Private Acts?
A wonderful, old definition of acting is “committing private acts in public.” But what does this mean? It means that actors must have the freedom to be a fool in public, brave enough to lose and be humiliated, courageous enough to look stupid, to allow, even seek to let the ugliness and the neediness show through, to appear physically, vocally or emotionally unattractive, to share fantasies and dreams, no matter how much you may be mocked or derided. Ultimately, the studio, classroom, or location is the safe place – the place where you need not care about other’s values, judgments, needs or agendas – care only about your honest search for what is true, real and meaningful.
The only reasons to be embarrassed stem from timid work and half-baked preparation. No fear!
Navigation
Testimonials
"Most acting classes offer scene study and critique, but it is much more unusual to run into someone who is willing and able to guide the actor through several scenes from a feature-length script, with cameras, in order to create the experience of developing a character in a real film. This difference has clearly made a difference — at least if the performances I observed at Maravilla are any indications. The talent on display was noticeable, but even more impressive was the discipline, as well as the strong sense of an entire cast and crew working as a team. Come to think of it, the best analogy would be to an actual film set, which is, I suppose, the point."Donelan
The SB Independent