(Meisner) Shrdlu, Rehearsal, The Adding Machine

Rehearsal @ Impact

Rehearsal Technique: General/Specific Insights/Principles

Rough night – tech cues. I found the hot lights uncomfortable and distracting.

I tried to apply yesterday’s answer to: what is “good” acting, and I didn’t get very far.
However, I did seem to learn another important lesion: when the going gets rough, i.e., when I’m “off,” lost, feeling foolish, thinking I’m doing terribly, COMMIT fully, right then and goddamn there, to WHATEVER is happening: turn my attention onto my partner, onto the stage, onto anything, but shift my attention onto something that has to do with Shrdlu and his world.

Shrdlu

Technical problem: the end of the first scene, the last beat. Solve this/nail it down. It’s the last piece of this scene that’s not yet stable.

Post-script: after tonight’s rehearsal, I mentioned to Dan that I found the above helpful (getting my attention back on the scene) and he said I discovered the first lesson of Meisner: when you get into any kind of trouble (e.g., negative distracting thinking), always turn your attention to your partner.