Stage as Metaphor – Part 2

I continue to feel deeply moved by the opportunity to act again. This is closing weekend for our Wicked Wilde Shakespeare Festival (http://www NULL.lawsc NULL.net). I’ve had the great joy of playing Hermione in A Tyrant’s Tale– an adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale.

Last night, I was again musing about what it means to act. I was asking myself what my motive was in choosing to act again. What was my inspiration? What was my intention?

I think there is an assumption for many that acting is a great escape. I would offer that it is anything but an escape. It is a opportunity to embrace a RADICAL LIFE practice. And if practiced well, it’s an art that can lead us ever closer to the center of our gift and being.

When on stage, everything is heightened. As an actor, everything we think, feel or say is being witnessed. With that comes FEAR precisely because we are being witnessed. What if we forget a line, lose our voice or expose something we did not intend to reveal?

We are on a specific journey, telling a specific story with our fellow actors about us. It’s easy to stay in a bubble and try to avoid ‘making a mistake.’

The OPPORTUNITY is in the breath. The OPPORTUNITY is in the motive.

The opportunity is to breathe in EVERYTHING. It’s gorgeous really. When there is an awareness that we are telling a story together and we want to tell it well and the only way to do so is to be FULLY present, fully offering and fully receiving all we can in each moment, we realize what a perfect practice acting is for living.

The stakes are high. There is a story that must unfold. We all play a part. There are allies everywhere we look IF we look. And we get to give our gift unabashedly.

I think actors in our society have either been marginalized OR overly worshipped. There is little room in between for a deeper look at what role the everyday actors of the world play. Actors are not just screwing around nor are they celluloid Gods. They are workers in the art of living.  At their best, they are daring to be fully present to help unfold stories that shape our lives. At their best, every moment they are generously offering the essence of who they are to uplift and redeem and remind us who we all are as a HUMAN family.

I know this is getting lofty. Or maybe not. It’s just that sitting backstage over the course of this run has offered me moments of huge recognition and gratitude. Returning to the stage after many years away, I am joining actors who have worked throughout their lives to give the gift of STORY and SELF. I am joining those who breathe in and out on the stage, stay present, listen intently and then courageously offer their heart.  I am joining a group who–at their blazing best — far from escaping, are breathing in the choice to love each moment and breathing out the courage it takes to move each of our stories forward with clarity and light.

Big love to all.