'To be or not to be?' Nope, that's really not the question.

 Act /ækt/

to do something; exert energy or force; be employed or operative

I've had a breakthrough.

I wish this acting class I'm currently taking was longer, but I've already learned so much. I don't know why this never occurred to me, but my teacher gave us this advice that his first acting coach told him.

ACTING IS NOT ABOUT BEING, IT'S ABOUT DOING.

When I heard this, it was kind of like a light bulb went off. 

Duh. Of course acting is about doing. It is quite literally what the word means. To do something. You can't be anything other than an actor on a stage, but you CAN do things (ACT!) to make the audience believe you are something else (or a specific emotion.)

So, how is it that 'to do' is not the first thing an aspiring actor thinks about? Well, probably because of what we see. So much (bad) acting is done with the intent to play an emotion. When we initially read through a script, we say 'The character is sad,' and then play the scene on that level. Sad.

Well...'sad' is so general, not to mention boring. What this class is teaching me is that you have to play an action. Be active and engaged and not play to a specific emotion. 

Brilliant and not at all groundbreaking. 

For my monologue, I've chosen this brilliant scene from The Color Purple. Take a look...

I found this section of the script, and have been digging in to find what Celie is trying to do. Yes, she's angry, but anger is very broad. Inside this anger she's provoking Mister, defying him, and quite literally cursing him.

I'm so excited to see this come to fruition and more than a little nervous.

I'll let you know how it turns out!

xo

Jen