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Actors who avoid the bumps and bruises of the experience are simply trying to play the game without getting deeply involved.
The art of acting is an experiential process and can be compared in many ways to the art of playing sport. The actor and the sportsperson have much in common. Both undertake and undergo a process of training and rehearsal that leads to performance. Both must commit minds and bodies to a set of experiences that can become immersive and completely involving. An actor who achieves complete involvement in the part they are playing is said to be 'in the moment'. A sportsperson who achieves complete involvement is said to be 'on their game'.
Qualities such as spontaneity and skilfulness are shared by both. Both understand what it is to be completely present and engaged with the action or passage of play where there is no other mind except the mind that is present. Presence can be described as a state of flow, operating with the whole and operating beyond limitation of mind. When athletes and actors achieve this state they describe the experience as: a feeling of complete oneness, a state of flow, a deeply satisfying experience, like flying, electric, or in a state of immediacy and presence.
The analogy of sport to acting is also useful when considering the experience of using the emotional and physical body. Where an athlete experiences certain discomforts relating to exercise and in some sports the bumps and bruises of bodily contact, it is understood that this is all part of the process. An athlete puts his or her physical and emotional body into the activity. It would be ridiculous to suggest that a game of football for example could be played purely intellectually. Of course intellect is part of the game but not the whole game. Why then would we approach the art of acting from a totally intellectual standpoint? It wouldn't make sense. Using the intellect is clearly part of the process but actors who avoid the bumps and bruises of the experience are simply trying to play the game without getting deeply involved. This is not to say that we forget who or where we are. Achieving the mastery of the deep experience lies in the art of complete engagement with the action while at the same time being the witness to that action. Engagement with the action is at the forefront of the player's attention while the part that witnesses, sits back watching and enjoying the play.
We can say that acting is experiencing. Like playing sport there are certain discomforts that are involved: sweating, being short of breath, stretching and straining muscles and the bumps and bruises that come with contact sport. An actor's discomforts are similar in some ways but adding to these are: the ability to experience a range of emotions on call, using or accessing some personal pain in order to transpose it to the text or work, risk of embarrassment and self consciousness, to name a few.
A tennis player, a sprinter, a footballer, a netballer, a high jumper, each has a personal super or main objective. This objective is typically the pursuit of a victory or a personal best. It is supported by other objectives such as: to train regularly, to build fitness, to build a strong team and to perform at the highest level possible. Each objective can be expressed as a desire manifesting into action. And each action may and often will encounter obstacles. The obstacle is often the other team or player's desire for victory. Other obstacles might include such things as: injury, doubt, other players getting picked, the coach's opinion, the weather washing out a game, and on and on we could go.
Continuing the analogy the athlete or sportsperson has a personal desire to overcome these obstacles and continues to train, rehearse, compete and strive to do their best. The need is personal. The need to do this is experienced. The experience is a set of manifesting desires and is a felt experience. It is not an intellectual one. The intellect is involved yes, but on a deep level the sportsperson experiences the need to play and compete against others and against their own limitations. Until they retire from the game they are more or less in constant pursuit of their objectives.
An actor needs to do the same.
The central difference is of course that the needs of the character are not necessarily the needs of the actor. And that is where the rubber meets the road. This is exactly what the actor must work to achieve. A personalisation of the need.
Yesterday in class we were conducting exercises that centred around this subject. An actor was given a role and the character's needs were discussed. The actor was asked if on some level they could empathise with the situation and make a personal choice that might help them understand the needs of the character. In the cases where the actor could do this we noticed a marked difference in the depth and strength of the performance. When it wasn't achieved we invariably found that the actor needed more 'process time' to explore and discover a personal need they could transpose to the character's need.
One further exciting discovery that emerged from our exercises was that the class noticed the difference when an actor was simply 'Pursuing a Need' to when an actor was able to 'Experience that Need'. We noted that the former tended to be more head centred while the latter was more body centred. We concluded that the performances that 'pursued the need' tended to be intellectually received by the audience and made for a passable performance, while those that 'experienced the need' tended to engage the audience more deeply and be a more satisfying experience for the actor. Being able to differentiate between the two types of performance was an exciting discovery and strong confirmation of the process.
Using the analogy of sport to acting confirms the deeper understanding that such artistic practice is a whole body experience. The actor who personalises the need of the character participates in the action of the story at a deep level. Acting is experiencing. It is a whole body exercise; requiring the artist to engage with his or her mental, physical, emotional and spiritual body.
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