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February 1, 2000
“So, have you all learned your lines for
tomorrow?” I asked. The responses were varied and some did not come to
my ears. Those that responded affirmatively, I ignored in the main, simply
passing them each a reward, a large candy, for having followed the norm of
my expectations.
Those that acknowledged that they had not
yet mastered their lines, I admonished, for they had enough notice surely
to fulfill this requirement. I gave one a glare and another; I shook my
head at after making eye contact. A third, well I simply gave him my best
"tisk, tisk," and, in front of the others for emphasis. To the fourth, a known
laggard I might add, I turned my back conveying my disgust through my
posture and my silence. Then I separated this group from the others and
began my best motivational speech about how they were letting down the
others and themselves as well. Did we not all rely on them? After all, had
the script not been laboriously tailored to fit the characters and the
dreams and aspirations of so many? Had not each one of them agreed to play
a role to see this drama through? How was I, after all, to direct this
crew if they were not willing to both do everything in their power to
reach our common goal and fulfill my need to be in control with an
adequate amount of peer recognition for my efforts!
It is not easy being a director. Care taking
all the logistics of costumes, catering to the moods of the actors,
amending the lines in the script so that each could not only mouth the
words but also have sufficient emotional contact with the lines, well,
this was a major consumer of my energies, I can tell you.
It was hard at times motivating these actors
to stick with the play, my play, my way, but I did it for a long
time. Ungrateful ones, some of them, walked out. Said they did not want to
be party to my play. Well, I will fix them. I will blame them. I will take
away their privileges. I will stop talking with them. Well darn it all, I
may even have to write them out of my next play, because if they cannot
conduct their roles as I say, then how can I expect them to treat anything
with respect? Imagine the audacity of one who got really angry with me on
occasion, finally stomping away saying “I never said I wanted to stay
stuck in this play called ‘Expectations’ forever you know.” Tell
me film critic, what do you think of the actor’s behavior in that case?
“I think perhaps you might have asked the
actor to read your script and also to see if any role was really them, or
just one they were really willing to play for a while. Not letting the
actor know the full story or how long you intended it to stay the same,
may have defeated their willingness to act in your drama.”
Les |
