Effort. Webster’s defines effort as “work done by the mind or body: energy used to do something.” I spend more time than you can imagine thinking about, analyzing, and trying to minimize effort required by a body to achieve anything – including the effort required to do nothing. My senses...
Marcia Polas
We are not doing a great job of teaching our actors to care for their instruments properly. This is clear to me when I read (regularly) about an actor in a particularly difficult physical role answering questions with an attitude of “of course my back hurts every day,” “I have...
Actors are not alone in needing to manage nerves, but compared to most professions, yours is unique in terms of how frequently you are placed in nerve inducing situations in order to get the job. Think of the engineers, nurses, teachers, etc. you know, and then of the frequency they...
The 2014-15 theatre season is underway, causing me, desperately, to try not to fret over photos of strangers in first table reads as they begin to train their instruments to say those words (repetitively) throughout the rehearsal process and within eight shows a week (plus student matinees). I see actors...
SOLVING THE PROBLEM AND REPAIRING THE DAMAGE As a Pilates teacher/movement consultant who specializes in how clients move/behave within their own environments, I spend a lot of time out of my studio space needing to be connected to clients via text, email, and social media. I use my phone and...
IDENTIFYING THE ISSUE AND ADDRESSING THE REPERCUSSIONS What is required of your body to do your job? As an actor, specifically a stage actor, the better question is what isn’t required of your body to do your job? I study the physical impact of specific careers on the bodies practicing...