“Poor Theatre Costs”
Part A(By Robert Cohen) In the winter of 1982–83, Professor Andy Harris of Columbia University contacted David MacDonald with an intriguing proposal: Jerzy Grotowski was in the United States and wanted to visit California. Andy wanted to know if we were interested in such a visit and perhaps a series of lectures from Grotowski at […]
The “Hintergedanken” of acting Part 2 (PUT YOUR CLOTHES ON)
Do you know what en-clothed cognition is? Well, let me explain it to you in layman terms (I am probably going to kill it, so bear with me) An experiment was conducted in 2012, a set of scientists decided to give two teams of participants a lab coat to wear. Team A was told the lab […]
Director Types
It is unfathomable but these two types of directors are still out there: the grand puppeteer (the god figure) the indifferent — chief blocker. The first type “puppeteer” He secretly (sometimes not so secretly) wishes actors had no brain and no will…Ah!If he (seldom she) could just puppeteer actors, their emotions and their intonations. — […]
The “Hintergedanken” of acting
PART 1 — Hintergedanken, a German word, which means “thought in the very far back of your mind.” My hintergedanken these days is the word transformation, what does it mean to transform? Can it be done? Is experiencing the “I AM” of another character a very useful illusion, Or is it a red herring? As […]
Impregnated moments
What you are doing right now, right NOW, is already impregnated with the next Moment without you even knowing it. This moment right now contains the potential of the next moment! Nothing ever ends its a continuum of moments and that is energizing to know! When you close your eyes right in this moment you […]
On Vague Terms
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 […]
Lists and Acting
People who know me know I love lists … why? I think they make our life simpler. Ok, maybe it’s just my OCD! Of course like Santa, there are bad lists and good lists. When I see acting books by trending hollywood acting Gurus doing nothing more than twelve stepping a whole process with so […]
Taking things personally
I see acting students and sometimes professional actors. waiting, Idling in a passive state. They seem to be expecting something to happen, either in the scene or even worst…to them. Well unfortunately the miracle God hand will never appear to bestow upon us feelings, sensations, emotions or beliefs. It is nobody’s job to convince us that […]
On Bullshit Acting Classes. And Bullshit Acting Teachers
The article was inspired by the book “believing bullshit” by Steven Law and it is dedicated to all students that have to go through all kinds of bullshit in their learning journey. Excerpts are taken from. the book “on bullshit” by professor Harry G. Frankfurt Princeton University And “believing bullshit, how not to get sucked […]
Stoics on the Rescue: a simple Life in Art
Life in the arts, Ah yes…a fantastic journey filled with great moments and a life of self-exploration! But also Self-doubt and a Life filled with financial insecurity. Nowadays the brave young people that take this adventurous journey have new and even more treacherous paths to overcome. Routes that might mislead them into focusing on the […]
