I’m preparing for an upcoming play and part of that process is to examine every line with a fine tooth comb.
In doing this, I realised that so much of my job as an actor is this part: it’s having an intellectual, emotional, visual and three dimensional understanding of the words.
The words infer an entire world of this character. As I work with each one; taste it, see it, try it and live it… I’m building an intricate network of threads that will eventually make up the whole piece.
Acting is this tapestry. It’s not showing up on the day with all your might and pushing a performance out. It’s weaving it and investing time, energy and heart into it in the lead up.
Then when you show up, you merely wear the tapestry you’ve created.
But you can’t wear it elegantly without putting the time in on the front end.
I wonder where else we mistake giving our ‘all’ on the day with simply doing the work before hand and letting the complexity live?
