Silence of the Actor

si·lence (slns)

n.

1. The condition or quality of being or keeping still and silent.

2. The absence of sound; stillness.

3. A period of time without speech or noise.

4. Refusal or failure to speak out.

There is so much beauty in silence, and I often forget that.  I am constantly surrounded by noise in New York City whether it be from the city streets or from inside my apartment with the television or music.  There is hardly a moment of silence.  However, I am out of the city teaching in Rochester this week, and I am reminded of the beauty and power of silence.  It is so quiet here and  I love just sitting in the back yard looking up at the stars at night with very little noise. But how does silence affect our day to day living? 

As a nation we sometimes will take a moment of silence to honor a person, or sometimes when I am really angry I will not speak.  Silence can honor someone or tear someone apart.  Silence is so powerful that it can be a positive energy (+) or a negative  energy (-) depending on how it is utitlized.  Not saying anything can say so much especially to an audience, and as an actor, I often forget this. I just want to get to the lines, but this week I am reminded of the power in silence.

As I said, I am teaching an acting intensive this week for high school students, (who are rocking it this week) but I was struck by this idea of silence.  All too often actors want to talk whether it be about themselves when you are out at a bar or in the scene work(aka their lines). However, as I am coaching and working on monologues with these actors this week, I find myself saying "rememeber the power of silence" several times. 

Silence can be a powerful tool for an actor.  How an actor moves, what they are thinking can convey so much to an audience that sometimes words cannot express.  I think it would be helpful as I do my homework on the script like objectives, superobjectives, character relationships, to look for the moments in a script where silience/stillness may be effective. Maybe circle them or highlight them in order to be aware of them when rehearsing.

As always an actor needs to be fully aware of himself in life in order to bring that to his work, and I think silence can be a good tool for that as well.  Silence forces me to slow down, breathe, and stop. When I stop and breathe, I am more patient, happier, and able to reflect more on who I am as a person and what I want my life to be at that moment in time.

Silence helps remind me to Live for Today and Love this Moment and when I do that I am sure there is a moment where I will laugh hard as well. 

Live for Today, Laugh Hard, and Love This Moment and take a moment of silence for yourself! You deserve it!

Patrick