This is my 100th podcast and it got me thinking about why I keep talking about acting and why you should listen.
Listen because Notes on Acting is a good way for think about your work. Each week there is a new topic about acting to engage you, even if you don’t agree with what I say. If you’re working on a project, you might hear something that will help you dig deeper into your role or give you some new perspective on what you are doing. If you aren’t doing a project listening to these podcasts might just inspire you to start one. You can use the podcasts in conjunction with other acting classes or if you aren’t studying, you can use them as your own private class.
I keep talking about acting because I’m passionate about the process, the creative nature of the work, and the impact it has on our lives. Acting demands that we live fully. It is a total integration of sense and muscle, memory and fantasy, mind and body. When we are working, we must see and hear what people are saying to us. We must examine and experience the given circumstances. We must be deeply engaged with other actors and fully focused on what is happening between us.
More than that, I think that acting helps us to wake up and not live like sleepwalkers. It requires us to use our intellects and emotions. It demands that we pay attention to the little details, to see the world around us, to recognize our feelings, and to respond to them. As actors, we must become more sensitive to ourselves and to what is going on inside of us. We have to learn to do these things and then combine them with our creative instincts to create rich and interesting work.
Life is to be experienced and acting allows us to do that in the work while it teaches us how to do it in our daily lives.
That’s what acting means to me. What does it mean to you?
Eric Barr. All rights reserved
