There are a lot of vague words in acting!
There are a lot of subjective terms and unless a teacher or a director clarifies what he or she means when they utter such words and terms things get murky. at best!
Phrases like “find the truth” (who’s Truth, what truth, Characters ? Given circumstances? or the subjective truth a director has in their mind and they cannot express?) and words like “energy” get abused and become on their own abusive when thrown onto an actor arbitrarily and without context.
As a teacher substituting such words like “truth” let’s say with the word “believability” when we want to explain to an actor that they are indicating (I don’t believe what is happening at the moment ), or with the phrase “understanding of the givens” and the “risks” ( the actor hasn’t realized the consequences either of their actions or of his or her lack of action ) of a scene make what is happening at the moment more manageable, more act-able if you like.
We should always be avoiding unnecessary psychobabble discussions, actors should always try to immerse themselves into the story and tell it from the standpoint of the character by living it, not by narrating it, nor by writing a thesis on it!
What about the word energy? I hear that being thrown onto actors all the time! Usually by guiding the actor to his or her outer shell, like Faster-louder-stronger!
Energy in reality is the delivery system for your “intentions” as a character, and when these inner intentions are manifested then energy becomes the delivery system for your actions!
Without the intention to begin with energy is just an outer indication of what “should be happening” in the scene and it becomes jittery but without the necessary energy (that comes from an understanding of intention- action and risks) whatever you do on the stage will not hold our attention!
Where do you find the energy? As I mentioned above from the given action and from the risks but also from your confidence!
Energy will manifest itself when the actor understands and feels that as a character they must be paid attention to and they must make their point across, they must be listened to and acted upon.
If you find yourself “lacking” energy simply remind yourself what the character wants and then WANT IT MORE…did you do it? ….NOW WANT IT MORE THAN THAT!
Fear is the greatest enemy of “energy” and when directors confuse us by using arbitrarily terms like that they create more fear and ambiguity inside the actor, “what does he or she (director) want from me?” becomes a counterproductive mantra for the actor.
Jump into the scene, find your intention, find your action pursue that ferociously and forget everything else
Trust me your “energy” will be there!
with love and respect
KF
Copyright 2020 Kimon Fioretos, All Rights Reserved.
