When you cry, you really cry: emotional toll of stage acting

[theatremadness]

Been some interesting discussion recently of actors crying/being emotional on stage and at curtain call. Some seem it only natural after giving everything of yourself night after night for two hours, other feel it self-indulgent nonsense. 

Stumbled across the very interesting article below and, as if they've seen us talk about it on this board, I thought it would be good to hear it from an actors point of view! Obviously the roles discussed such as Henry V & Lady Macbeth and plays such as Cleansed may require more from an actor than roles such as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl (or maybe in some people's opinion they don't!), but this article seemed like a good chance to open up the discussion a bit further!

www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/aug/11/actors-emotions-on-stage-kate-fleetwood-michelle-terry-ben-miles

[BurlyBeaR]

Aug 14, 2016 11:14:35 GMT theatremadness said:

Been some interesting discussion recently of actors crying/being emotional on stage and at curtain call. Some seem it only natural after giving everything of yourself night after night for two hours, other feel it self-indulgent nonsense. 

*waves*

[Michael]

Aug 14, 2016 11:45:29 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

Aug 14, 2016 11:14:35 GMT theatremadness said:

Been some interesting discussion recently of actors crying/being emotional on stage and at curtain call. Some seem it only natural after giving everything of yourself night after night for two hours, other feel it self-indulgent nonsense. 

*waves*

*joins BB in waving*

[BurlyBeaR]

I can't remember which actress it was who was being interviewed about the extent of her research into the part she was playing. In the end she just said "No darling I didn't go and meet her. I'm acting it"

[theatremadness]

I can totally understand why actors may cry - some are quite emotionally unstable people! And the need for praise at a curtain call can, to some, be an overwhelming affirmation of their talents. And I'm not having a dig at actors, I am, as an actor myself, just speaking genuinely as I find!

I've never found myself crying on stage, nor do I feel the need to go 'method' to portray a character. Very much agree with the sentiment above: "I'm acting it".

Another hugely fascinating article about method acting, and how modern actors tend to use it as a way to validate how good they are and how much they've put into their award-worthy performance:
www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/08/hollywood-has-ruined-method-acting/494777/

[Deleted]

I perform on stage all the time, both at University and otherwise and I always get overwhelmed at the end, I can't help it. Then again, as said above, I am sometimes emotionally unstable anyway haha.

[DuchessConstance]

I'm generally very anti-Method and a big proponent of the "but why don't you try acting it my dear boy?" school of thought, but that's not what the article is about. It doesn't matter what technique you use, emotionally you still have to go to that place and doing any kind of really emotionally intense role is utterly draining.

[BurlyBeaR]

I suspect the crying is acting in many cases *cough* Sheridan *cough*

[longinthetooth]

I can understand crying at curtain call of the first night (assuming things have gone well and they are getting a unanimous standing ovation!) and last night (for obvious reasons), but other than that I'm with the self indulgent school of thinking.

[Deleted]

I've heard many stories of the cast of long-running productions playing on-stage games to relieve the boredom of doing the same thing day after day, and caught them doing it myself a couple of times. I gather that variations on tag are quite popular. It's difficult to reconcile that with the claim that it's all so emotionally demanding that they can't help but break down in tears at the end.

[Deleted]

To be fair, if I were an actor and I'd just given everyone in the audience my Bottom or my Fanny I'd be milking the applause too.

I'd cry and weep and wail and do that very humble look with hand on heart that some of them do. He'll, I'd elbow my cast members in the face to get all of the applause for myself.

I'd Sally Field it like it was my last breath.

[Deleted]

In terms of the Guardian article quoted, if memory serves the actors were firmly focused on the process of crying on stage - as in, 'the character you are playing is required to undergo a severely emotional interlude: how will you achieve this?' As someone who couldn't act for toffee, I do find that sort of thing fascinating, and it's often something that good actors are reluctant to discuss. So that article was really interesting.

I'm not sure crying at curtain call was mentioned...? But on the whole, I do tend to find that rather self-indulgent. (The odd occasion is fine - first standing ovation, last show, a beloved family member died at the weekend, etc. And there's a difference, of course, in terms of actors who take a moment to step out of character at curtain call after a gruelling show. But when you read about people welling up every night, that's a bit ridiculous.)

[Jon]

Aug 14, 2016 12:08:16 GMT danieljohnson14 said:

I perform on stage all the time, both at University and otherwise and I always get overwhelmed at the end, I can't help it. Then again, as said above, I am sometimes emotionally unstable anyway haha.

Might explain the use of emoticons.... 

[rumbledoll]

I like what Tom Hardy said once asked on method and other types of acting and which he prefers to use. His answer was: "There's only two types of acting - convincing and non-convincing."
I can't agree more - it is *that* simple. I don't really care how an actor gets to the state when he makes his performance believable for me as a member of the audience as long as I can feel it.

Thanks for the articles - would be interesting to read.

And I can't say I see actors cry at curtain calls a lot. Just special occasions - last nights, standing ovation for understudy, etc.

[Deleted]

Strange how some here can't understand how acting is directly allied with strong emotion. Without it there is no truthful performance or reaction, just shallowness and 'indicating'.

The only difference is between those who can turn it on and off and those who have to live with it to be able to perform well. Even within that there are grey areas and extremes. It takes all sorts and nobody should be denigrated as inferior because of that.

[BurlyBeaR]

Aug 14, 2016 21:42:18 GMT @cardinalpirelli said:

Strange how some here can't understand how acting is directly allied with strong emotion. Without it there is no truthful performance or reaction, just shallowness and 'indicating'.

The only difference is between those who can turn it on and off and those who have to live with it to be able to perform well. Even within that there are grey areas and extremes. It takes all sorts and nobody should be denigrated as inferior because of that.

Strange how some can't just accept that some people are just acting. 

And no-one is denigrating anyone. Cheer up.  

[DuchessConstance]

I do struggle to understand why those who have never worked in theatre are so sniffy towards the people creating the thing they so avidly consume. Not just talking about crying but a lot of things that get raised here.

[Deleted]

Aug 14, 2016 23:02:37 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

Aug 14, 2016 21:42:18 GMT @cardinalpirelli said:

Strange how some here can't understand how acting is directly allied with strong emotion. Without it there is no truthful performance or reaction, just shallowness and 'indicating'.

The only difference is between those who can turn it on and off and those who have to live with it to be able to perform well. Even within that there are grey areas and extremes. It takes all sorts and nobody should be denigrated as inferior because of that.

Strange how some can't just accept that some people are just acting. 

And no-one is denigrating anyone. Cheer up.  

Well, you may watch it but you don't appear to understand what you are watching. There is no such thing as 'just acting'. 

You can also look back and check who is being denigrated, or maybe you were 'just typing'.

[BurlyBeaR]

Aug 15, 2016 12:30:24 GMT @cardinalpirelli said:

Aug 14, 2016 23:02:37 GMT BurlyBeaR said:

Strange how some can't just accept that some people are just acting. 

And no-one is denigrating anyone. Cheer up.  

Well, you may watch it but you don't appear to understand what you are watching. There is no such thing as 'just acting'. 

You can also look back and check who is being denigrated, or maybe you were 'just typing'.

There's no such thing as 'just acting' lol. Ok! 

[DuchessConstance]

Have you ever acted professionally?

[Deleted]

As someone who has had and continues to have a number of students at the top Drama schools (design as well as acting) I do actually have a solid background in this. Even the untrained actor is unknowingly using techniques that a trained actor has spent years on. There is such a thing as raw talent but by observation, if not training, they are utilising it. Generally this has been Stanislavski or post-Stanislavski based but increasingly the people who you seem to believe are 'just acting' have trained in Lecoq, for example. When you look in programme bios and it says 'trained at x', there's years of hard work that that phrase represents.

[Deleted]

Aug 15, 2016 12:10:49 GMT DuchessConstance said:

I do struggle to understand why those who have never worked in theatre are so sniffy towards the people creating the thing they so avidly consume. Not just talking about crying but a lot of things that get raised here.

I grew up on the fringes of a show business family, so although I love theatre and cinema I've never thought of the people who create it as anything special and I do get so very tired of performers who vastly overstate their own significance to the world. I've met more than a few people who decide, without ever bothering to find out anything about me, that the fact that I don't work in theatre myself means I absolutely must think myself the most privileged person who ever lived to actually have the opportunity to be in the presence of a real live actor. So when I hear performers talk as if their work makes them unique and special it all seems more than a little pretentious and self-indulgent.

Old joke:
Two actors, strangers, are introduced by a mutual friend at a party. They shake hands, and the first says "It's a great honour."
"For me, too" responds the second graciously.
And the first replies "I meant for you."

[Deleted]

I don't think it's a binary between "ACTORS ARE GODLIKE CREATURES WHOSE EVERY MOVE IS A BLESSING TO HUMANITY" and "acting's nothing more than just pretending nice work if you can get it lol". Sure, actors are people too who aren't any more elevated than the rest of us just because of their profession, but at the same time, it is a profession at which you have to work extremely hard and be extremely dedicated to if you want to be a success at it. Surely we can reach the middle ground, and acknowledge their ordinary humanity while also accepting that acting on a professional level is a little more involved than just saying the lines and not bumping into furniture?

[DuchessConstance]

But who is saying anything about actors being special?? I've not seen a single word about that. It's simply actors answering questions about how they do their job honestly, and people who have never done that job and don't know anything about what it involves taking pointless offence at the idea that someone who does a particular job for a living might actually know what it involves and use techniques that they know work for them.

Really, how is it remotely anyone's business how someone does their job, as long as they do it?

If I met someone who was an engineer or a plumber or a surgeon, I'd never dream of telling them they were doing it all wrong and that I knew best. You wouldn't tell a surgeon about to take someone's appendix out "pfft you don't need training or any silly plan, why don't you just try cutting them up you pretentious wally?"

[Deleted]

As far as I can tell, no one *is* saying that actors think they're super-special, I think that's just a projection on the part of the "acting isn't anything special" side of the discussion.