Yesterday, I tried a new step towards interactivity and openness, I asked for advice on reading my first monologue for Acting 101, taught by Actor Christine Decker at the Oldcastle Theater in Bennington, Vt.
The advice was instant and impressive and unanimous: I needed to do a lot more work to make this monologue work.
The piece is too long for me to memorize, I think, but the consensus of the feedback was that I was reading the work rather than feeling the work.
As is my wont, I went into the detached style of the journalist and observer, I was losing the feeling of it. I’m comfortable talking about my books, but this is very different.
The advice was honest and good: I was paying too much attention to the rhyming, reading too quickly, and was too flat.
I needed to remember that I was speaking to someone about powerful ideas of coverage, boldness, aging and a meaningful life. Important stuff to me. I always cry when I read this monologue, I’ve been reading it for years, yet it is very difficult for me to convey the emotion in the piece and in me.
From Ed: My main reaction is that you are reading the words, but you are not IN the words. Perhaps having someone in mind you are actually speaking to would infuse the words with more of your self. In other words, is there any way to make them YOUR words, reading them as if YOU wrote them, rather than you reading words that someone else wrote. (I took an acting class once and was told to take a slow, full breath after every single line when I was practicing, just to get myself to be IN EACH LINE, rather than reading the piece through to the end. It really helped!) I’m glad you’re exploring and taking risks and looking for input. Wonderful!!
The challenge is for me to do learn how to do that. Christine is opening me up to the idea.
I tried the reading again this morning, this time sitting down, and this time talking directly to Maria and in my mind, to Holden, a young student in the acting class. In a way, this piece is a message to the young and an inspiration to the old. I’ve got to speak to a person or people, I’m not reading a newscast or at a book store podium.
From Nova: A piece like this can be read slowly…pauses are absolutely permissible…it gives the listener a chance to savor the words and the images evoked…a slower delivery allows you to taste each word…the exercise becomes like a reverie rather than a performance….just my thoughts. Love that you are doing the acting class!
I can’t say how impressed I was by the quality and range of the feedback – teachers, actors, producers, artists and writers and the thoughtful regular readers of the blog. It was an impressive display of the potential of the Internet to do good as well as rant and rage.
The piece is beautifully written and it can and should be read slowly, each word tasted in Christine’s words.
From Bob: you are not experiencing the content… you need to own the content as if you wrote it and express your feelings in your voice and delivery… make it sound authentic & real (be an actor) and not with a newscaster style of reading/delivery… FYI… Marie is too much into you to offer constructive criticism… is too sensitive about feelings… I have no conflict of interest…
So thanks, advice is precious when sought and needed, and I appreciate it. Please let me know if you see any improvement at all, and if you have any other thoughts on how I can do justice to this piece. Your comments very much echoed the critique of Christine Decker, my teacher, and altogether, this has helped me to see a way to bring more feeling and openness into my life and work.
Perhaps in class I’ll read it to one person rather than the whole class.
This is the point of the class for me, I’ll never be an actor, but I can always be a better human.
You can post your comments and feedback right here at the bottom of the blog post, or e-mail me: [email protected] or on my Facebook Page: Jon Katz I got about 75 comments in all. No one loved my delivery, but there was not a nasty one in the bunch.
There is hope for us all.
I agree with Maria, I actually heard it today, I heard the words and understood it, well done but now you have to get your actual feeling into the words as you say them. Good luck Jon and well done x
How does one do that Pauline?
Jon,
I just listened to both readings one after the other. The pace was so much better and I actually saw the images you were describing so much more. I love the idea of you talking to someone younger and when you make those words like your own thoughts with the sadness and resignation and wisdom behind them they will feel authentic and that feeling will come across. Keep up the good work. Well done.
Much improved I thought! The words brought me colorful images, and more distinctly, because of the slower pace and your thoughtful delivery of the lines.
So much better today Jon. I think you reading it to one person and sitting down helped. I think as you read it more and remember more it allows you to look up and to the person which also helps in the delivery. That eye contact connects and helps convey the meaning. I think just getting more comfortable with reading the piece aloud will help you. Mentally seeing yourself talking with your classmate I think will also help you express the feelings and emotions you have for this piece. But so much better today. You are on the right path.
Yes, it’s so much more understandable and meaningful now. Practice makes perfect!
One thing that IS distracting is the frequent smacking of your lips. I don’t know if that’s something you can control or change.
Congratulations! That was a massive improvement – you put more heart and soul into it.
Great improvement. Nice work! Yes, still needs more of YOU in it, but man you got better! Maybe when you practice, just read one line – just one line – and let that line MEAN something. The poem has questions in it . . . so just ask that one question. Don’t worry about what comes next – put everything into that question as if that’s the whole poem, as if you are literally asking the listener THAT question. Then move to the next line – put everything into it as if that’s the whole poem. Then (at some point) string all those together. But that way you can infuse each and every line with emotion and impact and importance. Hoping that makes sense. I often felt like you were moving right along, one line to the next, without letting me (listener) really grasp what you were saying in the specific line you were offering. Again: great job!
Yay for you Jon! I admire your courage and honesty. Today’s readying was greatly improved. One suggestion I have is to choose a few meaningful words and emphasize them – i.e. the word ridiculous, which could be said with some force and a smile in your voice (we all need to laugh at ourselves sometimes).
Sue
Hi Jon! I said before that the challenge to you would be to add meaning to the words which would aid the listener in comprehension. I think this presentation worked towards that end very well for me. Yes, reading the comments given to you was interesting in and of itself. I thought your observation of being a trained reporter and having somewhat the feeling of reporting in the first reading was interesting. I do like the warmth and feeling expressed in the reading You gave today. Just a wondering, if your classmates had much of an understanding of the poems words before someone giving the clues about the meaning of the poem? The reading by Thomas on your dog show this morning was interesting, almost explosive with feeling. His comments as to feelings as expressed in the area of his expertise of conducting was also very interesting to me. Yes, I will be listening and open to more understanding of this work of T.S. Eliot as presented by my very favorite blog person, Jon Katz.
Hi Jon,
Wondering whether you are aware that you have a habit of , for lack of a better description, making a”tssk” sound at the end of beginning of sentences…not all… but many. Perhaps you have dry mouth issues? I sense that you might unconsciously be punctuating a thought by making this sound. You have such rich masculine voice but listening to you speak I can’t help but wish you could stop this habit. Sorry, hope this is helpful and not hurtful.
Quite helpful, due to meds, I do have a dry mouth at times..