So we are half way into our run and I’ve tried to avoid writing this article for almost two months. Mainly because I know that nothing that I could possibly write would do this process any justice. What a ride. A true journey in self-discovery, emotional depths/limits, every process, even the ones outside of the play but still surround it, the beautiful bonds created by a group of strangers. Every one involved has helped me grow in some way. I look back at the person that (by pure chance) found his way to Lian’s casting, and the person that walks on stage every Saturday and I barely recognize him. My father would always say, there is no better school than life. Every one that surrounds me is a teacher and I’ve had the ultimate pleasure of soaking up the experience through every pore. Breaking Brando’s law (you can’t be a cliché actor if Brando isn’t your favorite), he always said actors should never talk about their private lives, and I agree, something magical about mystery but until I’m Brando I’ll continue rambling. Since I was little I would hear amazing stories from my father, of amazing groups of people that changed the arts, amazing events taking place. Maybe a dinner where two people were introduced and it turns out they later left a mark in history. So I lived with the idea in my head that I had to be careful and pick my activities wisely because people might talk about it in generations to come, or pick my dinners carefully because that’s where I might meet the Yoko to my John. For the first time in my life, what this play and process has taught me, is that, although it may sound obvious, these people never knew what they were doing, they just played. Dadaism, they played. Surrealism, played. Nouvelle Vague, Fluxus, DiTella…they all played. And that is what I’ve learned to do… play. Playing doesn’t mean not taking it seriously, on the contrary, you see a child play and they are completely immersed and committed, but it never the less is a game, and although they might feel the whole spectrum of emotions, it just might be one of the most enjoyable things in life. I’ve head the pleasure of playing with extremely talented people in this production. I think “rich” is also a perfect word to describe this process. Rich to the mind, to the senses, I truly think that when one creates a character, you get to see things in a different light, the way that this person, that later becomes you, sees it. So we leave this thing with an insight we never had, almost like a layer of residue that the character has left us with, as a gift. I’ve also had the honour, in every sense of this extremely overrated word, to work directly with an amazing playwright and director. We all built something, an amazing structure, built solely on words, actions, lights. Something ephimerous, when the play finishes, our characters die, the audience fades, and there is no evidence of what we built, but even so, I walk out feeling more alive and full than ever before. Like I said, nothing that I write can do this process justice. What all of this means to me can never be measured. So I can only say thank you, every body involved in this, amazing crew, amazing cast members, director and playwright, thank you so much for letting me play with you!
- David
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