When we were rehearsing today, I realized something. It wasn't as striking as an epiphany, and it wasn't as passing as a thought. A realization. And it was this: PURPOSE.
Today's rehearsal lacked that. Our whole cast lacked it.
I think we have problems realizing how powerful the stage actually is. That every single movement on it will be witnessed by hundreds of people, even the moves we didn't mean to make. Countless times I've made a decision to do something onstage, and halfway through the action, had doubts and awkwardly stopped in the middle. It happens to everyone, but what the audience sees is someone looking like a floundering, unsure, green actor.
So, to avoid this half-done, half-hearted, willy-nilly, meaningless action, you need what? PURPOSE.
A character walks across the stage, why? Because the director asked them to? So they can get offstage to get to that leftover intermission food? NO. A character walks across stage because, DARN IT, that's what the character needs to do. It's an unswerving focus that drives performance. Confidence. Action.
This deeply ingrained confidence, indeed PURPOSE, doesn't affect the acting itself. You can still play a timid, shy character with this power deep within. It's an internal strength that makes your character blossom under the stage lights, that makes it burst out from backstage without actual bursting. It's a personal power.
And you know what?
That same confidence is inside you...even when you walk off the stage.
And that's the epiphany.
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