Tadashi Suzuki says we do not perform for the audience. We perform for the Eye of God, which is just above and beyond the audience.
I think this applies to all goals. If you are walking the path of devotion, any one act falls into perspective and loses its terror.
Leonid Anisimov, Honored Artist of Russia, had an actor in his company who was having a terrific night. After the performance, Leonid called him up to his office. "Yes?" said the actor, eager for his praise. "This was a night of shame," said Leonid. "What? Why?" said the actor, confused, "I had a great performance tonight." "Yes," said Leonid, "You had a great performance. But your scene partner, who is less experienced than you, and less talented, was not having a great performance. And you did not help him. You left him to flounder. This is bad ethics. This bad ethics poisoned the performance for the spectator." The actor nodded, thoughtful, understanding.
Leonid also says, "Your scene partner is your gateway to the Divine."
I had a threesome once, doing the Proteus-wooing-Silvia-while-Julia-hides-in-the-bushes scene from Two Gentlemen of Verona. The actors playing Silvia and Proteus rehearsed daily. When they couldn't meet in person, they ran their lines on the phone for hours at night. It was insane. It was beautiful. The three rehearsed so much they became one sentient organism. I removed all blocking. They were so thickly connected that their instincts were impeccable. When the time came for performance -- they were doing only this scene, not the whole play -- I asked the audience for different secrets & objectives each time. We ran it three times. They were quiveringly present; and startlingly different.
Each actor was wide open, absolutely trusting -- no, it was beyond trust, it was like they were just LISTENING really hard for the Mystery to come from the other person. No defenses or ego, just connection. This made it a powerfully three-person scene, even though one had fewer lines.
It is Denise up the ladder that I remember, with Pam crouching at her feet and Sal leaning across to stroke her, when I envision actors being a gateway to the Divine for each other.
I remember Leonid's 17 actors standing in a silent ring in the blue-light, silhouetted in their Lower Depths rags; while Leonid walked to each one and murmured a blessing as he splashed them with holy water gotten from the Russian Orthodox priest that day.
We perform for the eye of god.
Monday, September 06, 2004
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