ON ACTING: The Truth Within

Concealment lies at the heart of acting. We are, we humans, and therefore our characters, initially deniers of truth. We wish to obfuscate our character's truth beneath our lies. We feel, and we must deal. But we fervently want success at minimum emotional cost. The pockets of our emotional lives are always filled with the riches of our personalities; but we are cheapskates when asked to pony-up as price for our goal-seeking rewards.

The most exciting characters are coupon-clippers; seeking a discount for otherwise high-priced items. They initially try mightily to avoid paying "full-price." It is only the construct of the scene and the other characters' equally strong negotiating stances that force our character to pay. And the operative word is 'forced'. The other person cuts a better deal, and we reluctantly obey: the price of our success is increasingly the fullest measure of our agony, ecstasy, pain, and pleasure. Thus the pockets of our emotions are finally, at scene's end, turned inside out, and we are "emptied" upon in the stage...and the audience revels in the fullness of our reluctantly revealed inner truths.