Improvisation.

'An actor is both the piano and the pianist'

For me this sums up what good acting, or being a good actor, really is. If anyone was to ask me what acting is like, or what it takes to act, then I'd reply with this, take the piano for example. The best pianos in the world are made from very specific materials and components, making the instrument sound the ways it does. And every piano sounds different, no matter what the make is, every one has it's own sound. The piano is a perfect relation to our body. Everyone is different and made up of lots of specific parts and materials, all of which perform slightly different for each of us. Now, the pianist has to sit in front of that instrument, manipulate and control its parts to generate a performance, be it good or bad. The best have practised for hours on end and have made the art become part of them, the same can be said for the actor. For the actor the piano is the body, the pianist the mind, both working together to produce a performance to draw a you in, to make you buy into the illusion that they are who they are pretending to be on stage. Because after all, acting is pretending. Just the best ones will make you forget that.

Try this, stand up and take account of how you are holding your body, how you are holding your shoulders, where you are tensing or collapsing, where the weight is sitting. Now take 2 steps backwards whilst looking forwards, analyse yourself now. Try walking forwards with the idea in your head of walking backwards. Don't push anything, just let it happen. :)

Last night I attended an Improvisation show at one of the theatres inside the Stella Adler complex (they have 2). It was a performance containing 6 of the first year students, not too far different to that of 'Whos line is it anyway'. I was extremely surprised at how hilarious it was. I've been to a few improv shows before that have tried this kind of show mechanic, and they all failed miserably, with pace more than anything. Last night went along at a merry pace though, keeping the audience involved all the way through, and providing laughs all night long. It runs until Wednesday, and is free, so I shall be attending it tonight and tomorrow (it's Tuesday here right now) with eagerness, they now have a level of performance to keep to after last night!
Until next time. x