"My Sacrifice": Creed
It's still really, really cold in Sackville. I feel sorry for anyone visiting Canada right now because they'll get the impression that it's always this cold over here. Although it does get cold in Canada, it's not always like this - even though the stereotype still runs rampant.
I had a meeting with Hope McIntyre, my director in "Escape From Happiness" and we went over lots of the aspects of George F. Walker's writings and how it is essential to have a little bit of background on what the themes in his plays are so that us actors can get a good idea of how to act in one of his plays. It's really weird to describe to someone who isn't an actor how one gets "into " character. For example, there are so many styles such as the naturalistic style and the well known Stanislavsky method or it's Americanized version "Method Acting". Marlon Brando, and Robert DeNiro are method actors and to get into character, a method actor "becomes" the character. You live, breathe, act, like the character. You know what they ate for breakfast. You know the name of their dog when they were seven years old. Now this is an effective for of acting and it allows the actor to fully immerse oneself in the part.
However I don't think it's a good idea to subscribe to only one style of acting. I think it is neccesary to understand that you can't get in every character's head. Take a farcical character for example: the physical movements and the physical comedy of the character is what's important. Another good example is Beckett.A Beckett character requires the actor to distance himself or herself from the character because the character's are not naturalistic.
The point I'm trying to get at is that in Walker's plays, the actor has to be able to act as if everything that they are doing comes naturally however they also can't act fully true to life because it isn't true life. It is a play. There are many moments that are funny to the audience but those moments are not funny for the character. They are living in that moment. They are going through that experience it is not absurd or silly to them. For example, in "Escape From Happiness", one of the characters, Junior has gotten attacked by some thugs and is injured and bleeding on the floor. His mother in-law, Nora tells him to get off the floor and to live. To get off the floor and to dance so she just keeps on saying "Dance Junior! Dance!" Now this is absurd to anyone in the audience but to the people in the play, this is perfectly normal behavior.
I think one of the many challenges in this play is to figure out how will I be able to play a character that is all at once real and not real. I have to find the balance. I hope I haven't made all your heads spin too much. It's going to be hard work but it's going to be lots of fun. Anyways, I think that's enough ranting from me. Goodnight everyone!