tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6731242543254491491.post5334496960414841363..comments2023-12-20T17:20:22.032-05:00Comments on 99 Seats: The Sum Of Our Parts99http://www.blogger.com/profile/11955916620902994495noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6731242543254491491.post-26086036271924416642010-03-22T10:49:58.549-04:002010-03-22T10:49:58.549-04:00I agree, Jason. I know I'm writing a blueprint...I agree, Jason. I know I'm writing a blueprint for a living, breathing, always-changing experience, but I would be really disappointed if a script never had the opportunity to be published--if it was never fixed in some concrete form where people could say, "Ah, here he meant THIS." I love that actors/directors/desginers can, through their artistry, open up layers of the play you may have never realized were there, but somewhere there should exist the play all by itself, naked, so that people who want to experience it or work on it can return to the original source. So, I don't believe that working on the text (I won't say "fixing the text," because that kind of thinking irks me no end, and this is not really a discussion of new play destruction--oops, I meant "development.") in any way infringes on the "rights" of anyone else in the process--it only provides them a more secure platform from which to take off and fly.Kennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6731242543254491491.post-15498136459301605572010-03-21T21:31:56.391-04:002010-03-21T21:31:56.391-04:00Indeed I can. I can say, "I didn't feel a...Indeed I can. I can say, "I didn't feel as if this moment was effective because the actor's body was not reflecting what was going on in his face," or "because the emotion seemed too big for the motivation" or "because he picked up his line too quickly and stepped on the laugh." As a director, that is how I watch a performance.Scott Waltershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06465161646609405658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6731242543254491491.post-85482840315585189042010-03-21T20:58:10.304-04:002010-03-21T20:58:10.304-04:00When you say "I liked this moment, acting-wis...When you say "I liked this moment, acting-wise, because...," what's the because? Because it wasn't funny? Because I didn't touch you? It's not just about identifying moments, what I'm talking about is being able to identify an objective, specific "what" about the moment. There are actors I respond to, I find their work affecting or funny. I know other folks who don't respond the same way to the same actors or the same performances. You can say you didn't buy a moment, it wasn't authentic, etc. in a performance, but can you say why? When I'm reading a script, I can go line by line and say I don't buy this line, this word, the specific beat for this reason.99https://www.blogger.com/profile/11955916620902994495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6731242543254491491.post-68216986754845557002010-03-21T18:49:17.134-04:002010-03-21T18:49:17.134-04:00"You and I can sit in the same room, watch th..."You and I can sit in the same room, watch the same performance and one of us can think it's hysterical tour-de-force and the other can think it's a over-acted mess of mugging. With the script, you can at least be specific, you can say you don't buy this turn of the plot or speech, you can point to a specific word or sentence and say that particular thing doesn't work. It's harder with staging or acting or even design. Maybe we should be so well-versed and able to speak to the intricacies of those art forms the way we are about to speak about text."<br /><br />Actually, it is possible to talk about a performance with the same amount of exactitude: I liked this moment BECAUSE....., and I didn't like this moment BECAUSE..." No difference. I do it all the time.Scott Waltershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06465161646609405658noreply@blogger.com