Audition by Michael Shurtleff

Author:Michael Shurtleff
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Published: 2009-09-22T04:00:00+00:00

EXAMPLE

ENDGAME by SAMUEL BECKETT

Two actors were doing a scene from this rueful and very funny play portraying two men at the edge of the ocean. The blind one, who is also unable to move on his own, is "looking" out to sea, wondering if the human race is all over, if just these two are left. The ambulatory one knows how dependent on him the blind one is, so he taunts him with desertion: he will make a raft and sail away. Yet they have great need for each other and great fondness; after all, there is no one else left at the end of the world. I adore seeing actors do this scene, if they use some imagination and freedom. It marvelously ignites the creative spark in an actor if he'll let it. Many actors get up there and show how little they understand the scene; that's easy to do—who cares—they shouldn't be actors at all if they're not willing to find the humor in the world's end. But these two actors played the game marvelously: competing, fighting, needing each other. But no game is worth the candle unless the stakes are high. Few actors make the stakes high enough when they play their games; they make the mistake of assuming if it's a game, it doesn't mean much. Nonsense: a game must always have the highest possible life-and-death stakes.

Here are two men at the end of the world: what could literally be more life and death? Yet actors most often refuse to make the stakes important. What makes it important? Needing that other person or dying (murder, suicide, running away, being deserted). Needing independence from the need for the other person. Having to win, if this is your last day on earth. You can't take leave of the world a loser; there is just one final chance to win!

All game playing needs scorekeeping: The opponents need to keep track of who won and who lost each round in the fight, just as in a prizefight, in a tennis match, in any sport. It is important for you to acknowledge your wins and your losses so that your partner knows. Celebrate a win, cry over a loss. Let your loss stimulate you to make the next round a win. Let your loss be expressed in appreciation of your partner's expertise. Let your loss amuse you, hurt you, rev you up, push you down, spur you on. Let there be joy in your winning, real loss in your losing.

In ENDGAME the blind man says, "I need to take a pee." They are diverted by the possibility creation will start all over again; then the ambulatory one says, "What about that pee?" The blind one says, without moving from his stationary spot at the edge of the ocean, "I'm having it." Clearly the blind man wins this round. If it's done poker-faced, it's not as much fun as if the blind man celebrates his win over his walking-around friend. Register your win! Communicate your loss! Drama is conflict and communication.

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