What would it be like to slam your hand in a door?

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.)