“If It’s Good, We Are Ready To Cry.”

Today we did a scene in which a man/woman is lead to their room at the top of a cheap hotel by the hotel concierge. Once the concierge has left, the man/woman then watches their lover killed by guillotine outside on the street, through the window of the hotel room. Then he/she says a short speech (17 words maximum!) for their lover.

The exercise was an opportunity to do something to make us dream around you, to make us cry for you. To be open and beautiful – to give a lot.

I had a go as the hotel concierge with Rocio playing the guillotine-watching woman. I took a risk by being a bit loud and obnoxious – oblivious to the woman’s solemn energy. “So this is the room…there’s the toilet, there’s the bed (sorry about the springs). Oh! And surprise, surprise! Today there’s a complementary show for you outside. A guillotine death! Don’t know who it is, but it should be a good show!” I also came back on after hearing Rocio scream: “Are you alright? It’s a bit rough isn’t it?” I thought this could help the scene – to play opposite – as it gives the woman something to play against. I did it, and it seemed to work – the audience liked me. But I was a bit concerned I was destroying the integrity of the scene. Philippe gave me no feedback, so I assume that means it wasn’t bad (or else he’d definitely let me know). I think I lacked a bit of an ‘actor from Monsieur Dumas’ quality, but it felt good to take a risk and commit to it.

Later I had a go at the looking-out-the-window role. Philippe had just spoken about how you don’t have to do a lot to make us dream around you, and he demonstrated this by getting Vicky (aka Dicky) to do just three things. I made the choice to be simple and do very little to. After the concierge (Sophia) had left, I looked out the window, then turned and walked away, stopped and returned, then dropped the keys I’d been given, made a deep sad sound with my voice, and then said a speech.

So: 1) turn away 2) drop keys 3) deep voice sound

I was light – I didn’t push, but I didn’t ignite the imagination. “Myself, I didn’t receive anything.” I suppose this is because although I did three simple things, I did them in a mechanical way – I didn’t ‘fill the vessel’. Also, my timing would have been off – I wasn’t listening to the audience well enough. And also, I didn’t ‘give enough’ - I didn’t put my ‘guts on the table’. It’s a super fine line though. Because the other way I could have gone was to scream for my lover through the window, and get passionate and emotional. But this probably would come across as tense, pushed, and constipated. But what I did was definitely not enough.

~

"In a Mélo, women cry, not men. The men cry inside."

"There is no recipe."

"If it's good, we are ready to cry."

~

Imagination: Don't do too much. Don't do too little.

"You have to be better than my imagination as an actor. Otherwise I stay with my imagination and don't go to the show."

"If you have wonderful timing, you do two beautiful images...POFF! We imagine. And we remember you."

"If you do something when we are waiting for it...POFF! We love you."

"If we need something, and you give something at that exact moment...POFF! There is something...Otherwise there is nothing."

"You have to be concentrated on the timing with the audience." [Not something horrible]

"It's necessary to have a good rhythm in relation to the audience."

~

Beauty:

"Was the character beautiful? Or a big constipation crisis?"

"We don't see the actor...you eat yourself."

"Every actor is beautiful...and we look at them because they are beautiful."

Beauty: It doesn't mean you have to look like Brigittee Bardot. But you have to have the fun of a teenager with a game.

"An actor, he is free. He has a face like when he was 8 years old."

"The pleasure of the game gives a special light, and an actor always has this special game in his head."

"The first job is to be beautiful...a to be beautiful everyday...But if you are not beautiful, we never dream around you."

"I want to be beautiful" will help you to discover. But "I want to be good" will not.

~

Freedom:

"Every time we fight to be more free tomorrow...it's the fight of everybody."

"You need to give your freedom to everything."

"Everyday it's a fight - to be open and beautiful - and not nyah nyah nyah. Everyday you have to do that."

~

"But it's not a piece of cake."

It's a fine line...

~

I took two clear calculated risks today and it felt good. It felt good because I was testing something. I was testing whether the choice I made to play was good or bad – the choice, not me – so my ego was removed from my work. One choice worked, another didn’t, and I’m still sane afterwards. A better way to approach this work!