The Great Acting Blog: “In Life, Facing The Truth Is A Choice”

The Great Acting Blog: “In Life, Facing The Truth Is A Choice”

On stage or in front of camera we take action. We make that commitment to got for it and we just deal with whatever is thrown at us thereafter.  In life away from performance however, we hesitate, we relentlessly go over our plans to the extent that we end up going round in circles rather than moving forwards. Clearly, ordinary life is not the same as performing because we have a script and we have rehearsals, and whatever stress and pressure we may feel, it is only for a specific, limited period of time. Life on the other hand, despite our best efforts, rarely possesses such a neat structure, and even during those times when it does, we know that the structure is rickety. This is particularly true whenever we undertake anything involving other human beings – it gets messy, we just don’t know how they will respond to our pitch, our proposal, our invitation, our phone call, our knock on the door. The thought of the terrible unforeseen lures us back to do another polish on our plan, but of course, it’s not a polish at all, it’s an attempt to delay the moment of action and ever having to face up to the consequences.

On stage or in front of the camera, it’s a simple question  of whether we are going to do our job or not. The performance strips life down to the bare structure of the drama (crafted by a writer of course), where we actors have nowhere to hide. The task is clear, the lines of demarcation are apparent for all to see.

Life however, is blurred, it’s difficult to formulate the questions let alone supply any answers. Further, life offers more opportunities for us to hide, and makes innumerable excuses available to us. More often than not, facing up to the truth of the moment is a choice, an act of will, whereas performing the drama tends to thrust that moment upon us.

So, the question is this: are we going to choose to live a life of facing up to the truth of the moment, or are we going to live a life of self-deception?

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