Aphorisms for the Theater, from the Prof

Theatre is as serious as a child’s game.

When theatre is not a game, it is boring.

When an actor plays a game, they are open and alive like a child. They have a face like a 7 year old.

Each actor has their own special pleasure. It makes them unique and beautiful. The actor must show their pleasure onstage. They must take pleasure in the game.

The actor is not a character. The actor takes the pleasure to pretend to be a character.

The actor is not their text. The text is only for the fun of the actor’s game.

Every time that an actor speaks, their voice must be filled with the pleasure of the game. An actor who takes no pleasure to speak sounds like a rabbit fart or a police woman behind a desk in Paris. When the actor opens their mouth, we must hear the big band, the mountains and jungles.

The game is a thing of pleasure between the people who play it. The people who play together must have good complicité. Without complicité between the actors, the game is boring.

The actor always is taking pleasure in playing the game.

The actor cannot play the game alone. Complicité. The ham actor has no sensitivity to the other people on the stage.

An actor must play the game. If they are trying to play an idea of the game, they are boring. They are like a village idiot.

Naturalism is rabbit fart theatre. Totally boring.