#17 Stand Up Straight
Apr 28th, 2008 by doing better
Although we may find a way to release ourselves from the obligation of sitting, as described above, it will still be necessary to stand and walk in an upright manner so as to distinguish ourselves from the apes and those who have no manners.
The lead actor in my play is a college student named Anthony who is talented, intelligent, at home in his body, gifted in voice and movement, yet stands and walks in a perpetual slouch. He juts out his pelvis and sways his back far more than is necessary to emphasize virility. I have wondered if I ought to give him some sort of advice to help him in his future, in acting and life, something along the lines of: “Stand up straight!”
One day, however, when he was leading a warm-up, he gave a warning about not doing a certain movement that would hurt our posture – “and I ought to know,” he said, as if he was fully aware of his tendency to slouch. I wondered if there could be an irregularity in his spine that prevents him from standing up straight. I was glad I had not said anything or sent him an anonymous letter such as:
“Dear Sir, it has come to my attention that, whilst a fine actor, you are also quite a slumper, rather slouchy, if I may say so. Your spineless torso distracts from your otherwise excellent stage presence. It would also be nice if you did not whine quite so much or complain about the state of the production. In general you seem to have rather a gloomy view of life, if you’ll forgive my saying so. Is this really necessary? Yours Sincerely, A Kind Observer.”
Then I noticed something odd about the allocation of dressing rooms. All the other actors are crammed in together, three or four to a room, but Anthony has been given a dressing room all to himself. Mysteriouser and mysteriouser. He keeps to himself and does not join in the friendly conversation of the rest of the cast, unless it is to complain about the standard of performance. I have begun to think that he is hiding something. I myself am hiding lots of things, so I recognize the signs in others. Perhaps he turns into a turtle for ten minutes out of every hour, and he has to time it just right for his entrances and costume changes….