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One of the things Deborah's been hammering home during our work at Word Of Mouth Studios is that it's always about the other. Simple (and hitting-the-nail-on-the-head) advice, but -- exactly, in practice, in rehearsal, in performance, what did that really mean? How did one really do that?

To start -- what Is attention?

Everyone knows what attention is. It is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought. Focalization, concentration, of consciousness are of its essence. It implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others, and is a condition which has a real opposite in the confused, dazed, scatterbrained state which in French is called distraction. (William James, The Principles of Psychology, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2).

Attention is a nice thing because once deployed on some object, additional brain resources (sensory, perceptual, cognitive) are automatically allocated to the object, i.e., you start to take it in, all of it, every aspects. There's obviously levels of intensity, i.e., the processes of paying attention to whether or not a street sign says walk or don't work are less intense then if someone is pointing a gun in your face and asking for all your money.

For actors, the issue is really concentration, and learning how to to fully concentrate on the other, growing one's powers of concentration, is a critical skill. I feel my ability to concentrate has improved though practice (i.e., simply reminding myself to pay full attention to the other) and meditation, especially the Holosync audio technology by Centerpoint.