Acting & how to play a scene by 'Playing the Solution'
More Insights From Deborah Carlson's 'Word Of Mouth Studios:'
Rehearsals for Other People are finally done, the show has opened, and I now have to time to catch up on a ton of writing that's been slowly piling up into a precarious teetering tower on the corner of my desk.
We're getting to the end of a second 6-week session working on scenes from Uncle Vanya adapted by Brian Friel.
Chekhov is great to work on because it's all to easy -- perhaps especially with Chekhov -- to play the "problem" rather than the "solution." Playing the "problem" means focusing on what the character doesn't want. For example, Vanya wants Elena, and -- we all know that will never happen -- and Vanya probably, somewhere deep inside, knows this too, but he stays focus on his love for her and indulges in fantasies of a life with her (that he, at some level, of course, knows will not happen). Playing the problem is playing Vanya depressed, resigned, bitter -- doing his monologues from this perspective, in affect telling the other characters something he already knows, i.e., how about depressed he feels, how resigned he is, how bitter he is. That's not what Vanya -- or any character in his place -- is doing.
The play and scenes take off in beautiful flights of longing and desire, longing and desire of the true human spirit, when you play the solutions. Great advice, but -- exactly how do you really do that? This is what I've learned so far:
1st) Read the play. Understand the play. Really read the scenes you're in. Partly, this is critical skill acquired over years of practice, and partly it's a realization that plays are built on cause and effect -- see: Backwards & Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays by David Ball
2nd) Any actor playing an role in Chekhov knows what the "problem" is. There is a feature of our inner life, our mind, that sort of works against us, and it's called cognitive priming: basically, focusing on problems recruits the resources of the brain (e.g., attention, concentration) on all aspects of the problem. Just thinking "she doesn't love me" automatically activates a lot of negative associations and -- consequently -- feelings. (See also schemas). It's easy to spiral into narcissistic self indulgent acting. So what I try to do is 1) be aware of the problem, be aware and get in touch with what I/Vanya does not want: a wasted life, Elana's unrequited love and then 2) somehow reach beyond that towards what I/Vanya want. That's the challenge, the goal in rehearsal.
So, how do I reach beyond?
Again, focusing on the "problem" will automatically and naturally activate a schema that effortless organizes everything I know about that particular "problem." This is called top-down processing: relying on memory, pre-conceptions, what we expect. Bottom-up processing, on the other hand, is:
. . . the information we gather from our senses – see, hear, smell, touch. Top-down processing is information we retrieve from our memory of experiences (cognitive processes). We “recognize” information from our senses, i.e. sensory system (bottom-up process) and we “recall” information from our memory, i.e. cognitive system (top-down process). (Evaluation Toolbox)
So what I do is first remind myself about what I want and then I breathe and put 100% attention on the actresses playing Elena (not hard to do as both actresses in class are very beautiful). This puts me in bottom-up mode, in the "right now," and helps gets my mind-body state out of a naturally activated negative schema.
Interestingly enough, this "feels" to me like I'm not "doing" enough -- in fact, it sometimes feels like I'm not doing anything. This is exactly right. With all my attention on the other, there's little left over for me. I think this particular awareness comes up because I keep momentarily "checking-in" with myself to see how I'm doing in the scene, but because I've been focused on Elena and what I want for the past moment, shifting attention back to myself takes me to "no place." Now, if I'm focus on the "problem" and how I'm feeling about that "problem." then I'm definitely "someplace" and I have the definitely feeling that I'm doing "something," but -- it's not really acting, connecting, doing.
Fear.
Another sign-post on the correct path. Playing the "problem" feels safe, know, secure. Instead, I want to become more aware of the impulses that lead me to feel vulnerable and exposed. This has a lot to do with taking a risk to go after what I want in the scene. So, I try to follow the "choices" (if you will) that I'm afraid of; sense where in the scene, in myself, that I'm shying away and then go -- full steam -- in that direction.
Play the Solution.
Further Reading . . .
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