INTRODUCTION

Acting is a mystery, and so is theatre. We assemble in a

space and divide into two parts, one of which enacts
stories for the remainder. We know of no society where
this ritual never happens, so it appears that humanity
has a profound need to witness acted-out represen-
tations, from television soap opera to Greek Tragedy.
A theatre is not only a literal place, but also a space
where we dream together; not merely a building, but a
space that is both imaginative and collective. Theatre
provides a safe frame within which we can explore
dangerous extremities in the comfort of fantasy and the
reassurance of a group. If every auditorium were razed
to the ground, theatre would still survive, because the
hunger in each of us to act and be acted to, is genetic.
This intense hunger even crosses the threshold of sleep.
1

For we direct, perform and witness performances every

night – theatre cannot die before the last dream has

Introduction
been dreamt.

‘I am therefore I act’
A baby is born not only with an expectation of
‘mother’ and ‘language’, but also with an anticipation
of ‘acting’; the child is genetically prepared to copy
behaviours that it will witness. The first theatrical per-
formance a baby enjoys is when its mother acts out
appearing and disappearing behind a pillow. ‘Now you
see me; now you don’t!’ The baby gurgles away, learn-
ing that this most painful event, separation from the
mother, might be prepared for and dealt with comic-
ally, theatrically. The baby learns to laugh at an appal-
ling separation, because it isn’t real. Mummy reappears
 and laughs – this time, at least. After a while the child virtuosity will go for little if his ornate technique
will learn to be the performer, with the parent as audi- reveals nothing but ornate technique. This highly
ence, playing peek-a-boo behind the sofa; and eventu- controlled art must appear, in some way, spontaneous.
ally the game will evolve into the more sophisticated Those who appreciate this specialised form can discern
‘hide and seek’, with multiple performers, and even a the flicker of alertness that quickens each ancient
winner. Eating, walking, talking, all are developed by gesture. The difference in quality between one perfor-
observation, performance and applause. We develop mance and another is not in technique alone, but in the
our sense of self by practising roles we see our parents surge of life that makes that technique seem invisible;
play and expand our identities further by copying the years of training must seem to evaporate in the heat
The Actor and the Target

characters we see played by elder brothers, sisters, of life. Truly great technique has the generosity to
friends, rivals, teachers, enemies or heroes. You cannot vanish and take no credit.
teach children how to act out situations, precisely Even the most stylised art is about life, and the more
because they already do – they wouldn’t be human if life there is present in a work of art, the greater the
they didn’t. Indeed, we live by acting roles, be it father, quality of that art. Life is mysterious and transcends
mother, teacher or friend. Acting is a reflex, a logic, so the living thing can never be fully analysed,
mechanism for development and survival. This primi- taught or learned. But those things that apparently cut
2 tive instinct to act is the basis of what is meant by out life, or seem to conceal or block it, are not nearly so 3

‘acting’ in this book. It is not ‘second nature’, it is ‘first mysterious as they pretend. These ‘things’ are bound
nature’ and so cannot be taught like chemistry or scuba by logic and may be analysed, isolated and destroyed.
diving. So, if acting in itself cannot be taught, how can The doctor may explain why the patient is dead, but

Introduction
we develop or train our ability to act? never why the patient is alive.
Therefore this is not a book about how to act; this is
Attention a book that may help when you feel blocked in your
Our quality of acting develops and trains itself when acting.
we simply pay it attention. In fact, all we can be ‘taught’
about acting are double negatives. For example, we can Two provisos
be taught how not to block our natural instinct to act, It is not easy to write about acting. Acting is an art, and
just as we can be taught how not to block our natural art reveals the uniqueness of things. Talking about
instinct to breathe. Of course we can learn a multitude acting is hard, because ‘talking about’ tends to make us
of stylised developments of our natural reflexes. The generalise and generalisation conceals the uniqueness
Noh actor in Japan may take decades to perfect a single of things. Good acting is always specific.
gesture, as the ballerina will sweat years developing There is also a problem here with vocabulary. The
feats of muscular control. But all the Noh master’s words ‘actor’ and ‘acting’ are devalued. For example,
 we say that people are ‘putting on an act’ when we what I am going through. And what’s worse, I just hear
mean that they are lying about themselves. The word myself spouting the same old clichés other people use.’
‘acting’ is often used as a synonym for ‘lying’. Plato As adolescents, we discover that the more we want
argued that there was no difference between acting and to tell the truth, the more our words lie. But to mature,
lying, and roundly condemned the theatre. Diderot’s we must get on with the humble process of performing,
Paradox of the Actor asks how we can speak of truth in because acting is all we can do. Acting is the nearest we
performance, which of its very nature is a lie. get to the truth.
We do not know who we are. But we know that we
Emotion and truth can act. We know that there is a greater or lesser quality
The Actor and the Target

But we can never fully tell the truth about what we feel. to our performances as student, teacher, friend, daugh-
Indeed, the more we feel, the more useless will be the ter, father or lover. We are the people we act, but we
words we find to express ourselves. The question ‘How have to act them well, and with a deepening sense of
are you?’ becomes increasingly banal the more the whether our performances are ‘truthful’ or not. But
relationship matters; the words work reasonably well truthful to what? The real me inside? To others? Truth-
to greet the postman as he delivers a package, but are ful to what I feel, want, ought to be? The question
woefully inadequate to a friend with cancer. marks hang with the observation that the above and all
4 There will always be a gap between what we feel and the following are not necessarily true, but may prove 5

our ability to express what we feel. The more we wish useful.

for the gap to be smaller, and the more we want to tell
‘the truth’, then the wider this perverse gap yawns. We Block

Introduction
act constantly, not because we are purposely lying, but Rather than claim that ‘x’ is a more talented actor than
because we have no choice. Living well means acting ‘y’, it is more accurate to say that ‘x’ is less blocked than
well. Every moment in our lives is a tiny theatrical ‘y’. The talent is already pumping away, like the
performance. Even our most intimate moments have a circulation of the blood. We just have to dissolve the
public of at least one: ourselves. clot.
At times of crisis this inability to express ourselves Whenever we feel blocked the symptoms are rem-
causes great pain. Adolescence can be a journey through arkably similar, whatever the country, whatever the con-
hell when we feel completely misunderstood; ‘first text. Two aspects of this state seem particularly deadly:
love’ seems unalloyed bliss only in nostalgia. We are the first is that the more the actor tries to force, squeeze
tormented not only by the spectre of rejection, but also and push out of this cul-de-sac, the worse ‘it’ seems to
by the creeping hopelessness that we will never be able get, like a face squashed against glass. Second is the
to express what we feel. The emotions are turbulent, accompanying sense of isolation. Of course, the prob-
the stakes seem impossibly high: ‘Nobody understands lem can be projected out, and ‘it’ becomes the ‘fault’ of
 script, or partner, or even your shoes. But the two basic the others. Therefore much of what is said at the
symptoms recur, namely paralysis and isolation – an beginning of this book will make little sense till the end.
inner locking and an outer locking. And, at worst, an
overwhelming awareness of being alone, a creeping sense A map
of being both responsible and powerless, unworthy and This book is like a map. Like all maps, it is a lie, or
angry, too small, too big, too cautious, too . . . me. rather, a lie trying to tell a useful story. A metro map
bears no resemblance to the city street system and will
When acting flows, it is alive, and so cannot be mislead the pedestrian, but it will help you if you want
analysed; but problems in acting are connected to to change trains. And as with many maps, it takes some
structure and control, and these can be isolated and
The Actor and the Target

familiarity to help you find your way.

disabled. So before we continue it will help to revisit some
basic terms.
Other sources of block
Many different problems arise in rehearsal and perfor- Rehearsal
mance that can damage acting. The room may be ill lit, Broadly speaking, we can divide the work of the actor
badly ventilated, echoey or cold. More significantly, into two parts, rehearsal and performance. More con-
6 there may be a difficult atmosphere in the group, or a troversially we can also divide the mind of a human 7

bad relationship with the director or writer. External being into the conscious and the unconscious. The
problems over which the actor may have little control rehearsal and the unconscious have certain things in
can also coagulate the work; but circumstantial common. Both are normally unseen, but both are

Introduction
difficulties will not be dealt with here. essential. They are, in their different ways, the four-
When things go wrong we must distinguish between fifths of the iceberg that are concealed. On the other
what we can change and what we cannot change. We hand, like the tip of the iceberg, the performance and
also have to divide the problem into two parts: first, the the conscious are both seen. We can easily see the tip of
part that comes from outside, over which we may have the iceberg, but we need wisdom to infer the other
little or no control, and secondly, the part which comes four-fifths.
from inside, over which we can learn to have increasing However, this book makes a slightly different divi-
control. This book only addresses that second part. sion: here the actor’s work will be divided into the
All serious acting problems are interconnected, so visible work and the invisible work. In fact actors
interdependent that they seem to be just one huge rock normally work to a similar division; but then this is just
cut into blinding facets by a demonic jeweller. To a new map to make an ancient landscape clearer. We
define the stone by describing its facets is misleading can begin with some features:
because each facet only makes sense in the context of all
 1. All the actor’s research is part of the invisible work, needs to accept the senses’ limitations in order for the
while the performance is part of the visible work. imagination to run free. The actor relies utterly on the
2. The audience must never see the invisible work. senses; they are the first stage in our communication
with the world. The imagination is the second.
3. The rehearsal comprises all the invisible work and
passages of visible work.
Imagination
4. The performance consists only of the visible work. The imagination, the senses and the body are inter-
dependent. The imagination is the capacity to make
The senses images. Our imaginations make us human and they toil
The Actor and the Target

The actor’s flow depends on two specific functions of every millisecond of our lives. Only the imagination
the body: the senses and the imagination. can interpret what our senses relay to our bodies. It is
We are completely dependent on our senses. They imagination that enables us to perceive. Effectively,
are the first antennae that detect the outside world. We nothing in the world exists for us until we perceive it.
see, touch, taste, smell and hear that we are not alone. Our capacity to imagine is both imperfect and glorious,
As tortures go, sense deprivation is theatrically weak and only the paying of attention can improve it.
but surprisingly efficient. When the stakes rise our The imagination may be mocked as reality’s under-
8 senses become more acute. The interface between our study: ‘That child has an over-active imagination’ or 9

bodies and the outside world becomes more sensitive ‘You’re just imagining things!’ However, it is only
and intense. We recall exactly the place where we heard imagination that can connect us to reality. Without our
astonishing news – no wonder that so many remember ability to make images we would have no means of

Introduction
not only when but also where they heard that President accessing the outside world. The senses crowd the
Kennedy had been shot. brain with sensations, the imagination sweats both to
Three remarks may help here: first, it is dangerous to organise these sensations as images and also to perceive
take our senses for granted. Occasional meditations on meaning in these images. We forge the world within
blindness and other sensory loss are nearly as life- our heads, but what we perceive can never be the real
affirming as the regular contemplation of death. world; it is always an imaginative re-creation.
Secondly, the actor’s senses will never absorb as much The imagination is not a fragile piece of porcelain,
in performance as the character absorbs in the real but rather a muscle that develops itself only when
situation. In other words the actor will never see the properly used. It was an eighteenth-century view that
asp as acutely as Cleopatra herself. Finally, this graceful the imagination was an abyss that might swallow the
acceptance of inevitable failure is an exhilarating release unwary, and this mistrust persists; but to shut down
for the artist. That we will never get there is an excellent the imagination, even if possible, would be like refusing
starting point; perfectionism is only a vanity. The actor to breathe for fear of catching pneumonia.
 The dark
Everything we see in the outside world is manufactured
in our heads. We do not develop the imagination by
forcing it into prodigious and self-conscious feats of
creativity; we develop our imaginations by observation
and attention. We develop the imagination when we
use it and pay attention; the imagination improves itself
when we simply see things as they are. But seeing
things is not so easy sometimes, particularly when it is
The Actor and the Target

dark. How then can we light up the darkness? Actually

there is no such thing as the dark; there is merely an
absence of light. But what could be casting this shadow
over everything I see? There is a clue. If I examine this
darkness I will see that it has a familiar outline. It has
exactly the same shape as . . . me. We make darkness by
getting in the way of the light. In other words we can
10 only nourish our imaginations by not getting in the
way; the less we darken the world, the clearer we see it.