Respect For Acting - Continued

Getting back into the rhythm of studies for working theatrically - it looks like I'm not going to be able to be in a show this summer (that's another heartache entirely), so I'm doing what I can to hone what skills I've got. Respect For Acting is as good a place to start as any.


Excerpts (Chapter 1, Concepts):

"For a would-be actor, the prerequisite is talent. You can only hope to God you've got it."

Of course a young actor is going to need more than that, but talent is utterly invaluable. My efforts in learning about the craft prove that a person needs far more than a smattering of talent to be an actor. Seeing professionals is that reality check I like to have every so often.


"To rebel or revolt against the status quo is in the very nature of an artist."

I think that one speaks for itself.


"By the very nature of our profession we seem to develop slothful rather than disciplined habits. A great dancer to his last days cannot - and will not - perform without hours of daily practice. The pianist Artur Rubinstein and the violinist Isaac Stern cannot - and will not - play a concert without daily practice. While an actor may be forced to work as a waiter or a typist to sustain himself while waiting for the call to play King Lear, there is no excuse for his frittering away the hours that belong to him - and his true work - with partying, and fun and games."

This particular snippet of the text stung me quite badly the first time I read it, and it still does. I had this self-destructive phase a month or so back while at school, a combination of many things, and when I realized that I had not done a single thing to further my theatrical education beyond hover around the theatre longingly for nearly two and a half weeks, I was more than a little annoyed with myself. Fun and games are an essential part of anyone's life (they are experiences to be had, and everyone needs a social life) and especially young actors. I just needed a bit of a refocus, that was all. Learning to balance everything is part of the process.


"Every actor must demand total discipline of himself if he really means to be an actor."

There's more to this quote but I figured it's mostly self-explanatory. You know what it means to discipline yourself; I kind of dealt with that in my previous quote commentary.


"Stanislavsky's statement is always with me: 'Love the art in yourself, not yourself in the art.' "

Simple. Narcissism will destroy you. Loving yourself in the art is not art - it is selfish and no better than those paparazzi fodder divettes everywhere. Loving the theatre revealed through you, the art created with your words and interpretation - that is the right reason to be onstage. The craft itself.