoken about how she wants our final year to consist of material that will ready us for a seamless transition into the acting world, and I am totally game.
Well, that's about it for now I am heading out to see The Place Beyond the Pines!
Night Abyss
I know that I have been commenting on how much is left of the semester in recent posts, but I cannot get over how the time flies. The school has this warp effect where the days are so long that they seem to slug by, but we are always working so the weeks just disappear.
A pointless clarification, but it's there now.
This week has been really great, we have made a lot of progress with Midsummer Nights Dream. As I have stated before, Joe is awesome. Him and I were talking about what he feels is the most important thing in performing Shakespeare, and he is a huge advocate for bringing it back to reality. Going through and understanding everything that you are saying and acting it from a true place, rather than an idea of what Shakespeare acting is. He has such a natural approach to the text, and I think that is because he revears the "story" so much. He has said, many times, that we as actors/directors/writers are to tell the story to the best of our ability. As soon as a production becomes about indulging, or making it "interesting" we are veering away from what the story is.
Could this be the secret to what makes good or bad Theatre?
Speaking of indulging. That word has been quite prevalent in my vocabulary this week. I think that it is such a pitfall in all acting. As soon as you start making the scenes about you and your ability, you have abandoned your fellow actors and made it the You Show. Now, that may sound awesome to some people, but I can guarantee you that you wont get work. As soon as you start pulling focus and being distracting on stage, sure you may get some laughs (in High school), but in the real world that kind of behaviour doesn't fly. It is about listening, to your scene partners and responding as realistically and true to the text as possible.
It is certainly a hard thing to do, and I still struggle with it everyday. The more we can listen the more realistic our responses can be.
This year has been a long journey for me about reclaiming my artistry. For some reason I lost sight of who I was and what things I loved when I started training here last year, and as much progress as I have made and as many things that I have learned it has only been the last few months that things have started to crystallize in my mind. I am here for me, to teach me about myself and how I can improve the talent that I have. How to become a stronger person and performer. And too be frank, I have wasted so much energy on trying to make sure everyone likes me, and it isn't as important as I thought.
For some reason I can't help but think of this The Weekenders episode.
For those of you who don't know me, Tino is a younger version of me.
We had a meeting with Alisa Palmer, our Artistic Director, on Thursday and she talked to us about the plans for our third and final year, and what we can expect. Tomorrow we are meeting Tadeusz Bradecki, he is currently directing Guys and Dolls at The Shaw Festival, and he will be directing our first show in the Ludger-Duvernay Theatre at The Monument-Nationale. The play is still undecided, but I am anxious to meet him.
Alisa also mentioned that over the next three weeks we will be meeting Ian Watson who will be working with us on our classical monologues in preparation for Theatre Ontario auditions. Alisa has spoken about how she wants our final year to consist of material that will ready us for a seamless transition into the acting world, and I am totally game.
Well, that's about it for now I am heading out to see The Place Beyond the Pines!
Night Abyss
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