scenarios

I've never slammed my hand in a door, but I know I wouldn't like it.  How do I know this?  Because I have an imagination!  It's really quite easy for me to imagine slamming my hand in a door, and how it would feel, and how I would yell obscenities right afterwards.  I can even imagine how I would double over in pain, hold the damaged hand with the other hand, and look at it, inspecting it for skin breaks, broken bones and the like.  I can imagine going to coffee with a friend later that day, and telling them exactly what happened.

Why am I telling you this?

Because so many people believe that they require a direct personal experience in order to "get into" a performance.  Like the fellow in the Owning The Stage Forum who said his quartet-mate wouldn't sing "Old Fashioned Locket And A Curl" because he had never had a close relative die.  This is such a terrible excuse!  I mean honestly, how difficult is it to imagine how you would feel if a family member died??  I'd say for most people, it would take about a half-second to answer that question, straight from the gut.

More likely, the guy didn't want to sing that song because he didn't *want* to access those feelings.  Feelings like that can be kind of scary.  It's understandable.  But it's also not going to kill you.  You might get choked up the first few times, but don't worry, the extreme reaction will pass as you habituate to it.  And you might feel a bit more alive from having gone through that journey.  Like the guru who was asked "what do you do when you experience a negative emotion?" and answered "stay there as long as I can."

You're a performer, so let's do a little experiment.  What song/speech/scene are you working on right now?  Do you understand what's happening in the scene?  If so, what emotions might you expect in a person in that situation?  Now make up a scenario where you might experience that same emotion.

Go ahead and do it.  I'll wait.

Wasn't that easy??  You my friend are an amazing emotional machine.  You have all the tools you need to play a scene where you are going off to war, falling in love with an illicit stranger, or dying from a spear wound.  Even if you have never done those things.  (And I hope you haven't, at least not that last one.)

I heard a story on CBC radio today talking about the music of Joni Mitchell and how it was "deeply autobiographical but general enough that people could take what they needed from it."

I thought that underlined section was very insightful!  One of the underlying truths here is that the audience is always present in the performance, bringing their own perspective and interpreting everything from their own point of view. Applying the "why does this matter to me" filter. We all apply that filter all the time - why should audiences be any different? They are not mindless, passive observers ready to receive your master work.

So what happens when you over analyze the performance plan and make the underlying scenario extremely specific?  If the performers are successful at conveying your restrictive vision, you prevent the audience from taking what they need, and by making the performance irrelevant to them, you alienate them.

Overly specific scenarios and plans are a way for people with planning responsibility, like directors of the film and musical variety, to emphasize their importance in the creative process, to the ruination of the art and the detriment of the audience. Actors and performers do the same trick when they get into a character in the method acting sense,and try to add their own special interpretation.

If you want to create something that the people will love and thank you for, it should not be surprising that you must make their perspective paramount and serve their needs above all others. The best stage actors, for example, tend not to draw attention to themselves but rather to become invisible against the backdrop of the play itself. The best singers become part of the music, not a cult of their own personality. After all, "best singer" is a purely technical comment, like "best figure skater." Good performance is not like the compulsory figures, it's more like the long programme!

So whether your role is creator, interpreter or performer, or all of the above, make the audience king and they will reward you.  That one idea will transform your performances, more than any other.