OK pause.
I need to get something off my chest here. I love me some Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, and Eugene O'Neill, but I've got a bone to pick with Clifford Odets. Waiting for Lefty was the single most frustrating work I've ever done. Why? Given circumstances.
Given circumstances are just that; the reality dictated by the playwright. They are the clues given in the text which create the world of the play. An actor's job is to discover these circumstances within the text and base their choices on the information they provide. As actors, we cannot change the givens but we can make choices that violate them, which is never pretty. You and I can both tell horror stories of that kid who came to the audition with a monologue from a play he's never read. Really? You're gonna use your angry voice for Puck's closing monologue? You sure? You do know this is in verse right? Oh a southern accent huh? Can't help that can you? I suppose that's...wait, why are you throwing your chair across the room?!
Can we collectively agree that this is...less...um...yea, violating givens just makes you look like an idiot. A good actor knows a play's givens inside and out because all his or her artisitc decisions must agree with the world created by them. These circumstances can be as generic as the time and place of a scene, or as specific as storming out of the room on a certain line. Given circumstances are the reason Peter Pan can fly and social services isn't called about the lost boys. The playwright created the world and reality in which flight is perfectly possible...provided you find a willing fairy of course. Givens shape the attitudes and actions of each character. They demand that the actors cast as the Macbeths figure out how to motivate a rather extreme killing spree. They also prevent an actor from such crazy things as laughing wildly while dancing up the staircase screaming "Stella!" during Streetcar. Ever wonder why so many people end up singing in musicals? Given circumstances; the script calls for it.
Seems like a basic concept, right? That's what I thought too. So back to my fight with Waiting for Lefty. The given circumstances of this play include The Great Depression, cab drivers planning a labor strike, a marriage between Joe (a struggling cab driver) and Edna, and the fact that Joe and Edna's furniture was just repossessed. That last one proved to be rather problematic. I had no CLUE what it felt like to have my livelihood repossessed or even stolen. As Joe, I was supposed to come into my house, realize the furniture was gone, see my wife, and appropriately react based on the givens. Well, my fantastically picky professor pointed out that I was utterly unconvincing because the weight of the play's given circumstances failed to penetrate my work from the very beginning. My choices, my actions, didn't seem to fit in the reality of the play.
I got so frustrated by my failure that I would literally rehearse my entrance and nothing else. I would walk into the room, look around, realize I missed the mark, break character, mutter something self deprecating, exit, and try again. This went on for a while...no joke. I'm sure my scene partner was ready to punch me square in the face. Given circumstances. I knew what they were but I couldn't get my actions to line up with them. Stupid Clifford Odets. Why did you make your play so...historical?! Gah!
The real world has given circumstances too. And we can no more change those circumstances than we can in a play. Our job as humans is the same as our job as actors; namely, figuring out what the given circumstances are and making choices based on them. Of course, that's very easy in the case of gravity...don't base jump without a parachute. Simple enough. You ignore the given circumstance of gravity...you get an abrupt reality check soon after.
God's existence is a given circumstance. He either does or he doesn't and you cannot change it anymore than Hamlet can change whether Shakespeare exists. It's no small task to discover the reality of God but it is absolutely necessary. Why? Because the possibility of such an existence demands attention. If a higher power exists, it changes everything. So on the off chance that there is a God...we better invest a little effort in figuring out for sure. Perhaps your current objective is figuring out whether God exists or not. Keep searching, ask hard questions, and don't let anyone stop you! The good news is that God wants you to know he exists. So feel free to toss up the "if you're out there, help me find you" prayers.
Have you ever thought about the fact that if God is this creator of the world, 'playwright of the universe' then HE decides how it works and doesn't work. He decides the givens. If that's the case, it's probably worth it to spend a little more time figuring out what those are. Let's say you already know God exists. You know he exists outside of this world like a playwright exists outside his play. Have you thought about what that implies? God exists outside the world of time and space! And it doesn't stop there. God did something crazy. He wrote himself into the play! He entered the reality of his creation and went by the name Jesus. Did you know that one of the given circumstances God created is that nothing you say or do will change the fact that He loves you, died for you, and wants a relationship with you? Ever think of your ability to choose as a given circumstance? It is. We do not and cannot know everything about God, but we can know the given circumstances he set up for us.
That brings me to my question. If you are a Christian, are you making your choices based on the givens? Are you living your life with the reality of God's existence and the life and message of Jesus in mind? How does your life reflect the givens that you believe to be true? How are your choices informed by the reality of God? Do you strive to be the best artist you can be in honor of the dude who invented creativity? Do you love people unconditionally because that's what Jesus did? Do you come to God in prayer when you are hurting or offended? Do you forgive your friends (and less-than-friends) because you have been forgiven by the Playwright, the Creator, the Lord God? Or, are you like I was in Waiting for Lefty, aware of the truth but unable to allow that truth to penetrate your choices? Remember, the givens do not remove your ability to choose...they inform it. Christianity isn't defined by following a list of rules. It's defined by a relationship with the God through Jesus and living life/making choices based on the reality of that relationship. It's not always easy. But hey, we knew that already because an actor's job is rarely easy.
Discover the givens. Know you can't change them. Make your choices.
Where can you find these given circumstances? Well, Christians believe that the given circumstances of this world are discovered in a book written by God through 40ish authors over the span of a few thousand years. The Bible. Not sure how you feel about the Bible? Fair enough. Ask hard questions remember? You may be surprised what you come up with it.
I remember that scene. I loved it. Also, a big lol about scary monologue auditions like that. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, Tim. Great analogy.
Cheers,
Erin