I never thought I’d be back on stage. Once upon a time, long, long ago, I thought I could act, until one day, I took a class … and I tried to and spectacularly failed at following the script. The one tiny, little obstacle in my path to the stage…other people’s words. I completely froze up worrying about getting the next line right, unable to concentrate on what was happening in the moment.
Worrying about the future made the present unbearable, for me and the audience.
So, when my partner said “hey! Our next French class is only offered on Saturdays; wanna take Improv class, instead?” my first thought was “never!” But then I thought, if scripts were my problem on stage, then how could I possibly fail at a platform where there are no scripts? No next line? So I said, “yes, and…?”
Soon enough I learned how failure at improv
was possible; this time, by not paying attention to the past.
With scripted acting, I thought of the moment on stage as leading towards the next line. In improv, there was no “next line”. But that didn't mean there was nothing to think about. All that time spent thinking about what was coming should now be spent remembering what just happened… and how to build on it.
Finally, I let go of what was going to happen and concentrated on what just happened - on what I had built with my scene partner – and on what we would discover next, together. After taking that first class, we took a 2nd. 2 classes turned into 4. 1 year turned into 2. Then class turned into monthly performances. And I haven’t frozen, yet.
Now, I don’t worry about the future. I remember the past my partner and I have built together and revel in our time together on stage, hopeful for what the future will bring, for us and the audience.
