Binger Lab – Weeks 2 & 3

Wow, two weeks of Judith Weston – somehow a lot was achieved in such a short amount of time. If you’ve ever read her books then you already know some of her directing tools but I have to say working with her and having her close by to give instant feedback was a much richer experience.

The first week of her workshop was spent actually learning more about acting, to help us as directors better recognize what kind of direction/inspiration is and isn’t useful to an actor. In just a few days, using some simple exercises, the ten of us amateurs were able to generate authentic performances and improvisations. Not only was it such a visceral experience that made me better appreciate the actor’s job but I think I was able to get out of my own skin and script worries for a little bit.

Then, onto the 2nd part. The spotlight was off us, kind of, as we got a chance to rehearse two scenes from our projects with professional actors. With about an hour on each scene we tried to implement some of the tools Judith introduced us to previously while also having her nearby for advice. Again, these tools are detailed pretty clearly in her two books but I’ll just mention what I felt was the most useful and what I’ll try to incorporate in the coming rehearsals:

1. The Power of Story: I witnessed firsthand how personal stories can really help communicate ideas, emotions and allow the director and actors to begin to connect over the same material. I think it was very effective when it was prompted by a question from the actors. Instead of trying to intellectualize a response, a director would use a personal anecdote, sometimes emotional and always truthful, to provide the answer. Not only was this more effective in communicating an emotion but I think also inspire trust between the actors and director.

2. Making the Character Less Foreign: Like any storyteller I have unique characters with a unique mix of backstory and baggage and I found that the more I emphasized that uniqueness with the actor the more foreign that character became to them. I could literally see the actors working superhard to imagine the character and his behavior. I realized that a far better starting point would be to start with what is similar between the character and actor, where the actor senses the overlap, where the actor has experienced a similar emotion or circumstance. From there it would’ve been a lot easier to start adding in the unique nuances.

3. The Power of Play: There were many opportunities to improv with the actors and I was amazed at some of the stuff they came up with and how it really seemed to not only warm them up but also quickly get them into ‘a moment’. They also needed this time to gel together. Again, with one of my scenes I made the mistake of talking it to death with the actors up front and it’s only when they began an improv exercise that their emotions came to life and we actually had an experience we could reflect on and learn from. The question I’ll ask myself next time as I prepare for a rehearsal is ‘what exercise can quickly get us ALL to start talking about the scene’. It was in these moments of improv that the actors were discovering something and sharing that discovery with me.

Learning is difficult, especially when you think you already know how to get things done. Whenever I’m learning a different way of doing something I feel somehow strange, as if I’ve taken off my clothes and put on another’s. And sometimes the clothes, these tools, don’t quite fit or I feel self-conscious and wavering. I definately felt this way several times these past two weeks.

Moving forward I have to keep myself open to that nakedness & uncertainty, but also recognize the little confidant voice in my heart and head that I can always go back to when I’m confused or rattled. I really feel that this is the point of this whole experience, to be confidant to experiment and maybe fail so that I can leave Amsterdam with more wisdom and a clearer direction.

—