WESTON - "Process & Result"

Reading #7

I found it insightful to uncover that many of the techniques used by directors actually
achieve the opposite of their goal. When I was an actor in one of my director's rehearsal scenes,
the more nit-picking result direction comments the director gave me, the worse my performance
became. But at the time, I didn’t understand why I had begun to forget my lines more and more.
Once my directing scene came up, I gave my actors less instruction because of this
previous experience. However, I didn’t truly understand the reasoning behind why it was
working better. Relating to result-oriented direction, the text states, “This direction puts actors'
concentration elsewhere than on themselves. The stiffness of performance it leads to looks so
amateurish.” I found this fact enlightening on why my acting seemed much more forced in
comparison to the performance of my actors. They had room to feel out my scene and play with
props however they wished.

I’m ashamed to admit that in the past, I’ve used many of the techniques which the text
warns me not to use. The text states, “Trying to calibrate actors' emotional levels, passing
judgment on the character, intellectualizing the character’s psychology, and worst of all,
micro-managing of a gesture, a look, and line reading.” During our in-class rehearsal, I kept
having the urge to say things such as “bring down the intensity of annoyance in your voice” or
“act more surprised when Billy wakes you up.” It was almost physically tiring to silence these
thoughts during the rehearsal. I remember that at one point, I asked to bring the energy down
when one of the characters was saying a few specific lines. After reading this, I should’ve used
the tools mentioned to help open up the actor's subconscious. I should’ve let them experience the
moment’s tension, navigating it in a fashion that felt true to themselves. Instead, at that moment,
I made them think about how “annoyed” they should sound.