A Battle Cry For Actors

A battle cry for actors

We mortals cry “Nooooo!” to change and to challenge...

But as artists we see the face of possibility. We ask, what’s up life? What do I need to learn?

Something bigger is at work!

What seemed too far a reach is now right in front of us, moved into our homes—a new reflection of who we are.

We don’t flinch as we pick up the challenge and begin to feel its texture, hear its call, taste its juices, inhale the scent.

We can study the history of great times of crisis… or times of great crisis.

Or, right now, put our attention on becoming experts in the crisis of today.

Let’s make history.

Our challenge is to come out the other side with enhanced confidence on how we can inspire the world as actors.

We will collect new tools, skills, and expertise to meet the challenge of today and stay in service to this ancient art form.

We already have the emotional and psychological information in us. As we break new ground, we will also find that Tennessee Williams, William Shakespeare, Anton Chekhov are as relevant as always. We tie the past into the future.

Acting is an archetypal calling…

The Shamans, the community healers from the beginning of human-kind in all cultures, employed early forms of acting through storytelling as a way to reflect to the people an objective view.

This use of performance helped them gain perspective on their experiences and better understand their inner confusion and outer conflicts—it inspired and helped the population have faith. It gave them a road-map to navigate their inner turmoil and find meaning in what seemed meaningless.

Acting is a means of communication through expressing the inner and outer life of us “wee” mortals. It offers a shared intimacy with self and others.

With the brilliant technology of genius visionaries, we have designed a world-wide stage. We now have an opportunity to go deeper into our work by exploring through the universal eye of the camera.

Using the “camera” and “screen” purposefully is opening up our view for new revelations.

Online techniques for acting, directing and writing will continue to become a prominent tool for our creativity whether we’re in the same community or across the globe—

Even as we are now physically confined by world-wide conditions, we have access to the whole world.

Screen acting is called to greater service.

As you sit in your current environment, look to the right, the left, above, beneath, behind and in front of you.

What do you see?

Your life holds you.

Wrap yourself up in its hold and bring it more into focus.

This week I have received a surge of creative products through writing, scripts, conversations on phone and Zoom from people who know that creation itself is who we are. Creation is the heart and soul of existence and, unrelentingly, it will persevere and find its way through. It can’t not.

Technology is more than ever a creative tool that transports me to you and you to me.

We are refining our options which will refine our work as artists.

How can we best use the camera to discover deeper truth?

The camera doesn’t lie.

On a grand movie screen, the camera can bring us into the intimacy of a character, until we join with that character and become one. We breathe, taste, feel the character’s experiences as our bodies become alive and animated with them. Our bodily molecules bounce and seem to multiply.

In some ways the proximity to the inner life of the character is more confrontational and even more personal than on stage. We can feel the character breathe.

The actor feels and the camera becomes an open-heart window looking in.

The camera multiplies our vision, forces the closeup experience and there is nothing in between.

No filter.

Be a part of the “battle cry.”