A well known and excellent actor once gave me terrific advice about listening. He equated it to hitchhiking. You get into a car with a complete stranger and you better believe you’re gonna listen to every word that stranger says and pick up every nuance and gesture that stranger makes.
In short, you’re gonna listen like you’re life depended on it.
One final note about listening…Listening doesn’t mean staring intently in the other person’s eyes for long periods of time. Showing everyone that “you’re really listening.” We don’t do that in real life. Nor should we on stage. Listening just means being deeply invested in what the other person has to say. That’s it.
P.S. – Another idea to add to yesterday’s post about “your personal scene study“…If you can’t find a great two person scene, how about you and your partner write one? Or even better ask a writer friend to write one? Now you’ll really be practicing the full enchilada of producing.
Wanna work with great people who share your work ethic and love of the art?
Wanna experience working with a certain director you’re curious about?
Wanna practice producing?
Wanna have an incredible artistic experience?
Wanna do all of the above and not spend very much money?
Create your own personal scene study.
Originally inspired by an actor friend of mine who called me up to do this once, I’m now sharing with you. Here’s how it goes…
Step One. Find a scene from a great play that you’re passionate about. Make sure it’s meaty and challenging and has great parts for two actors. (Maybe it’s from your anchor play.)
Step Two. Make a list of all your actor friends you’d love to work with. Those who share your work ethic and passion and would be down to do something for just the pure love of doing it. (AND of course are right for the part opposite you.)
(Note: If you’re having trouble finding a great scene, you could skip step one and start with step two. Call up your actor friends and say “I’d love to work with you. Are there any scenes from plays that you’re passionate about? A part you’re dying to play? Does it have a good scene for the both of us? If not, let’s start thinking brainstorming together.”)
Step Three. Once you’ve identified a great scene, make a list of all the directors you’d like to work with. And also the ones you’ve worked with before and would want to work with again. Between the two of you identify some candidates you could approach.
Step Four. Call the director(s) up, tell them that you and your partner are gonna work on a scene. See if they’d like to work on it with you. Invite them in right away or if their schedule is busy, let them know that you’ll both be working on it and can they come in at the end. After you’re off book and have fully explored it, can they come in for a couple of rehearsals and work with you two?
Step Five. Find a rehearsal space. Could be your residence. Could be a theatre or classroom. Could be over Zoom especially in these times. Whatever works best for everyone. Start rehearsing! And go all out. Costumes, props, etc…
Step Six. Once you’ve fully explored the scene with the director, that might be the end. Or you could think about filming it or inviting a few friends to watch. Or again do it over Zoom. Maybe record a podcast of it. Or all of them.
This whole process will probably take about 2-3 months. Hopefully, like I did, you’ll have an amazing, enriching experience. And who knows?….It might inspire you to then go produce the play.
“Flow in the living moment. — We are always in a process of becoming and nothing is fixed. Have no rigid system in you, and you’ll be flexible to change with the ever changing. Open yourself and flow, my friend. Flow in the total openness of the living moment. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Moving, be like water. Still, be like a mirror. Respond like an echo.” -Bruce Lee
“How do I know if I’m working correctly?”
You’ll know when you’re not wondering if you’re working correctly. You’re too busy being immersed in the moment.
“As soon as anyone comes close to me, his personality begins to oppress my vanity and restrict my freedom. I’m capable of hating the best men in twenty-four hours: one because he sits too long over his dinner, another because he has a cold in the head and keeps blowing his nose. But, on the other hand, it invariably happened that the more I hated men individually, the more ardent became my love for humanity at large.” -Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
“You can bind up my leg, but not even Zeus has the power to break my freedom of choice.” -Epictetus
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” -Viktor Frankl
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” -Ferris Bueller
There’s a classic Paul Newman story…I can’t recall which film or director, but supposedly after several takes, the director approached Newman, said the scene was dragging and politely asked if he could he speed it up. Maybe talk faster?
Newman replied, “Sure thing.”
They went back, did the take. The director LOVED it. He came running up to Newman saying how wonderful the scene was. It was a print. They could move on. The director then asked Newman what he did to make it so riveting.
“There is nothing either good or bad, only thinking makes it so.” -Hamlet
“You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this and you will find strength.” -Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
The following story was told by Anthony De Mello in his book, Awareness which I highly recommend. It’ll be a longer post today but worth your time. Warning in advance…it’s not the happiest, most uplifting tale, but I think illustrates the Stoic mindset. Specifically that of not judging or trying to control events. And being prepared for whatever life sends our way.
Okay, I’ll let the story speak for itself…
We’re always bothered by the problem of evil. There’s a powerful story about a little boy walking along the bank of a river. He sees a crocodile who is trapped in a net. The crocodile says, “Would you have pity on me and release me? I may look ugly, but it isn’t my fault, you know. I was made this way. But whatever my external appearance, I have a mother’s heart. I came this morning in search of food for my young ones and got caught in this trap!”
So the boy says, “Ah, if I were to help you out of that trap, you’d grab me and kill me.”
The crocodile asks, “Do you think I would do that to my benefactor and liberator?”
So the boy is persuaded to take the net off and the crocodile grabs him.
As he is being forced between the jaws of the crocodile, he says, “So this is what Iget for my good actions.” And the crocodile says, “Well, don’t take it personally, son, this is the way the world is, this is the law of life.”
The boy disputes this, so the crocodile says, “Do you want to ask someone if it isn’t so?”
The boy sees a bird sitting on a branch and says, “Bird, is what the crocodile says right?” The bird says, “The crocodile is right. Look at me. I was coming home one day with food for my fledglings. Imagine my horror to see a snake crawling up the tree, making straight for my nest. I was totally helpless. It kept devouring my young ones, one after the other. I kept screaming and shouting, but it was useless. The crocodile is right, this is the law of life, this is the way the world is.”
“See,” says the crocodile. But the boy says, “Let me ask someone else.” So the crocodile says, “Well, all right, go ahead.”
There was an old donkey passing by on the bank of the river. “Donkey,” says the boy, “this is what the crocodile says. Is the crocodile right?”
The donkey says, “The crocodile is quite right. Look at me. I’ve worked and slaved for my master all my life and he barely gave me enough to eat. Now that I’m old and useless, he has turned me loose, and here I am wandering in the jungle, waiting for some wild beast to pounce on me and put an end to my life. The crocodile is right, this is the law of life, this is the way the world is.”
“See,” says the crocodile. “Let’s go!”
The boy says, “Give me one more chance, one last chance. Let me ask one otherbeing. Remember how good I was to you?” So the crocodile says, “All right, your last chance.”
The boy sees a rabbit passing by, and he says, “Rabbit, is the crocodile right?”
The rabbit sits on his haunches and says to the crocodile, “Did you say that to that boy? The crocodile says, “Yes, I did.” “Wait a minute,” says the rabbit. “We’ve got to discuss this.” “Yes,” says the crocodile. But the rabbit says, “How can we discuss it when you’ve got that boy in your mouth? Release him; he’s got to take part in the discussion, too.” The crocodile says, “You’re a clever one, you are. The moment I release him, he’ll run away.” The rabbit says, “I thought you had more sense than that. If he attempted to run away, one slash of your tail would kill him.”
“Fair enough,” says the crocodile, and he released the boy. The moment the boy is released, the rabbit says, “Run!” And the boy runs and escapes. Then the rabbit says to the boy, “Don’t you enjoy crocodile flesh? Wouldn’t the people in your village like a good meal? You didn’t really release that crocodile; most of his body is still caught in that net. Why don’t you go to the village and bring everybody and have a banquet.”
That’s exactly what the boy does. He goes to the village and calls all the men folk. They come with their axes and staves and spears and kill the crocodile. The boy’sdog comes, too, and when the dog sees the rabbit, he gives chase, catches hold of the rabbit, and throttles him. The boy comes on the scene too late, and as he watches the rabbit die, he says, “The crocodile was right, this is the way the world is, this is the law of life.”
“The ultimate is not to win, but to reach within the depths of your capabilities and to compete against yourself to the greatest extent possible. When you do that, you have dignity. You have the pride. You can walk about with character and pride no matter in what place you happen to finish.” -Billy Mills
Second Wind: A phenomenon in distance running, such as marathons or road running (as well as other sports), whereby an athlete who is out of breath and too tired to continue suddenly finds the strength to press on at top performance with less exertion. Various theories have been suggested to be the cause of gaining ‘second-wind’ during running but as of yet, there has been no definite confirmation for the onset. Some researchers suggest that the second wind may be a result of the body counteracting the balance of the body’s oxygen consumption requirements and the build-up and removal of lactic acid within the working muscles. Others claim that the second wind phenomena is due to the release of endorphins during running which are the body’s naturally producing brain chemicals that are secreted and act to lower pain levels and reduce feelings of stress. Some scientists believe the phenomena may be psychological.
Second winds are just like making art.
No matter how many times prior your second wind has kicked in, you feel this time it won’t. This time is different. This time you’ll be exposed. You’re scared. You’re in pain. You don’t know what to do.
The only thing keeping you going is sheer will. And belief.
Belief in yourself. Belief in your idea. Belief that at some point your second wind will kick in. And when it does, you’ll be okay.
It’s the getting there that sucks.
Don’t give up. Keep going. Keep going through the suck. You’ll get there.
P.S. – Billy Mills, pictured above, has an incredible Olympic story. Watch this clip from the 1964 Olympics. Talk about a second wind and finishing kick! There’s also a terrific movie about him called “Running Brave.”
“I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let’s face it.” -Terry Malloy in On The Waterfront
“Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets.” —Arthur Miller, The Ride Down Mt. Morgan
Does the below monologue sound familiar? Or some form of it? Have you heard or said something similar? I used a financial example (a) because it comes up fairly often around me (I have a background in finance and investing) and (b) a neighbor friend just said it to me yesterday morning. (I paraphrased slightly, but not much.)
I think it’s applicable to any type of goal or dream or burning desire we have in life…
“Aw man, I knew this stock was gonna go up. I just knew it. I watched it every day, I was reading articles, I know the industry really well…I told my wife, I told friends, I was like, we should invest big. At the time, it was like $3 a share and now it’s over $70! If I just…(insert whatever excuse you choose), I woulda invested.
“If I woulda invested, then I coulda been done. Outta here. Rich…Of course, I didn’t do anything.”
(Long ass pause.)
“Motherf-cker. I shoulda listened to myself.”
Don’t woulda coulda shoulda.
Go make your art.
P.S. – To watch one of the greatest film acting scenes of all time, click Here.
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