I may be the only person who thinks this pandemic has been good for Acting. Our industry has been all but shut down, with no idea of when it will come back. The livelihood that we have trained our entire lives for somehow seems out of reach, and we are left wondering about the next step to take.
A wise man recently told me that, sometimes, the next step is to revisit the first one. We can replace artistic uncertainty with acting lessons and training games. We can go back to the drawing board, and emerge more skilled than ever.
Every professional performing artist I know worries about what comes next. It’s a way of life. We are trained to always look for the next gig. Now, the next gig could be next year. How do we stay sharp? How do we keep growing our craft? What comes next?
Just Because the Audience is Gone, Doesn’t Mean You Stop Playing
My parents are symphonic musicians, so we have a lot of family talks about being a performance artist.
A few nights ago, they were over at my place, and we were sitting down to dinner. I asked them how they are dealing with not being performers right now. My father looked at me and, “What are you talking about? I am and always will be a performer.”
He knew what I meant, but I was having a hard time wrapping my head around how that made sense. I knew that it did make sense, he always makes sense, but the sauce for the chicken wasn’t quite right.
My mother saw that I didn’t have the brain real estate to get to what he was saying, so she stepped in. “Stephen, we are practicing now more than ever. Just because the audience is gone doesn’t mean we stop playing.”
After they left, I was doing the dishes and the conversation kept playing in my head, “…always a performer…doesn’t mean we stop…” The idea seems so simple that I am a bit embarrassed I didn’t think of it. My father, in his Bruce Lee style of teaching, told me that the work is about the art, not about the audience.
As actors, we tell stories. Everything we do, all of the skills we have and techniques we employ don’t mean a thing without the story. This pandemic has stripped away everything we have, except the story. Dad was telling me that I can always go back to just telling stories.
Stella Adler’s theory on acting tells us that our greatest tool is our imagination. Children entertain themselves for hours by engaging their imagination and creating worlds to play in. We too, can create what we need simply by engaging our embedded childhood skills.
Below, we’ll take a look at some acting lessons, games, and exercises you can try at home on your own, or with friends via platforms like Zoom.
Pandemic Acting Lesson Number 1: You Can Create What You Need.
Step 1- Create your space
Put yourself in a room, alone. Envision the theatre you want to be in. If it helps to close your eyes, then do. It is important to really create this theatre in your mind. How many seats are there? What color are they? What is the stage like? Are the lights on?
As you build this theatre – even film actors can use a theatre – shy away from adding people. This is only about your imagination. Be bold. Make choices.
What is the air like? How does it feel to be in the space? Allow your creative juices to flow into this theatre. Spend some time there. Walk around. Allow yourself to become comfortable here.
Step 2- Tell a story
After you have become comfortable creating your theatre, it’s time to play a game. You can play this game alone or with friends, and it may be wise to begin alone and add friends later.
To play this game, we’re going to go back to acting basics and tell a story. Set a timer for two minutes. Tell the story the same way you built and saw your theatre.
Allow the story to guide your emotions. Follow its flow. Commit to your instinctive choices. Forget about the timer until it goes off. Then stop. Take a breath and let go of the story and the emotions that came with it. It is incredibly important to let it go.
When you choose to add friends, they will pick up the story where you left off. That is why it is important to let go. Allow your scene partner to work. Your job has changed into actively and honestly listening.
It is a game that everyone has played in every theatre class ever. This is a classic improv game, with a different focus. The improv game focuses on listening and responding. This variation focuses on emotional storytelling.
It is often slower at first and much more intense for the performer. The object is to give as much detail, emotional and physical, to your partner. Keep the story going for as many two minute chunks as possible. The more people you have, the more variation and creativity you get.
We’re in This Together, & Practicing Your Craft Through Acting Lessons & Games Can Help
This pandemic allows seasoned actors to go back to the basics and spend some quality time with technique and allows newcomers to catch up a bit. We are all in the same situation. Those of us who continue to work our craft, to delve into acting lessons and games, and to take advantage of the opportunity that this situation presents will be better prepared when the world opens up again.
The world will open again. We will get together with audiences and play the same game together. We will tell them emotionally driven stories. They will take the journey with us. Our job right now is to work our craft until we meet again.
Stephen Scarlato