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UTA HAGEN
Page, Jason Robards, and Matthew Broderick are among the countless others
who reached prominence.
(1919 - 2004)
As Jack Lemmon wrote, "This extraordinary woman is one of the greatest
Because Uta Hagen has had a long, distinguished career on the stage, and
actresses I have seen in my lifetime, yet Uta Hagen has deliberately made her
because for decades Uta Hagen has been one of the most important acting
acting career secondary to teaching and directing others so that they might
teachers in America, and because she has written with wit and clarity about the
benefit. Lord knows what exalted position she might have attained had she
technical craft of acting, Uta Hagen has had a profound influence on the way
chosen to concentrate on her own acting career, but I guarantee that she has
acting is practiced, taught, and thought about in this country. Uta Hagen made
absolutely no regrets. Nor should she, because Uta Hagen has given so much
to so many."
Uta Hagen's books, Respect for Acting (1973) and A Challenge for the Actor (1991)
grew out of decades of collaboration and exploration of the actor's craft.
In addition to honorary doctorates from Smith College, DePaul University and
Wooster College, in 1981 Uta Hagen was inducted into the Theatre Hall of
Fame, in 1983 into the Wisconsin Theatre Hall of Fame, and in July 1986, Uta
Hagen received the Mayor's Liberty Medal in New York City. In 1987 Uta
Hagen was given the John Houseman Award and the Campostella Award for
distinguished service.
When her husband, Herbert Berghof, died many years ago, Uta Hagen took
over the chairmanship of HB Studio and the theatre of the HB Playwrights
Foundation. Uta Hagen honored his memory by continuing to shape their
school as a source of inspired teaching and practice for theatre artists.
Uta Hagen has brought beauty, drama and dreams to the world, leaving her
extraordinary legacy every step of the way. She passed away in 2004.
SUBSTITUTION
a
)
Substitution
extension of realities, and put them in the place of the fiction in the play.
r0febsterdefinessubstitution as "the act of putting a person or thing in place of another serving the samepurposei
to take the place of." A young actressworking on the part
of Manuela in Children in Uniform was having difficulty
with the moment when Frailein von Bernberg,the teacher
sheloves and admires,confronts her with her torn chemise
and says,"This will never do!" Manuela must react with
deep shame and humiliation. The actresscould not make
this moment meaningful. Neither the garment nor the
actressplaying the teacherseemedto matter enough to her.
AccidentallSI suppliedher with a stimulatingsubstitution
for both teacher and chemise. I said, "!7hat if Lynn
Fontannehad a pair of your soiledpantiesin her hand and
showed them to you?" The actress turned beet red,
snatchedthe chemisefrom her Fraiilein von Bernberg and
hid it frantically behind her back.
Many of you are familiar with substitution as it applies
technically to an individual moment in a play when the
given material fails to stimulate you sufficiently, and you
must searchfor something which will trigger an emotional
experience(as in the Manuela incident)and sendyou into
the immediateaction of the play. I use the word substitution
in a much broadersense.In fact, I could evenprove that substitution can be used in every moment of the actor's homework and throughout the rehearsalperiod for everystageof
the work. Consequently, it can have its effect on euery
moment of the actor'slife on stage.I usesubstitutionin order
to "make believe" in its literal sense-to make me believe
the time, the place, what surrounds me, the conditioning
forces, my new character and my relationship to the other
characters,in order to sendme into the moment-to-moment
spontaneousaction of my newly selectedself on stage.
In putting himself into the circumstancesof the play, a
36
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THE
AC]'OR
SUBSTITUTION
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78
THE ACTOR
how
chamber music, how tender I feel at a soft twilight'
a someonepulling out a chair for me at the table
il.to.ta
c"r doo.ior mi or offeringme their arm for.a
;.;;**g
"
find within
-"i[ i" ihe park-then I am beginning to
-ys"l{ ,"alitie. connectedwith BlancheDuBois' needs'
Belle
I was not raised on an elegant plantation like
Reve,nor have I lived in Laurel, Mississippi, butlhavevis'
mansionsin the East,I haveseenmany photoiJ .t"gu",
"of
some
graphs Faulkner country and estates'I have toured
if the So"th, and from a conglomerateof theseexperiences
a reallty
I can now makemy BelleReve and start to bulld
for my life there beforethe play'sbeginning'^
or the
Unfortunately,I haveneverbeenin New Orleans
many
French Quarter, but I have rcad a great deal' seen
I have evenrelated the French Quarter
filrrr,
"nin.*rreels.
the Left
of New Orleans, rn a way' to a little secdon of
myself'
s""fr" Paris where I once lived to make it real to
for me
The Kowalski apartment itself, which is dictated
the designerand the director' must' nevby the playwright'
'be
,iade real to me by substitutions from my
.nt a.rt,
space'
own life. It is I who must make the senseot crampd
the empty
the lack of privacn the disorder and sleaziness'
rr"i. cigarette butts, the harsh street noises
beer cans
"nd
Each
-ou. in on me chaotically and frighteningly'
De
must
"it
object or thing that I seeor come in contact wlth
and bring
."d" purti.o[t so that it will servethe new me
necessary
about th. psychological and sensoryexperiences
to
-- animatemY actlons.
io A"a, reality for the fatigue, the heat, the oppression'
my telaI will have to examine my own life and senses'In
to Stella, Stanley,Mitch, their friends and neighif""tf+
parents and
bors (as well as to my young husband,-my
I talk
*f",rt.r, and th" tt"ueling '"1t"'lu", all of whom
haveto.do
about but who do not appearin the play),I will
full reality
a backbreakingiob if I am to bring them to a
SUBSTTTUTION
19
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suBsTrTUTtoN
4r
Relativelyeasierto understandand apply are thosesubstitutions usedto find a given moment or task in the events
which seem insufficiently real (the previously mentioned
scene between Manuela and Fraiilein von Bernberg).
Another kind of example occurred when I was working on
the monologue of Mistress Page in The Merry Wiues of
\Yindsor.Shehas just receiveda love letter and gradually
realizesit is from Sir John Falstaff, which outragesher. As
I was isolaringthe monologuefrom the plry for an exercise,I had no acror to endow with the necessaryrealities of
my Falstaff. The clich6 image of Falstaff with his widebrimmed hat, puffy red cheeks,mustachesturning upward,
pointed beard and bushy eyebrows, and high ruff around
his fat neck didn't help me at all. Then I thought, ..rVhatif
I read this letter and discoveredSidney Greenstreetor
Jackie Gleasonhad written it to me?" Suddenlxthe contents of the words in the letter moved in or, rne ,t.ongly
and made me laugh, outragedme, amazedme, etc. I had
worked with Sidneyand knew him personallyand adored
him. but even if I hadn't, my knowledge oi his work ir.
films might have stimulated me similarly, far more than the
conventional image of a Falstaff.
In The Country Girl, thereis a point where BernieDodd
ca.llsGeorgieElgin a "bitch." This should act on me as
deeplywounding, insulting,and producea shockedgasp.
But the word itself does not mean much to me. I substituted anotherword. Sfhat if he called me a ,.. . . . ,'? That
word does shock and wound me. I imaginedthat Bernie
hurled that word at me, and it drove me up from my chair.
ln the same play, there *",
-o.an, when my husband, Frank Elgin, betrayed me" with a lie and I had ro
swallow it. My next given action was to take him to the
sink in his dressingroom and get him a glassof water. I was
able to receivethe betrayal correctly, but somehowit didn,t
seem to make the consequentdealing with him specilic
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THE ACTOR
SUBSTITUTION
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THE A(
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tippy-toes banging into a light bulb larger than myself'
had a hard time overcomingit.
There is much in a creativeprocessthat is almost intan'
gibly real and mysterious-why compound the felony and
make it more so?
Pleaserememberthat in any exampleI have given you
for substitutions,I was only making my own examples'
of
Vor, -ort find your own substitutions if they are to be
real value to you. If an exampleI have made has stirred
you, it was an accident,or you simply took mine as a sugfound your own-possibly-a.similar one' Find
g.rtio.,
"nd
i,rcu, o*, substitutions-a warehousefull of them'
And let me warn you of the great trap of sharing your
substitutions with anyone' Don't fall victim to the temptaor
tion of revealing your little goodies to your director
here?"
using
I'm
your fellow acto"rs("Do you know what
they
etc.). The minute others are in on your source-and.
it
what
in
knowing
wili probably be extremely interested
is-t'hey become an audienceto your source a^nd.evaluate
i,, .o.,r"qo.n, action accordingly, rather than.6nding their
cat
own relaiionship to the action' You have truly let the
you'
for
gone
be
out of the bag. Your substitution will
unusablefrom then on.
Substitutionis zot an end in itself,not an end to involve
you for self-involvement'ssakewithout consequentactlon'
L", -. ,,"," strongly, in case any of you have misunderstood, that substituiion is the aspect of the work which
each
,r.*gth"n, your faith and your senseof reality,in
.,"n.if ,h. iotal work on character'lt is a way of bringing
about justified,personalcharacteractions'
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SUBSTTTUTTON
45
EMOTIONAL
4
EmotionalMemorY
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f.
the
Tl motional memory or emotionalrecalldealswith
release
-Dorobl"rn of finding a substitution in order to
laughof
frt
the
,rr",'Ul* U".r, of tearsJh" shriek of terror,
or, by
;;; .i.., demanded by the playwright, the director
ot an
vourselfas interpreterwhen the given circumstances
i-mediate .u"r,i in the play (somethingdone to you by
or someone)fail to stimulate you sufficiently to
,o-.,ii"g
Lri"g i, ai"", spontaneously.Somedmesthe direct substiis not
tud; (Lynn Fontanne for Fraiilein von Bernberg)
Then
.rrgg.*iUi" enough to bring about the desiredresult'
of a
memory
the
irr3i"rt -*, go"d..p", in the searchfor
big emotional moment.
interbccasionallS the term "emotional memory" is
';sensememory" Tg me, th.eyare different' I
changedwith
Yemotionalmemory" with the recall of a psycholoqiIink
me
cal or emodonal responseto an event moving in on
the
use
I
etc'
*hi.h orod,r.., sobbing, laughter, screaming,
MEMORY
term "sensememory" in dealing with physiological sensations (heat,cold, hunger,pains, etc.). Of course,it is true
that a physical sensationsuch as heat or cold can produce
emotions such as irritation, depressionor anxiety; likewise,
an emotionalresponsecan be accompaniedby or produce
physicalsensations(such as getting hot or goose-pimply,
becomingnauseated).
In life, an emotion occurs when something happens to
us which momentarily suspendsour reasoningcontrol and
we are unable to cope with this event logically. (This is not
to be confusedwith hysteria,a statein which one is flooded
by uncontrollable emotions, becomesillogical to the poinr
of losing awarenessof and contact with his surroundings
and senseof reality, a state to be avoided by the actor at all
costs.)At the moment of the releaseof the control, plus
our adjustment to an attempt at control, we are ouelcome
by tears, by laughter, or we rage, we bang our 6sts, or melt
with pleasure,to mention only a few results. As pleasurable as the idea of a big emorion may seemto an acror,
human beingsdo not want this loss of control and usually
make an attempt to cope with the emotion as it hits them,
If we realize that we did not want this emotion, this loss
of control in our real lives at the time when it occurred, we
can seehow difficult a processit must be for the actor who
must now attempt to lecall the emotion and experienceit
all over again. This time it is recalled in the serviceof the
play as a genuine revelation of a human being, not for any
kind of self-indulgenceor wallowing abort. (lf the character the actor is portraying is self-indulgent emotionally o(
caught by hysterics,the actor's selectionmust still be made
to servethe play, not his oun need.J
To bring about tears, the beginning actor's tendency is
to think sad things, to pump for that mood or rhat general
state of being, to try to remember a sad occasion,the story
of that occasion, and then pray to God that somehow he
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THE ACTOR
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cussion.
Later, I learned from Dr' JacquesPalaci, a close.friend
trained in psychology' psychiatry and human behavior'
that this liitle indirect object was the release object, a
releaseof the censorwhich movesalong with us and says'
"Don't lose control." This apparentlyinsignificantobject
had been unconsciouslyperceivedand associatedwith the
original emotionalexPerience.
io e*p..i"r,c" for yourself what I am speaking about'
,rnh"ppy event in your life:-tell
tell a friend the story tf
"nu time when your lover walked
hi-, fo, example,
"boot
out on you, blaming you uniustly for infidelity' Now tell
your friend what suriounded the event; describeeverything
yoo ."n remember about the weather' the pattern of the
i."o".. u branch brushing againstthe windoq the rumplei collar of your lover'sshirt, the smellof the-after-shave
'he
*as *eari.rg, a frayed corner of the carpet' the tune that
of
was playing o"nthe radio as he left, etc'' etc', etc' One
you
th"se obj".is will suddenly releasethe pain anew and
will weep again.
EMOTIONAL MEMORY
49
The consequenceof this discovered procedure is endless. You will learn to build your own storehouseof little
trigger objects.In rehearsalyou will not spendendlesstime
or-rdigging for past euents;in performance you will avoid
"leavingthe stage,"so to speak,while your mind wanders
through a seriesof past adventures hoping that you will
find a specific stimulus. You should have found and filed
away many, many specific obiects, one of which you will
now connect and make synonymous with the event, the
person, or the obiect of your stage life to trigger the
responseyou need.
As for questioning the logic of the object you use from
your own experienceto take the piace of the one you need
on stage,let me give an example (especiallyfor the literalminded student, which, I assureyou, is not intended to be
facetious). Supposeyou are working on Uncle Vanya, and
you need a big emotional responsefor the moment when
Uncle Vanya surprises Yelena in the arms of Astrov, a
moment when reiection and a senseof loss storm in on
him. Supposethen that you have isolated a red apron from
an experiencein a kitchen when your girl friend's aunt,
wearing a red apron, rejected you and turned you out.
How do you know that Vanya himself didn't link the
moment with Yelenawith his own red apron, his own sudden recall of a moment of betrayal with his own early
rejection? After all, all of our emotional reactions are
basedon a kind of pile up from our past.
I must warn you, at this point, to avoid the examination
of any past experiencewhich you have never talked about
or wanted to talk about. Here you will be on dangerous
ground becauseyou will not know what can happen to
you, and without an understandingor a degreeof objectivity to the experienceit is uselessto you artistically. There
are teacherswho actually force acrors into dealing with
something buried (their responseto the death of a parent,
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EMOTIONAL
MEMORY
SENSE MEMORY
5
SenseMemorY
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is otten
(r ensememorv.the recallof physicalsensations'
lf we
emotions'
his
)eari., for the actorthan the recallof
is
as actorshave any occupationalhazards,hypochondria
senin
our
perhapsone of them. Most of us are interested
examine and discussthem and on occasion
,"tions,
".td
make more of them than may be normal for a nonactor' It's
all right as long as we rememberthat thesesensationscan
t. ot""f.tly e*p-.e.r"d. Some actors are.so highly sensitized
a
and suggestiblethat a mere conversatlonabout a parn'
similarly
are
they
chill or"'"tl itch will convince them that
afflicted.Those actorsare the exceptions'Most of us have
to learn a correct techniquefor producing sensatronsso
that they will be readily available to us on stage'
Since the body has an innate senseof truth, we must
facts to help us avoid the violalearn some physi,ological
tion of the physicaltruth' Sometimes,by a mere incorrect
bodilv adiustment we can shatter our faith in a whole
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SE N S E M E M O R Y
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when, by accident,somethingdoeshappen.If you are supposedto be hot, you must first ask yourselfwhereon your
body you are the hottest, Localize one area; for example,
under the arms, Remembera sensationof stickiness,of
perspiration trickling down, and then searchfor what you
do to alleviatethis sensation.Raiseyour arm slightly,seeif
you can pull your shirt or blouse sleeveaway from the
underarm to let in a little air. In that moment of adiustment, or attempt to overcomethe heat, you will have a
sensationof heat.The rest of the body will feelhot, too.
You are to be cold. Do not think cold all over.Localize
one areayou remembermost vividly; for instance,a draft
on the back of your neck. Try to recall the sensationand
then immediately hunch up your shouldersand stiffen
your back a little, even make yourself shiver if you like,
and you will havea sensationof cold. (lVe often shiveron
purpose,not only involuntarily, becauseshiveringincreases
the circulation.) The body will respond to the point where
you may end up hopping from foot to foot and rubbing
your hands in an effort to get warm (although it might
actually be a.verywarm day).
Fatigueis a condition called for in endlessscenes.How
often haveyou seenthe entireaction dissipatedand out of
focus becausethe actor was draggingabout and generally
trying to feel tired all ouer?There are so many varietiesof
fatigue.Ask yourself why you are tired, and where. Suppose you have been typing for hours. There is fatigue and
tension in your back, acrossyour shoulder blades.Now
get up and stretchyour back, put your head back and try
to relax the shouldermuscles.You will feelexhausted.
Or rememberyour fatigueon a hot day in Augustwhen
you walked for hours in thin-soled shoes,and your feet
were hot and sore and more tired than the rest of your
body. Try to walk gently on your heelsto alleviatethe sorenessand burning under the balls of your feet.Your whole
56
THE ACTOR
denly, your nose will feel stuffy, and if you blow it you
might even produce mucus.
For nausea,pinpoint the queasinessof the stomach,
inflate your cheeksslightly, wait for salivato gather.Breathe
deeply and you'll be convinced you feel sick.
For headaches,recall a specificone in a specificspot. For
example, directly over the right eye. !7hat kind? Throbbing. What can you do to easeit? Slightly push into it?
Rise above it? Pull back out of it? Theseare tiny adiustments, but after stimulating the imagination to the remembered feeling, they will bring it into the presentfor you.
For a burn, recall the thin, tight feel of the skin on your
fingertip, and how it aches.Then blow on it, flip your hand
back and forth to easeit, and you'll be convincedyou just
burned it.
Sometimesit's only the oozing blood which frightens
you when you cut yourself, but remember when it hurts
and what you do as you dab the wound with iodine.
Drunkenness, which crops up in countless tragic and
comedic scenes,seemsto be one of the most difficult to
make specific, and traps even fine actors into a series of
clich6s. Perhapsit is becausein this state, with its endless
variations from slightly tipsy, to staggering,to thick speech,
we have the hardest time remembering. To find it specifically entails the samestepsyou have usedin the searchfor
other physical sensations.First, localize the most suggestiblearea ofyour body, give in to it, and then attempt to
overcomeit. In my case,it is wobbly knees,a loose,weakened condition which I attempt to correct by straightening
and strengtheningthe knees.The other sensationsof dizziness, lack of eye-and-manual focus seem to follow. My
tongue seemsfat and swollen so that I have a wild need to
overarticulate. \0hen I am tipsy it usually manifests itself
in a psychologicalneedto talk too much, and an assumption that everyoneis interestedin anything I have to say.
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THE ACTOR
S E N S EM E M O R Y
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THE ACTOR
A mereimitationof naturein
take musthavepertinence'
of art'
irrf"mfirt, daily aspectsis the antithesis
'*
yet,differentiated
not
i" ,t . p."..ii.rg .h"p'ers,I have
I haveconttnubetweeniruth in life and truth on stage'
to do so) in
lortu ,rr.r..a life realities(andwill continue
and cu.s;;;k;;, ;. steerawav from the misconceptions
tricks
toms of old theaterconventions,falsetheatricalit5
on-stage'
truth
and eimmicks.But truth in life asit is' is not
evenbefore
melt'
will
it
into the theater
ft;?;;t;ow
milk
,fr. .,rr,luingoesup. I remembera play in,which.real was
The audience
il.if"a o*t"o" .rr" o" th" stagestove'
h:* thrs nao
drsillusionedas they audibly speculated9l
in Anger' vlar'y
beenmechanicallyachieved'lnLook Back
did the audiUr.lt"t"a with a realsteamiron' Not only
what she,was
arraaarrraor, "Realsteam!"astheymissed
shewas scalded'ano Tne
saying,but at one-performance
curtain
--in"r. was rung down'
is a lovely story about the old German-actor
play in which it
Albert Bassermanduring rehearsalsfor a
designer-were
*". ,oppot.a to rain' The director and the
be produced
it
could
realwaterand how
;;;;G;4"",
I co1t1-on
;; ;g". Bassermaninterruptedth.em:"x0hen
in his behaviorconvinced
t*gi, ?it-".'" And everything
vov th^t it didl
'"i."."'or"t.a
with an actorwho had to takeme by the
I had to put
urrrr, ,o .jh"i. -.' After showinghim that
rny face' he
L"r. ."f.""p on my bruised"'rns th"tt on
but tt'ilt
REALTTY
possibly send an actor into the orchestra pit or to the hospital. Really hurting someoneis like the boiling milk: the
audienceconcernsitself with the wounded actor instead of
with the character he is portraying. To bring about a
"real" fight requires the detailed and controlled definition
of eachmovement.The physical action must be as concrete
as the words of the playwright.
The intruding realities which spring from our private
lives must be put aside so that our stage realities will be
allowed to evolve spontaneously.If my Romeo has garlic
on his breath it is unreal to the play. It is also unreal if I
"useit" asis. (Somany actorsemploythis phrase,evidently
meaning that whateuer moves in on them on stageis supposed to be spontaneously put to :use,\In Romeo and
luliet, garlic is not a part of Shakespeare'sdictum. I can
plead with the actor after the performance not to eat garlic again, and if this fails, try to ignore it or desperately
endow it with attar of roses.
To swat at a live roach on stage in a room that should
be a palace may not only be irrelevant to the play and the
character, but will take the audience away from the truth
of the stage life. You must see what you haue to seein
order to tell the storS or seeit so that it doesn't distort the
story.
To go from the ridiculous to the sublime, I would like to
cite the example of Jean Louis Barrauit's Hamlet, in the
sceneof his advice to the players. While the chief player
was emotionally reciting about Hecuba, Hamlet quietly
approached him and literally lifted a teardrop from his
cheek, balancing it on two ingers and regarding it in wonder. It later catapulted him into, "Is it not monstrous thar
this player here . . ." etc. This is an exampleof poetic action
which might never occur in life, but which becamereal and
deepiy meaningful on stage becauseBarrault really did it
and believedit so that we in the audiencedid, too.
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THE ACTOR
the obligation
.ii."ir"" J."t goal.Nor shouldwe forget
give-him even
to
io it pt"y*rigf,t' we canperhapsaim
of thedetail
"
hop'dfoibv ourrevelation
;";;'fi;;i;;;J
PART TWO
The Object
Exercises
Introduction
INTRODUCTION
8z
'Who
am I?
'V/hat
time is it?
'What
surroundsme?
'What
Past, present,future, and the
are the giuen
events,
circumstances?
What is my relationshiP? Relationto total events,other
'what's
in my way?
'V/hat
do I do to get
u.,hatI want?
Who am l?
'V/hat
time is it?
Whatdo I want?
Character.
Wheream I?
characters,and to things.
Character,main and immediate objectives.
Obstacles.
The action: physical,verbal.
61
'Where
arn I?
84
INTRODUCTION
What is my
relationshiP?
'What
To be of service,to be a particiPant
in society as well as to be needed
by those I love. To be a Part of art
and nature. To live up to resPonsibilities.
(Main Objectiue)-To finish this
chapter.
do I tuant?
8j
V/hat do I do to get
what I want?
86
T H E O B JE C T E X E R C I S E S
INTRODUCTION
87
88
INTRODUCTION
89
3. Immediacy
5. Endowment
6. Talking to Yourself
7. Outdoors
8. Conditioning
Forces
ENDOWMTJNT
r5
Endowment
n'* t':?-:.1,:-'..o.il'
withouta btader
l""or'i"- l. .r-,"ve
and butter wrtnpotatoes
*itiro.tt heat;how to eat mashed
soddenclothing
seemingly
out getting fat; how to remove
havingbeenin the rain' etc'
with-out
"'n"*lJcit"pter
for the
5, "SenseMemorn" and then'
the endowment exercise'find circumstances
orro.*
t".i*
tangible.objects
"f
*ftr.tt yo., *ould be dealing with
with properttes tnat
*liii-t *.tfa'ftave to be endowed
example' take a.cup of
should not be real on stage' For
it with the propertv of steaming l"i -'^"
;;
;;;";J
recall how' as vou brlng 1t
i;.il;{
iust think it's hot but
from the steam' how
,
t.u pull back slightly
"'.i^'t""t,
Itz
rr3
I14
ENDOWMENT
IT5
hurt yourself to seewhat you do about it. You undoubtedly remember what it was like when you burned or cut
yourself, or otherwise did damageto yourself or were hurt
by someoneelse.
But wherever an object is not physically dangerous,in
the sensediscussedabove, start experimenting-let's say,
with polishing your nails (real nail polish on stagecould
create a major hazard if it spilled or got on your hands).
First, really polish your nails, and then take an empty bottle with its little brush and seeif you can reconstruct the
behavior of carefully and evenly smoothing the polish on
your nails until you find such belief that, by reflex, you will
blow on your nails to make sure they are dry, and you will
handle the next object delicatelyfor fear of marring the
polish.
For your exercise,find at least three tangible objects to
endow with physical properties which would otherwise
control you. You may also endow them psychologically,
but the emphasisshould rest on the physical. Avoid pantomiming the actions. By that I mean, if you take a stif{
drink, don't usean empty glassand then worry about how
far to tip it, or what actual swallowing is like. Fill the glass
with water and endow the water with whatever properties
you needthrough sensememory and muscularadjustment.
A studentoccasionallyasksif all threeendowedobjects
should belong together. Obviouslg they must belong to
your complete and logical set of circumstances.If, for
instance,your objective is to try to prepare a splendid meal
for your lover, and you have a bad cold at the time, endless
ideas for objects to endow will immediately occur to you,
connectedwith the food you are preparing, what you wilL
cook it on and what implements you will need for it, as
well as all the objects you may need to control your cold,
from vaporizersto nosedrops to medicinesand chestrubs.
Just try to give the objectsvariation so that all three don't
116
ENDOVMENT
tta
PRACTICAL
PROBI,EMS
zo1
Auditions
How you land an audition in order to get a
iob must be
separatedfrom how you work on a part. When you
apply
for an interview, a job, an audition L g"t the j.b;;.r';;.
in.point of fact selling yourself in much the sa.rre*ay
th"t
a Fuller Brush man sells his merchandise,How yo,:'-"n_
age it is your individual problem. If you are ,.rr.ibl.,
uou
can learn to protect yourself from any .1...rr, yor,
-igh,
meet up with in the theater,except criminality, and for
tfrat
you should go.to the police. Or ro Actors Eiuity
Associa_
tron, your trade union, which is there to proieci you.
The
pro.ducer,the agent, the director for whom you'-;rr;;;
aldition has the samepower as the housewife*no
.iei,
stam rhe door in the face of the brush salesman,or
w"h<r
might let you inside to show your wares.
Auditions can range from an open call where the actors
are lined up across the stage like cattle and are eliminated-without a reading-because they are too tall or
short, fat or thin, fair or dark, or lately, becausethey are
the wrong astrologicalsign,to a situationin which you are
given time to study the script, work on the scene,and have
an opportunity to presentyourself at your best.There is
also my favorite kind of audition, in which you may present material of your own choosingwhich you have prepared in advance.
\Vhat you should do at a reading,even a cold reading
for which you have been given little or no time to prepare,
is to go out on a limb: give yourselfan objectiveand then
head for it with improvised actions which are as real as
possible. Try for a full performance with your improvised
actions. Endow tuhoeuermight read with you into the living substancewhich could serveyou. Your craft will serve
you, if you havea craft. Evena mediocredirectorwill hold
you becauseof your reality, not on your interpretation. A
director wants what any primitive audience wants-to
believethat you are, to believethat you are really saying
what you read from the script.
Remember:Whoever may employ you is totally disinterestedin your credos,so don't burden them with that.
PRACTICAL
PROB LEMS
zo5
THE ROLE
PRACTICAL
PROBLEMS
disappointment from the audience if they were told Marlon wasn't playing.Finally,I said, "Let's try to rehearsethe
first five minutesofthe play and seewhat happens."It was
such an adventurethat we were both game, and on we
went. Nothing went wrong, and a lot went right. What
made it work? Both of us were totally familiar with place,
objects,and circumstances.Neither of us was willful or
selfish.Neither of us violatedthe intentionsof our characters. The rest of the four weeks continued to be adventurous. And so was returning to Anthony Quinn.
"How Do I Talk to the Audience?"
\(hether I am talking to the audiencein a Shakespearean
play,a Molidre, inThe Matcbmaker,TheGlassMenagerie,
Joe Egg, or The Bald Soprano, specific ptinciples always
apply. I am not talking to myself; the audienceis my partner! This partner,the audience,must be made as particular
as any other characterwith whom I have a dialoguein the
play. Who are they? What's my relationship to them?
\Xlhere are they-in time as well as place? Why are they
there, what is the obstacle, and tuhat do I want from them?
Answeringthesequestions,I stand a good chanceof finding my actions with them.
Vhether I'm talking to one person or to many' I specify
my relationship to them-are they with me or against me,
do we have a past together, or are we new to each other,
etc.?I always put my audienceinto the time and place in
which the play unfolds. I might use courtiers sitting in the
king's loge, contemporariesof Moliire, if I'm working on a
play of his and askedto addressthe audience.Or I might
take somefriends from Yonkers at the turn of century who
are listening to me and watching me from another sitting
room or from the street, if I'm talking to the audience as
Mrs. Levi in The Matcbmaker. Or I mieht addressthe
PRACTICAL
PROB LEM S
2lo
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