Reflections on memories and influences
I am trying to reflect not only on my later influences as I grew up but also on my earlier memories and influences that still seem to have a grip on me as both a human being and an artist. Throughout my life, I have fallen in love with many artists, and I have cried […]
Movie Night
I started watching a movie on Netflix last night, just something new to relax something stupid like an action movie to wind down before bed. I found one classic simple revenge story on Netflix….but two minutes in “this guy” that was it “hooked” for the whole stupid movie. This guy might be what Hollywood will […]
“Technique-unfaithful”
At S.A.M., we honor tradition. We respect all existing methods and techniques. However, we constantly challenge the rules to create new approaches. The idea that actors should be “technique-unfaithful,” exploring various disciplines and methods, is not groundbreaking, but it remains essential. Anyone who has set foot on stage or worked in diverse environments knows that […]
Working with directors
Old but Always Relevant Text: Director Types
The First Type: The Puppeteer Secretly, or not so secretly, he wishes actors had no brain, no soul, no will, no freedom. If only he could move us like puppets—our emotions, our breath, our voice.“Say it like this,” he commands. “Do it like that.”And if you happen to not do it exactly as he wants… […]
Beautifully said: “Every actor has a method, uniquely crafted from whatever they’ve studied or experienced.”
Marian Seldes on The Method https://grissom.substack.com/p/marian-seldes-on-the-method?fbclid=IwY2xjawItE2JleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHSda9ioZaeGhz5FLrenyW_Y4IyynI-dHjrXEzs3YmTc08hiu5lwjP5jEiQ_aem_IwP2oyHAD2a1DeiN3Nf59w
Actor’s imagination is PHYSICAL
The actor’s imagination is not intellectual, it is physical, the director can be intellectual, the writer can be intellectual, but the actor’s imagination is always physical. Actors are always trying to avoid the inevitable — getting up — so we talk…then the director talks…then the actors talk back and now we are all chatting about it. Don’t […]
Orson Welles on Acting and Directing
A somewhat heavy opinion by the beast named orson, but then again a director should be a complete actor, a complete writer, a complete Cameraman etc…
Book suggestion
This summer, I delved into Ernest Becker’s profound work, The Denial of Death. For anyone passionate about the arts, especially theatre, this book offers deep insights into human existence and the often-ignored subject of mortality. “Mankind’s common instinct for reality… has always held the world to be essentially a theatre for heroism.”—William James At the heart […]
THINGS I ABSORBED, THOUGHT ABOUT, LEARNED, READ OR HEARD THIS SUMMER.
To tell YOUR truth sincerely is the pitiful pretension of what we call theatre. To lie with ABSOLUTE sincerity is the euphoria of the ART of the theatre. – Let us stop confusing our truth with art’s truth. If simple theatre reproduces life, then the art of theatre inherently must invent real life, this invention is a direct criticism of the poverty of existence most […]
