Acts of Destruction
“For me, a picture is the sum of destruction. I make a painting, and then destroy it.” Pablo Picasso
The orthodox way of making a production, is to ‘make’, to ‘assemble’, to ‘create’ in that highly unsuitable word ‘rehearsal’. To ‘build’ a character, to ‘create’ a role.
I believe this entire concept is built on a flaw. I think that a production produces a performance that is a continuous act of destruction, the breaking down and not the construction of something, the obliteration of the art artefact, exchanged for the dangerous and unforeseen that can only exist in the moment, and is infinitely more exciting to be involved in and a thousand times more watchable.
Of course there are some elements of the rehearsal process where we make some decisions, we shape the space that we give ourselves license to play within.
What does destruction mean practically for you, the actor? Well it really means never seeking to reach a finished polished state, never making a product, always riding the tides of success and failure.
It doesn’t mean that we don’t train, or rehearse, it means that our preparation doesn’t end in a mortification of live performance but a total embrace of the improvised nature of day to day humanity. We don’t aim for wood or stone, we aim for water.
Confused? Think of it like this. Everything is always disintegrating, and holding it together doesn’t stop it. If disintegration is accepted, acknowledged – even encouraged, we learn to live with it and we make the most of it and the most of the liveness of the event.
To You, The Best!
Mark Westbrook
Senior Acting Coach
ACTING COACH SCOTLAND
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Mark Westbrook is a Professional Acting Coach and runs Acting Coach Scotland, a private acting studio offering acting classes in Glasgow, masterclasses, workshops and audition coaching for actors at all levels.
His acting studio is based in Glasgow, Scotland, although he teaches all across the United Kingdom. All Blog Posts © Mark Westbrook 2011