ACTING, CRAFT OR ARTFORM?
Some would debate whether acting is an art form or simply a craft. Acting is both a craft and an art form. This article reveals my thoughts on how when you approach acting with personal reverence and soul, it becomes an art form.
THE ACTOR BEARS WITNESS TO BEAUTY
I believe that great art embodies two qualities. Love and Beauty. Remember – We can see the beauty in the gnarly roots of the tree. And as actors we must learn to see the beauty in our character’s souls, whether or not the character’s personality is dark or light.
“You act with your soul. That’s why you all want to be actors, because your souls are not used up by life.”
HOW TO EMBRACE THE HUMAN CONDITION AS AN ACTOR
Let’s see if we can acquaint ourselves with the mystery of beauty which exists in each human being we encounter, because every person you encounter has a story that has been written about in some play or film script.
Empathy is the actor’s greatest tool. It’s a little different from compassion in that compassion is to “be with” someone else’s pain and empathy is to take on someone else’s pain. An actor needs to be just a little more courageous than the average person. Willing to be in touch with life and death, light and shadow, love and hatred.
THE ACTOR AS STORYTELLER
Actors are storytellers. Storytelling is a ritualistic, sacred, spiritual, ancient art form that exists at the core of our human mythology. We have painted stories on the walls of the ancient caves of Indonesia dating back 44 thousand years. We have danced our stories as offerings to the gods in the villages of Bali. We have spoken our stories at the Ancient Greek Amphitheatres in Athens from 700 BC. We have sung and chanted our stories through the west African tribal music and rhythmic drumming. Indigenous storytelling is rooted in Mother Earth and is passed down orally through the generations.
If this is so, why do we allow the art form of acting and storytelling to be lessened in its significance by turning it into award ceremonies and the desperate quest for fame and fortune?
THE CEREMONIAL ACTOR
How we approach the art form is everything! We can bring back a deeper meaning, a deeper respect for the art form of acting by bringing back ritual and ceremony.
Consider a story about the killing of a Buffalo. In 1871, a white American man, William “Buffalo Bill” Cody , sets out with his wealthy New York posse, gets in his jeep and drives along the bumpy roads to the plains, parks and gets out, rifle in hand, and calls out “Kill every Buffalo you can.” It was a contest. Whoever killed the first Buffalo won the silver chalice. They would then take home the head of the animal as a trophy to place for recognition on their wall. This hunt of course was an attempt to get rid of the Native Indian. Today there are only around 20,000 American Buffalo left.
On the other hand, a Native American Cherokee Indian performs a tribal ritual dance around the fire praying to “nuta” god of fire or sun and the “Long Person” the name of the river or water god. Then he sings an ancient chant while he dips himself in the water. The second night he cooks a meal over the fire and spreads the ashes across his chest. After pleasing the fire and water gods he begins the hunt. He ventures out on foot to the plains where the buffalos graze. He crouches and watches, praying to the wind, rivers and mountains, in absolute stillness, for a successful hunt. Using only a bow and arrow the native Indian takes aim at one Buffalo, shoots and kills. After the hunt they throw the tongue and some of the meat into the fire as a sacrifice to the gods. As they eat, they give thanks to the spirit of the animal for the giving of its life. Every part of the animal is used to clothe and feed the community.
HOW DO WE EXPERIENCE ‘THE SACRED’ IN THE ARTFORM?
The art of acting brings communities together, to sit in an intimate theatre almost touching, breathing the same air, watching and listening, holding sacred space while you the actor perform the sacred ritual. How you prepare and approach this ancient tradition of telling a story is what you bring energetically onto the theatre stage or film set.
When you speak the words of the playwright do you consider the human being or only your performance? These are not just words on a page for you to manipulate and do with as you will. These words are to be opened so that they can have their way with you. A truthful script and character will take you somewhere deep and soulful if you let it.
When you approach acting with this kind of truth and reverence, it cannot help but be considered art.
Cindy Tanas Actors Studio teaches acting classes for Theatre and Film in Toronto and the GTA, Collingwood and Southern Georgian Bay.