Love, and do what you like.
Saint Augustine
************************
There was an acting teacher named Michael Shurtleff who would say that the first thing an actor should look for in his character is the love. Where is the love? It could be love for another person, for a family, a job, a career, a hobby, a house, a pet or oneself. Wherever the love is everything else relates to it.
I knew a woman who lived in a big, beautiful house in Southern California with lots of land around it. She had a husband, two grown children and a lot of animals. There was a stable with two horses. In the house was a singing bird of some sort, a tank of tiny fish and a small, sweet dog. Outside the house there were 22 cats. That's not a misprint. 22.
Only one of those cats ever came into the house. The rest lived in the trees and bushes around the property. I was visiting her one day at feeding time. She would mix up a big tub of food, take it outside and put it here and there on some wooden boards in a corner of the property. The cats came from everywhere, out of the trees, from around corners, up out of the ground for all I knew.
She never gave names to any of them although she recognized them all. But one of them was called Trouble because that's what he was. He was definitely the bully of the group and the other cats stayed away from him.
But he got into a serious fight with something because one day he should up at feeding time with a very badly wounded eye. No one could get near Trouble, so it was impossible for her to take him to the vet. She called the vet and explained the problem. He told her to come over and he would give her something to help.
What he gave her was a powder to mix with the food that put all the cats, including Trouble, to sleep for a while. So she walked through a yard full of sleeping cats, picked up Trouble, put him in a box and drove him to the vet. The vet removed his eye, cleaned him up, kept him for a few days and then she came and got him.
When she got home and let him out of the box he took off. But he was back the next day at feeding time.
She loved those cats.
-----------------------------
DB - The Vagabond
Never give up.
***************************
SUMMER QUESTION
Summer is moving along, people.
It's a long, hot, sticky summer, so here's a hot, sticky question for you. Don't let the recent New York State decision rob you of your thunder.
Same sex marriage. Should it be legal or not? If so, why? If not, why not?
dbdacoba@aol.com
Only 13 answers so far.
You have until the last day of summer, but don't dally.
I eagerly await your answer.
DB
************************
Showing posts with label Michael Shurtleff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michael Shurtleff. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
On The Head
If the only tool you have is a hammer you tend to see every problem as a nail.
Abraham Maslow
******************
I have been so tied up trying to unravel the mysteries of Face Book I haven't been reading your blogs much, but I will get back to it.
------------------------------------------
"Give it a light touch." That note was given to me one day by a director and it subsequently led me to a very important acting lesson.
I thought, as many young actors do, that I was a great tragedian. I could wail, rage and moan in the throes of death with the best of them. I never gave anything "a light touch." Heavy handed was my style. Give me a role and I'll nail it down, I'll pound it into the stage with a sledge hammer.
Well, I had a lot to learn. I wanted to do what Shakespeare said not to do, "tear a passion to tatters" and there I was being asked to "give it a light touch." What to do, what to do?
Fortunately I had three sources to draw from to find the answer. One was Shakespeare himself, the greatest acting teacher that ever lived. In the same speech he wrote "use all gently." I don't know. Was I capable of gentleness? I didn't consider myself a gentle fellow. I, after all, was a great tragedian. so I kept searching.
Another major influence and trail guide on my search was my teacher Edward Thommen, about whom I have often written. One of the fascinating things about him as a director was his ability to always know where the light source was coming from. Without light you have dark and darkness on the stage is boring. But with light you can have shadows and that's where the drama is. Just as in a landscape or still life painting it's important that the artist knows exactly where the light is coming from, so in theatre there is some quality in the scene that is casting the shadows.
Which brings me to the third lesson, one I learned from Michael Shurtleff, another acting teacher, who said 4 simple words "Look for the humor." There is at least one touch of humor in every scene, as there is in life, even the most tragic ones. Once I started looking for the humor, sometimes a shadow humor to be sure, every scene took on more dimensions and hence so did the character I was playing.
So with those three lessons under my wig I could leave my hammer in the wings, go onstage with an open hand and not a clenched fist, find the light touch and appreciate the irony of life as I roared into the final grasp of death.
DB - The Vagabond
****************************
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
In your opinion what is the most amazing thing that could happen during this decade? Make it as outrageous as you want but keep it within the realm of what you consider a possibility.
Only 8 responses so far.
Answers will be published the first day of Summer.
Thank you.
dbdacoba@aol.com
DB - The Vagabond
*******************
Abraham Maslow
******************
I have been so tied up trying to unravel the mysteries of Face Book I haven't been reading your blogs much, but I will get back to it.
------------------------------------------
"Give it a light touch." That note was given to me one day by a director and it subsequently led me to a very important acting lesson.
I thought, as many young actors do, that I was a great tragedian. I could wail, rage and moan in the throes of death with the best of them. I never gave anything "a light touch." Heavy handed was my style. Give me a role and I'll nail it down, I'll pound it into the stage with a sledge hammer.
Well, I had a lot to learn. I wanted to do what Shakespeare said not to do, "tear a passion to tatters" and there I was being asked to "give it a light touch." What to do, what to do?
Fortunately I had three sources to draw from to find the answer. One was Shakespeare himself, the greatest acting teacher that ever lived. In the same speech he wrote "use all gently." I don't know. Was I capable of gentleness? I didn't consider myself a gentle fellow. I, after all, was a great tragedian. so I kept searching.
Another major influence and trail guide on my search was my teacher Edward Thommen, about whom I have often written. One of the fascinating things about him as a director was his ability to always know where the light source was coming from. Without light you have dark and darkness on the stage is boring. But with light you can have shadows and that's where the drama is. Just as in a landscape or still life painting it's important that the artist knows exactly where the light is coming from, so in theatre there is some quality in the scene that is casting the shadows.
Which brings me to the third lesson, one I learned from Michael Shurtleff, another acting teacher, who said 4 simple words "Look for the humor." There is at least one touch of humor in every scene, as there is in life, even the most tragic ones. Once I started looking for the humor, sometimes a shadow humor to be sure, every scene took on more dimensions and hence so did the character I was playing.
So with those three lessons under my wig I could leave my hammer in the wings, go onstage with an open hand and not a clenched fist, find the light touch and appreciate the irony of life as I roared into the final grasp of death.
DB - The Vagabond
****************************
SPRING QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)
In your opinion what is the most amazing thing that could happen during this decade? Make it as outrageous as you want but keep it within the realm of what you consider a possibility.
Only 8 responses so far.
Answers will be published the first day of Summer.
Thank you.
dbdacoba@aol.com
DB - The Vagabond
*******************
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Affectionate Advice 10/19/08
Love, and do what you like.
Saint Augustine
************************
There was an acting teacher named Michael Shurtleff who would say that the first thing an actor should look for in his character is the love. Where is the love? It could be love for another person, for a family, a job, a career, a hobby, a house, a pet. Wherever the love is everything else relates to it.
I knew a woman who lived in a big, beautiful house in Southern California with lots of land around it. She had a husband, two grown children and a lot of animals. There was a stable with two horses. In the house was a singing bird of some sort, a tank of tiny fish and a small, sweet dog. Outside the house there were 22 cats. That's not a misprint. 22.
Only one of those cats ever came into the house. The rest lived in the trees and bushes around the property. I was visiting her one day at feeding time. She would mix up a big tub of food, take it outside and put it here and there on some wooden boards in a corner of the property. The cats came from everywhere, out of the trees, from around corners, up out of the ground for all I knew.
She never gave names to any of them although she recognized them all. But one of them was called Trouble because that's what he was. He was definitely the bully of the group and the other cats stayed away from him.
But he got into a serious fight with something because one day he should up at feeding time with a very badly wounded eye. No one could get near Trouble, so it was impossible for her to take him to the vet. She called the vet and explained the problem. He told her to come over and he would give her something to help.
What he gave her was a powder to mix with the food that put all the cats, including Trouble, to sleep for a while. So she walked through a yard full of sleeping cats, picked up Trouble, put him in a box and drove him to the vet. The vet removed his eye, kept him for a few days and then she came and got him.
When she got home and let him out of the box he took off. But he was back the next day at feeding time.
She loved those cats.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
dbdacoba@aol.com
http://wingstoart.livejournal.com/
Saint Augustine
************************
There was an acting teacher named Michael Shurtleff who would say that the first thing an actor should look for in his character is the love. Where is the love? It could be love for another person, for a family, a job, a career, a hobby, a house, a pet. Wherever the love is everything else relates to it.
I knew a woman who lived in a big, beautiful house in Southern California with lots of land around it. She had a husband, two grown children and a lot of animals. There was a stable with two horses. In the house was a singing bird of some sort, a tank of tiny fish and a small, sweet dog. Outside the house there were 22 cats. That's not a misprint. 22.
Only one of those cats ever came into the house. The rest lived in the trees and bushes around the property. I was visiting her one day at feeding time. She would mix up a big tub of food, take it outside and put it here and there on some wooden boards in a corner of the property. The cats came from everywhere, out of the trees, from around corners, up out of the ground for all I knew.
She never gave names to any of them although she recognized them all. But one of them was called Trouble because that's what he was. He was definitely the bully of the group and the other cats stayed away from him.
But he got into a serious fight with something because one day he should up at feeding time with a very badly wounded eye. No one could get near Trouble, so it was impossible for her to take him to the vet. She called the vet and explained the problem. He told her to come over and he would give her something to help.
What he gave her was a powder to mix with the food that put all the cats, including Trouble, to sleep for a while. So she walked through a yard full of sleeping cats, picked up Trouble, put him in a box and drove him to the vet. The vet removed his eye, kept him for a few days and then she came and got him.
When she got home and let him out of the box he took off. But he was back the next day at feeding time.
She loved those cats.
DB - Vagabond Journeys
dbdacoba@aol.com
http://wingstoart.livejournal.com/
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