Acknowledge

Today’s blog is related to the blog about Presence and has come out of our class work at the studio.

The first step of Repetition, the first part of an ADRA moment, the first part of As-Iffing, the Gibberish moment. It is the first part of every moment of action, of acting, it is the core of human interaction and a lack of acknowledgment is the cause of much conflict.

Acknowledge means truly noticing what is going on in the other person/actor. Without noticing this, there’s no connection to your scene partner.

It’s one thing to strongly pursue your goal, task, objective, it’s another to keep in mind an acknowledgment of the other. It’s a two way street and you can’t get what you want unless you acknowledge the other person and work out how to deal with it.

Learning to acknowledge is essential for actors. It doesn’t come naturally because we are selfish. We are concerned with our own shit. But our best acting comes when we are connected to the other and when our actions are a direct response to what we have acknowledged in them, first mechanistically like in the ADRA exercise but then instinctively too.

You need to attune your focus of attention to the other. You need to acknowledge what they are really doing. What is the truth of this moment?

Don’t start from a lie, never start from a lie. Acknowledge first, before you take action, as you take action and after you take action. How you say your next line in life or acting is a result of two things, what you need to achieve and what the other person is doing right now.