There will always be surprises, and you can’t control everything. But by learning to make better big decisions, you’re shaping a future your future self will thank you for.

We are now only three sessions away from our private show-and-tell. Much has been learned from the writing retreat weekend and the resulting decision on the first piece we shall work on.

The exercise revealed something common amongst actors and increasingly common in everyday life: a short tolerance for psychological discomfort.

Sitting in discomfort is a skill that appears to be increasingly avoided. Whether that be emotional or physical pain, or even the discomfort of being challenged, wrong or just different. Perhaps it’s social media and the increasingly divided world we live in?

The main thing to share with these bold actors was that we must hold on to the idea that we are in a process. That even if we show our work to an invited audience in April, it will be showing something that is in process. Marketing and Audiences must be reassured they will have a finished product - as finished as possible. To my mind that isn’t helpful - as when it comes to acting you are always in a process of iteration and discovery - at least that it a better aim. Even when it comes to TV and film, maintaining that sense of live discovery, even within all the constraints, makes for a living performance.

I am not sure a what point an GAP Acting Atelier became an idea. Perhaps it was after reading Alison Hodge’s “Acting Technique” or perhaps it was watching students use the technique for fast work in a Mocap Vaults class in Montreal? I do know that it struck me enough, in the middle of the night, to force me to get up and write it down so I could free myself to sleep again.

…not only is acting of equal merit to any other artistic expression, it is the only fully corporeal artform that can affect personal, emotional and social growth in the real world. I argue that an actor can aspire to be “In the world but not of it” - at least to the degree that it allows them to bring both objective and subjective wisdom to any character they play. As such acting should rank as a craft and artform of primary importance both the social and personal realm.

…each generation should stand on the shoulders of giants and attempt to answer these questions all over again for themselves, using all the information of the day: Combine what we know and what we have been taught, with the knowledge we have such easy access to on behavioural and neurological studies and evolving psychological theory. Technique will evolve and itself will be superseded in its time.

Listening. Actors are pretty bad at it. So focused are we on speaking, that listening is often neglected both as a practice and as a tool to understand and embody character… what kind of words or responses are you listening for and why? How and why are you listening for what’s unsaid. Is how you listen consistent with character in the context of the scene and the story?

16th July 2009 Langlois Technique in “Spooks” aka “MI5”

I should warn you. This is truly a nerdy blog. It is unashamedly about acting technique in practice. The Langlois Technique as used on an episode of "Spooks"

Laban technique is a system for the analysis of movement that can help actors in every medium - even in voice. But most actors in North America have only a slight exposure to its potential, if any at all… Laban, working from the 1920’s as a dancer, choreographer and dance theorist, knew what modern science now proves on a regular basis - that the mind and body are inextricably linked - one affecting the other in a connected system - whether or not we are conscious of it.

Let’s be honest for a moment, here. Most of the acting that takes place in the great life-stealer of popular entertainment is forgettably average... How often… do you see a truly bone shaking, goose-pimple inducing performance, you will remember and revisit for years to come? Just like any creative act in today’s world, AI will deliver “Good enough” at a fraction of the cost of employing a human. Just like the AI generated image I used for this blog!

What is an actor to do, then, to not just survive this current period of change, but transcend it and thrive as an individual and artist, and still have a meaningful role in society?

What follows is a list of principles and axioms I have learned over the years, and a few I am still working on now, which I hope you find useful. Many of these have been solidified by my work with Luke Chao - who is the closest thing to a practical philosopher I have ever met.