b'In Search of Presence Holly and I stand in the rehearsal room oncethese Given Circumstances. By allowing my mind again. Resolutely determined to keep my focus onto leave the present, I am no longer Kostya in the target this time, my mind within the present,these moments; the constructed reality ceases to Essay I ask if we can revisit an exercise we had previ- exist for me and so I can no longer act truthfully ously practiced in class: the First Crossing, from(no matter how much I try to demonstrate truth-Douglas Spence Stephen Wanghs An Acrobat of the Heart. The exer- ful emotion). cise is built around the relationship, or as Wangh describes it, the translation, between emotionTo combat this, I began to incorporate the Given Douglas Spence takes us inside the mind of an actor in the moment of performance and reflects on how one can be fully presentand action (2000: 131). The two participants Circumstances as an essential part of my practice. and act truthfully by using ideas derived from Stanislavski. Holly, who has kindly obliged my request, andI found that playing two different roles in the myselfstand some distance apart, and establishperformance (as both Kostya and Medvedenko) eye contact. The rule, insists Wangh, is that yougave me more insight into the setting of the play: I am standing in a rehearsal room, ten feet acrossWhen my mind wanders into pretend time I ef- must maintain eye contact from now until theexploring the world of The Seagull from two dif-from my scene partner, Holly. She is recitingfectively create a temporal barrier between myselfend of the exercise (Wangh, 2000: 131). In turn,ferent perspectives deepened my understanding of a line from our moment together in Chekhovsand my partnerand it is near impossible for anyeach of us may take a single step forward or back- the text. I also took inspiration from outside the The Seagull: she (as Nina) describes her life as angenuine, emotional dialogue to occur across thisward, always observing the other, as well as ourtext. As Tortsov says, you must have a clear, per-actress and professes her love for the stage to mybarrier. Donellan blames this difficulty upon fear:feelings. We continue, silently, moving back andsonal view of all the Given Circumstances which character, Kostya. Im ashamed to admit thatBeing present seems so hard, remaining presentforth; there is a sense of precision to the inter- you have brought together from the play itself, Im not paying much attentionafter all, weveseems even harder! These are both delusions ofaction. The simple act of maintaining eye con- the direction, and your own creative imagination rehearsed this scene half a dozen times already. IFear (Donellan 2006: 49, emphasis in original).tact forces an acute awareness of each other: my(Stanislavski 2008: 53). In a play like The Seagull, know the lines, of course. I know that at a certainTo counter this fear, he proposes that the actorattention is wholly given to observing the changesin which the characters and their motivations are point she will move here to sit down, and I willfocuses upon the directive purpose of his action:in my partners expression and the implicationsoften oblique, it becomes increasingly necessary walk there to stand beside her I feel myselfthe target. in the changing space between us. Within ourfor an actor to develop such a personal view. As preparing for my line, patiently awaiting my turn.gaze is an active communication, one that cannotan actor you must pay attention to what is going In my minds eye I am picturing the audience:The target, writes Donellan, exists outside,exist within the pretend time of the imagina- on inside you and what is going on outside you si-how might they respond to my delivery? Ought Iand at a measurable distance you cannot findtion. Through this level of contact we affirm onemultaneously, writes Stephen Wangh, describing act angrier, or sadder? Perhaps this gesture is toothe target within you (Donellan 2006: 59). Theanothers physical presence within the space, butwhat he calls one of the great paradoxes of act-silly, perhaps that movement too abruptand sotarget that Donellan describes is the subject ofin doing so also acknowledge our own temporaling (Wangh 2000: 129). The Given Circumstances on. I notice that my partner has stopped talk- every action an actor carries out on the stage;presence within the moment. allow for the actor to find presence from within, ing. My cue! So you found yourself! You knowconsequently, the target is not one fixed thing butthrough ones own knowledge and understanding where youre going, goes my line (Chekhov 2013:rather is always transforming and always activeIn working to remain present during later re- of the text, while Donellans conception of the 470), and even as I perform it to my imaginary(Donellan 2006: 62). For instance, in the scenehearsals, I took inspiration from a component oftarget directs the actor outwards and forces ones audience, I am running rings inside my head between Kostya and Nina, I say the line: I speakStanislavskis venerable system: the Given Cir- outer attention into the present, toward ones does that intonation make sense? Should I haveyour nameI kiss the ground where you walkedcumstances. The Given Circumstances encompassever-shifting goal.stepped forward, then, or backward, or to the I see your face wherever I go, that sweet faceall that the actor takes as truth within the perfor-side? Was that the right way to do it? that smiled on me when life would never be somancethis must be foremost within ones mindIt is the afternoon of the performance. I wait in good again (Chekhov 2013: 470). My target hereand ones work. As Arkadi Tortsov remarked inthe wings (in reality, a line of chairs to the side It is an almost ironic realisation that this sort ofis Nina, of course. Kostya, in my interpretationStanislavskis An Actors Work, you must becomeof the studio) before my first scene, in which fantasising should be so disruptive to the work ofof the scene, is trying to provoke an emotionalso used to it that it becomes an intimate partI play Medvedenko, alongside Zoey as Nina. I an actor. After all, isnt acting itself an exerciseresponse from her, searching for proof that hisof you. If you can do that, then the truth of thenotice Im nervousa deep, queasy feeling in in fantasy? Yet it is precisely this form of think- affections are reciprocated. Even throughout thispassions or feelings that seem true will arise ofthe stomach. I have caught myself departing into ing which invites, as Declan Donellan warns inshort line, the target is ever-changing. The waytheir own accord (Stanislavski 2008: 53). In otherpretend time, projecting worry into the imag-The Actor and the Target, the greatest adversary ofNina reactsthe way my scene partner reactstowords, the Given Circumstance is a device thatinary future. I turn my attention instead to the any performer: fear. Fear, according to Donellan,Kostyas advances (her gesture, movement, facialforces the actor to remain within the present,world of the play, tying my emotions together occurs when an actor is severed from his connec- expression) causes this target to move and change;within the world of the performance. The Givenwith the Given Circumstances. Why am I nerv-tion to the present moment: leaving the target insince it exists in this state of constant flux, theCircumstances do not allow fear to exist (at leastous? Because I am about to profess to Masha that the present, absconding with Fear into the pasttarget that exists now, in the moment, is not thein the sense that Donellan characterisestheI love her. Because I am desperate to impress the and future (Donellan 2006: 48). He refers tosame as the target that was, or the target that willactors fear of acting badly) because they occupyfamous writer Trigorin. Because I must prove to these framings of timethe past, the futureasbe. Focusing on the present target, closely watch- the mind with the fact, the truth, of the presentsomebody, anybody, that this sad creature Med-pretend time fake time zones (Donellan 2006:ing my scene partner, reading her responses, andwithin the constructed reality of the play. Whenvedenko has some value of his own. And now as 48). For Donellan, the present is the sole realmnoting every subtle change as it happensthisI described performing to an imaginary audience,I walk on stage I have no thoughts of the past or of reality, and thus it is here in the present thatis how I use Donellans concept of the target tosecond-guessing, or anticipating each moment ofthe future: I am wholly present on stage, within the actor should always remain. The danger ofbring myself into the present moment. my performance, it caused me to lose touch withthe character.absconding has been often present in my work. 8 9'