How Big Is Big? And How Do I Get There?
At The Actors Studio, an actress presented a scene for the sole purpose of ending it with an “Affective Memory”. She stated that it had been a very long while since she had any need of one in her work, and wanted to keep that part of her acting arsenal alive and functioning. As a quick reminder, an Affective Memory is the go to exercise that will bring a specific emotional response at a specific level. That day’s moderator was Shelley Winters, a long time member, an important film star, and a regular on Broadway and in touring companies.
When the scene was over and the actress began to discuss her work and process, she only got as far as mentioning the Affective Memory when Shelley screamed out, “that’s not possible. You were too much in control. When an Affective Memory works, it takes over. It is in control, and you seemed to know what was going on. When it works, you don’t even know where you are”. Several of us stood up and almost in unison shouted back, “no Shelley! When you do an Affective Memory that may be true, but Barbara is fully trained and knows how to use it”.
Even now, I often hear how Lee Strasberg’s work is so highly charged emotionally that actors seems “out of control”. Where does such a misconception come from? Certainly part of it comes from incompletely trained actors. Some of it comes from actors who bring an overly developed sense of emotional life in spite of Lee’s protestations to, “keep it simple”. But another explanation comes from the distinction between expression levels in training as opposed to applying these same experiences within a scene. Then the question comes up of how to adjust these levels.
In the part of class dedicated to the training of the actor’s instrument (no scene work – only exercises) the question “what do you want to do”? is constantly being asked. This simple question bedevils many actors. The reason for this is almost obvious. We have been so wonderfully socialized as individuals that our most basic instincts and responses have been trained out of us. On some level, most people know what they would like to do when provoked, but even to acknowledge this can be scary. The person that we have become doesn’t want to offend, or embarrass anyone, or risk being ostracized by them. This applies to wonderful responses, as well as potentially anti-social ones. (It is often just as difficult to reach out and hug someone as it is to strike them). Instead we clam up and hold our expressiveness inside. Of course, this is antithetical to acting. We must relearn how to be open and fully expressive. There’s time enough to be embarrassed about it later. Somehow the embarrassment is tolerable while we’re being bathed in applause.
The answer to reconnecting to impulses and freeing ourselves to follow and express them is to stay relaxed throughout the creative process. I mean this in the fully technical sense of relaxation as opposed to the casual, everyday sense. Almost everyone can relate to the physical feeling of being “bound up” when wanting to say or do something that might be judged. The bound up feeling is quite physical and can most easily be felt in the neck and shoulders, or the jaw, or in the pit of the stomach. In truth, it can be anywhere or several places at once.This trapped energy must be relaxed and freed in order to connect to the impulse and express it. As always, each actor has to be taught how to do this, and continue to train in order to maintain this ability. But relaxation by itself is not enough. Each actor must also choose to express.
Once accomplished, this openness of expression feels very liberating and wonderful. Additionally, as following impulse is happening, each actor is further encouraged to go forward without limiting the expression in any way. I have seen actors get giddy with the feeling of liberation that this brings. I have also seen actors weep with joy as they finally let go. Many are able to remember that this is how they felt as very young children and they never want it to stop.
That is why so many people bring this fully open expression to the stage with them. It feels so good. And it is also why it often leads to “over the top” expression of emotion and behavior in scene work and performance. We need to train to be fully open in order to be able to call on that when necessary, but that doesn’t mean that it is always necessary. This is tantamount to training in a gym. We exercise the muscles fully and to failure in order to strengthen them, but that is not how we walk down the street or function in the everyday world.
There is a very important component of scene work that balances this state of full expression that is not present in exercise work: objective.
In every scene, my character has an objective; a want that is pursued throughout, and this usually gives balance to the expression of my impulses. For example, in “Death of a Salesman” Biff wants his father’s love and approval. This is his objective. That he is also angry and disappointed in his father due to Willie’s infidelity is also a fact of the situation. It isn’t a far stretch to recognize an actor’s struggle while having these feelings of betrayal and simultaneously wanting something else entirely. Biff wants to both tell his father off, and gain his love and approval at the same time. It is that need to fulfill his objective that modifies the expression of his anger.
If an actor draws a straight line from exercise work to scene work, it would be understandable if he just “let loose” on Willie. It might feel good, but unfortunately this would destroy the scene, and probably end the play prematurely. However, when coupled with the objective, balance is restored within the actor and expression is contained to the extent that there is the possibility of achieving the objective.
This must never be reasoned out in advance. For the well-trained Method Actor, all of this takes place organically and moment to moment at each performance. Nothing is preset or predetermined. Remember, being fully open to an experience while being fully committed to an objective brings the necessary modulation to your expressions.
Oh yeah, and don’t forget to have fun!