What is good acting, and more on THR 201

Today marked the end of my first theater class, and I’ve learnt a ton from this class.

Monday’s class is our final presentation — yes, time flies! After two showings in class, numerous discussions and rehearsals, valuable feedback from classmates and very helpful advice from Suzie, we finally felt ready to deliver our scene as a polished product.

Compared to the first two showings, we have worked on blockings based on the principle that the audience should see clearly what is going on; also we tried to tweet some blockings so that when one character has long talks, he/she will always face the audience and have a relatively central position on stage. Moreover, we worked hard to ensure that the scene comes off as natural and real and spontaneous. For example, during Hal’s first entering from the stage, it’s important that Hal also looks surprised — as he’s not expecting Catherine to be out there so late. This detail was pointed out by Suzie and I thought it was really a careful observation, one that I should learn to pick up and apply to my future scene studies. Similar details include the change in emotions for Catherine — that perhaps her transition into anger should be more smooth and gradual. We also practiced grabbing the backpack part and folding and unfolding Hal’s jacket — so that the accidents would look “natural” despite being rehearsed, and Catherine would successfully snatch the bag each time we perform.

On the day of final presentation, I definitely felt a lot more stressed. It’s perhaps because I have gotten so used to perform in front of my classmates and I feel very comfortable opening myself up, knowing I would receive positive comment and constructive feedback from them and Suzie. But performing to a group of new people is totally different; I’m very unsure if they will like my performance and finding my rendering of character believable. Also there is my perpetual fear of forgetting lines on stage — it’s funny as I usually don’t experience dreams at night; but last Sunday night I actually dreamt of forgetting lines minutes before my show and couldn’t find my script anywhere! What a nightmare; and thank goodness it didn’t happen (though we skipped a few lines; I can only imagine that Alice was stressed too). Yet I believe that kind of adrenaline rush actually helps us unleash energy and emotions that we reserve to ourselves normally; because it’s so exhausting and we don’t have a huge reserve of these, we tend to economize on the use of such genuine, strong passions and emotions and involvement in the scene. But the presence of the audience helps us set into acting mode and voluntarily bring the best to them.

Moreover, I find audience brings more energy to the scene and the theater stage in general. I could clearly feel the flow of energy, heat and attention towards me when I was on stage; and it boosts my own energy level, amplifies my voice and help me engage the audience better.

Near the end of that class, Suzie posted her question of the day (sort of): what is acting? In my opinion, acting is interaction: repeated and sincere interaction with your script, your character, your scene partner, your director and your audience in the end. Through the interaction, you are trying to find a unique voice that is a unique, attractive and interesting combination of yours and the character’s — or to be better, a recast of your voice in the mold of your character. And you are trying to speak to audience in that voice, making them believe that this is entirely yours and yours only, even in real life. It is a spontaneous process of narrating a story from first person perspective; instead of letting the audience passively listening to you, you are trying to add more dimensions to the audience’s experience by bringing props, blockings, storylines, emotions, obstacles, objectives and tactics; yet it in the end is very similar to telling a story.

So what is good acting?

Throughout the class I’ve been thinking about this questions for many many times; and more often than not I wonder what really makes a good actor good, and how to be a good actor.

Good acting is to establish connection, connecting scene partners, scripts, props, tech(sound and lights), directing, audience, all to an organic piece; it should successfully weave different pieces of different scenes and emotions and tensions all together into an intact, complete piece of fabric that leaves impression and tells a good story.

Good acting is to “live in the moment”, to bring out the true morphed character plus yourself in a spontaneous and honest manner; so audience would believe it’s actually the character that is speaking, through the voice of you. It’s a seemingly contradictory description, but once I got the subtlety of being “me” while not acting “myself”, it all made sense to me.

Good acting is finding the right balance, the right response, the right energy level, the right moment for pause, the right length of pause, the right tone, the right eye contact, and the right angle — albeit many of them exist and many more are possible once you put in effort thinking and creating.

Good acting is positive feedback, using techniques that work for you, finding the appropriate objectives and working towards them. It’s also about finding the right chemistry with your partner, finding synergy with your director, and building rapport with the entire cast.

At the end of the day, the class has just presented one school of thought — realism, and many other options are available. Yet the fundamentals are common, and I feel like I’ve learnt a ton from this class, centering on what is good acting and how to be a good actor.

David Byrne famously quipped that “the more you know, the more you know you don’t know and the more you know that you don’t know.” Indeed. I used to think acting is easy and intuitive; when I ran into stumbling blocks, I usually found myself an excuse, telling people that this whole section/script/blocking was never going to work. Yet through this class, I’ve learnt how to cope with difficult scenes, how to approach my character systematically, what tools I could use (tactics, subtext, objectives), and what should I be looking out for in a good piece of acting — so I know in what direction should I be working. It’s a whole new level for me.

I’m extremely grateful that my classmates and Suzie have remained very supportive and encouraging throughout this journey; I’m also thankful that I could have this opportunity to work with so many talented, extraordinary people. I’m not sure if I came out of this class being a better actor, yet I’m very certain that my take and understanding of theater have definitely evolved and matured.

Also, completing this class is really a milestone. Coming from Singapore with a strong Singlish accent and raised in a Chinese family, to do theater in English was just never a thing that I could imagine myself doing. I’ve done a number of Chinese dramas and plays and know I can do lines well — despite certain minor mispronunciations due to my own dialects and upbringing. Yet English theater is something entirely new to me, almost daunting. I would constantly question myself “do I sound weird?”, “can you understand me?” , etc. Yet in the end I realized this is a huge obstacle to me — as long as I was thinking about things other than my character and my objectives, I got diverted and looked less involved. So, what the hell. I don’t care if I sound weird or foreign or funny — as long as my character involves you, conveys subtext and achieves objectives, I’m fine. I’m good. I can do this. I’m really touched that Rafi pointed this out today in such a positive light.

Thank you, thank you, and thank you!