Writings on Theatre & Society

The director usually begins rehearsals by giving the student exercises to open and deepen their imagination. The student will then express the feelings, ideas, and images that come up as a result of his work in the imagination. At this point, the student’s creative instrument is malleable enough to be able to go into the rehearsal process, because now he is able to feel real feelings, see real images, think real thoughts, and feel intuitive, creative impressions of the playwright’s words and actions, or have understandings and impressions of whatever situation he may be confronting. In this process, you lose your fears and overcome tentativeness because you feel and express everything in action. You are not holding onto yourself or holding back. You are putting what you feel and think into a physicalized expression. You are not locked inside of yourself. If you are doing, feeling, and expressing, you can’t be locked in fear because you are in action. This allows you to express your intention and intellect in the world. When the world feels your power, you can’t be overcome by fear or tentativeness. In our next post, discover how the rehearsal process builds confidence and prepares us for success.

Constantine Stanislavsky referred to the place in which actors rehearsed and created as The Circle of Concentration. He understood that if an actor is relaxed enough to think, he will have natural behavior. With natural behavior, you can perform an action. If you can do and think, you can have creative, intelligent, unique movement. As you live in a creative atmosphere, you will feel permission to allow thoughts to come up that might otherwise be unacceptable. Your colleagues will be open to those ideas and thoughts because this circle of creative concentration is a place where one seeks to have originality and explore.

That is why the rehearsal is a place where you deal with both the known and the unknown. You aren’t punished for not defending an answer or being accountable for an idea or concept. You’re usually encouraged to go further into that idea or concept so we will all be able to see what exists on the other side, because if it turns out to be the right direction it will help the rehearsal process. Rehearsal is the time we investigate, involve ourselves in moments, and struggle to find the essence of what is right for our performance or our job.

Successful leaders encourage their workers to speak up and utilize their experiences and insights with the goal of contributing something positive to solve a problem or create something new. The director is the quintessential guide in the process of creative encouragement. By providing individuals with a secure, relaxed surrounding, they feel centered, breathe deeply, and are able to think. The teacher or director can then start the rehearsal process.

Now that we’ve talked about the Circle of Concentration and exploring the unknown, discover how action helps us overcome fear and self-doubt in our next post.

The rehearsal process is the time to take the theoretical beliefs you’ve been taught and experiment with the different ideas, steps, and actions to see what best serves to bring this situation or this character to life. The rehearsal process is a direct microcosm of life, because in life we’re continuously trying new avenues to see what best suits our particular needs. The rehearsal process gives us the luxury of failing. And within moments of failure, you sometimes find a profound insight into the journey of life.

By studying and participating in a rehearsal process, we learn that life is a series of steps and sequences that lead to understanding the action of a play or situation. One often begins the rehearsal process, or any new situation, feeling fear and insecurity. The more you rehearse, dissect, analyze, and understand that situation or play, you begin to break free of the fear.

A teacher or director’s first responsibility is to create a safe environment where the professional theatre artist or student can feel secure. Most situations in life dictate that we compete to the highest level possible. Experience tells us that if we use our powers of competition, will, and dogged ability to get the job done, we’ll probably come out on top. In creative situations, this approach is very destructive. Creativity and talent don’t mix with competition or will. That is why the director or teacher must create an atmosphere that makes the student feel accepted, relaxed and provides a sense of certainty.

Exploring the rehearsal process and the role the director plays leads us to how the Circle of Concentration fosters originality, which we’ll examine in our next post.