Stanislavski, Meisner and Arthur Lessac all say relaxation is the key to great acting.
Why is that? And what exactly do they mean? And most importantly HOW do you get yourself to relax while you’re acting?
Why—because when we are relaxed we are more impulsive, more connected to ourselves, more in the moment. Tension is the modern-day killer. It keeps us bound up, ill, unable to fully connect with and use ourselves and our instruments. Stanislavski talks about a dog on the stage. When an actor brings on a dog all the audience will notice is the dog. Why? Because they are so relaxed. They are in true behavior. They are fully themselves. It is our human cognitive brains that get us all tide up in a bundle of nerves. If we could think without it, if we could just be, like the dog, we’d be just as riveting. That’s actually why we learn technique as an actor, playing verbs, focusing on our behavior, on our partner, on the moment, because it gives us something to short-circuit our thinking brains and get into our impulses. To be relaxed in the moment.
What—being relaxed is that mix of energized looseness we feel when we are at our most confident. Our most balanced and nourished. We can feel it in our bodies. Our breathing is full, our feet sense the floor as we walk, our muscles are both free from tension and alive with the possibility of movement, of impulse ready to streak through us. We know it when we feel it. We are subtle, and alive and ready for action or repose depending on our whim. We also feel feelings, emotions, desires, thoughts, etc. more readily. We feel access to our internal world. We are open and flowing, we are not shut down, in brain fog, or indecisive. We feel like our true selves.
How—do we become relaxed? Relaxation has a lot to do with intention. Acting, in fact, is all about intention. When we put our intention on what we want in acting—it will relax us. When we put our attention on what we are doing, not feeling, because we cannot control our feelings, but we can control our behavior, it will relax us. Then, much to our delight and the delight of the audience our feelings will flow out in a spontaneous, real way, which will make everybody feel. Acting is about doing something to your partner to get them to do something so you can get what you want. So when you put your intention on doing something to your partner, it will relax you because it gives you focus, takes away the “thinking” part of your brain and makes you instinctive.
The Sunbathing Exercise
Here’s an exercise I offer you that can help you tremendously with relaxation. I call it “The Sunbathing Exercise.”
Take the scene or the monologue you are working on and lie down comfortably on a sofa or floor. I want you to pretend you are sunbathing. In fact, I want you to imagine you are on a three-week vacation in some gorgeous and remote location. You are exactly halfway through your vacation, a week and a half into it and a week and a half to go, so you have nowhere to go and nothing you have to do.
Pretend you are basking in the sun poolside, or on the beach or somewhere super relaxing. Feel the sun warming your skin, making that your only task. Now, start to say your lines. If you are talking to someone, do not open your eyes to look at them, just say the lines keeping your focus on drinking in the sun’s rays. Allow yourself to explore the text keeping your focus on the sunbathing. Perhaps go through the scene several times.
When you are ready you can open your eyes and say your lines again, this time talk to the person you are interacting with, but make sure you still keep your focus on being warmed by the sun. Notice what this does to your performance, how it helps you with the scene.
Finally sit or stand up and perform the scene again allowing whatever impulses or feelings or sensations you discovered while sunbathing to come through.
Perhaps you tried the monologue or scene before you started the Sunbathing Exercise, how does it feel now? Do you feel more relaxed? Do you feel more effective? Do you feel more connected to the role and powerful as an actor?
This is a great exercise to add to your arsenal of back work.
If you try this, let us know how it goes for you by reaching out to info@actorsinactionconservatory.com. We can’t wait to compare notes!