Workshops # 3

Jim Bonny: I'm really happy Jim is trying brand new techniques with us this year. Yesterday, we were each given a short scene in which the situation and circumstances were very unclear. We would read the two person scene aloud with a partner and somehow put the subtext in as we went along. Jim would help us create situations that would set the emotion for each scene. I was fascinated by the scene between Jill and I because Jim would constantly make us say a line and repeat it, and each time we repeated this line, our intensity grew and the emotion varied. Jim was always repeating how important it is for an actor to "stay out of his/her head" and this exercise helped a lot. The scene work and the repetition technique allowed my mind to enter a subconscious state in which I cared less about the acting, and more about feeding off of Jill's external emotions. With the subconscious mindset, there is no pressure to "act well," so the emotion lacks any unnecessary fabrication.