Practice Makes Perfect

How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice.

“I know you've heard it a thousand times before. But it's true -- hard work pays off. If you want to be good, you have to practice, practice, practice. If you don't love something, then don't do it.” –Ray Bradbury

All sports, all art forms, anything involving skill requires practice. No matter how accomplished a musician may be, she still practices her scales and has exercises to keep her playing sharp. My old ballet teacher used to say, “If you miss one day of class, you notice it. If you miss two days, the critics notice it. If you miss three days, the audience notices it.“ I’m sure that was stolen from somebody else, but I felt it to be true. I went to class six times a week. In theatre, practice is somewhat nebulous. In a school or a training program you are taking classes and practicing daily. Exercising your voice, body, improvisation skills, scene work, text analysis skills, and practicing working with many types of people. Because theatre is a social art form there are few things that you can do on your own to practice that will make you a better actor. Yes, keeping your body fit, vocal exercises, practicing monologues and reading plays can be done alone but it’s often hard to measure without the feedback from an observer. How do you quantify your progress? As a professional actor and theatre creator eleven-plus years out of theatre school, I am finding myself lost without a set practice regime. Even though I have had years of training, get me alone in a studio and I don’t know what to do. I am willing to practice but don’t know how. There is nobody to hold me accountable, push me, encourage me, or even to let me know if it’s working. (I’m insecure. I need that feedback.) I often perform in devised work making plays with other actor/creators. I also act in established (pre-written) plays. I am regularly rehearsing or performing, but do not always use all my skill sets. Sure, I learn something about myself as a performer through rehearsal and performance but the rehearsal ultimately serves the play and not always my own artistic improvement. Time is short, we need to produce an end product, there is little room for exploration, risk or failure. There are not a lot of training opportunities for professional actors in the Twin Cities, but I have managed to take workshops with master teachers and others to keep my skills fresh. Many of these experiences have been great in the short-term, but after that intensive couple of weeks or hours, I don’t feel I can walk away with anything to go home and DO regularly. My brief recharge slumps and, if I’m lucky, gets incorporated into a few techniques I use when in rehearsal or prepping for an audition. It could be so much more if only for practice. How can I explore the creation process? How can I try new ideas? How can I pound away at the same problem until that “eureka” moment happens? At the start of rehearsals on a devised play much time is spent just finding a common language with the ensemble so that you can work together. I find myself wishing that language was already there at the start of rehearsal so more time could be spent on the development of the piece. Instead of hopping from workshop to workshop, what if we could save some money and learn from other professional actors and creators on a long term basis. What if we could come up with a group regimen for practice, a free play space to create and an environment where it’s okay to be afraid, fail and try new ideas and make bad art? They tell people that have a hard time getting out there and exercising that they should take group fitness classes. The scheduled time and place to show up and the group mind gives you a sense of accountability and the strength to get through the work. A theatre practice group would act in much the same way. Ideally it would not be a chore or yet another commitment for the over committed, but a party, a release, and a joy that participants look forward to because it feeds their hearts, minds and bodies.

“Practice, which some regard as a chore, should be approached as just about the most pleasant recreation ever devised. “ Babe Didriksen

So I am attempting to do just that. Fellow actor/creator, Taous Khazem and I have loosely formed a group that practices once a month for two hours. Low time commitment, moderate art commitment, big fun. I have done it twice now and only one other person has shown up each time. But even if I am alone, I have made it a priority to practice, work up a theatrical sweat and sit in the uncomfortable place of the unknown. If you’re interested in joining me, let me know.