Love More. Fear Less. And how acting class relates to real life.

{Yep, I made it.  But I wish I had thought it.}

This fall I started an acting conservatory, A Working Group, taught by Richard Robichaux (most recently of the Texas hit film "Bernie")   It's an intense class.  It's often frustrating as Richard has us learn by doing instead of through lecture; often you don't "get it" the first time, or the eleventh time, but I hear it's a beautiful thing once the shoe drops and instinctive, authentic responses kick in.  When acting ceases to become "ACTING."

We are treated to a juicy weekly poem and his instruction is peppered with rich morsels of quotes, like the one above by John Halcyon Styn.   His teaching style is well rounded.  Heightened language paired with two of his favorite approaches to acting, 1) "F@$# it." and 2) "Easy, breezy, beautiful cover girl." Though I've only been in the class a few months, I take from it that

1. Authentic response instead of planned response makes acting not only watchable, but ridiculously engaging.  And that's what we're going for.
2. Just say it, and mean it.  (But that's really #1.)
3. Art expresses the richness of the human experience and you've got to love that to be in the business of art.

This isn't an in-depth exploration of the course (which is a Meisner based class) or a deep commentary on acting.  I wanted to share the pretty picture from the wonderful quote that Richard often speaks to us through our time.  So much of what we are learning in class directly relates to other aspects of our lives.  It's about being.  Being who we are, not putting on faces, masks, facades.  I have a lot of those to break and I'm thankful for the birthing experience I am getting through the beauty of this class, poetry and art.