Like many of you, I’ve spent the pandemic thus far with too much time on my hands and not enough work. On the plus side, this has given me plenty of time to consider ideas and start scribbling them down, ideas which I hope to eventually be able to put into a book or some useful format for other actors and teachers.
In addition to theatre, I’ve long held an interest in philosophy and religion. My own day to day living is deeply informed by my Jewish heritage and traditions, and by Buddhist philosophy and practices, particularly those of the Soto Zen tradition (though I’m an enthusiastic sampler and dabbler wherever I find a flash of insight.) I’ve also become an enthusiastic amateur aikikai (a student of aikido.) My personal philosophy of acting, my pedagogy as a teacher, and my day to day living have emerged from this stone soup of interests in form that is not quite at home in any of the more strictly defined schools or techniques of acting. I’ve come to think of acting as another “do”, a practice through which you experience deeper understanding of existence. Just as aikido is not simply a “way of throwing people about,” to “do” of acting is not simply a “way of pretending to be other people.” You cannot pretend to be other people if you are not able to be yourself, to understand in your best capacity at your present moment who you are, what you are, the world in which you exist and are an inextricable participant. This doesn’t mean I think you need to become some sort of holy sage or enlightened buddha before you can play Guard Number 2 in some history or other.
I mean simply that your acting will be best, whether it is as Guard Number 2 or as Cleopatra, if you’re acting isn’t about trying to become something else. It is best if your acting is about understanding yourself, your fellow human beings, and this interconnected, interdependent world we share. Then it doesn’t matter if you are playing Guard Number 2 or Cleopatra, it doesn’t matter if you’re playing for fun or for profit. What matters is the acting you are doing here and now.
I hope to continue expanding on these ideas and how to play with them in subsequent posts. Thank you to any and all reading this for participating in this drafting process!