Going There, Wherever There Is

Explicit content warning

10/27/20 • 14 min

This week, Milton talks about what it means to “go there,” or commit 100% to giving ourselves over to the circumstances of the play. It’s an enormous emotional risk because by letting go completely, we make ourselves vulnerable, revealing our true selves through a character. “It’s like going off a high diving board. You know you won’t die because there’s water there, but it’s so far down. It’s not a comfortable place to go.” Have a question for Milton? Email him at: [email protected]

Previous Episode

The Past in the Present and the Past

This week, Milton touches on a very tenuous aspect of building a character’s past. There is a difference between experiencing a past event from the perspective of the present, and experiencing the past in that moment, as if reliving the scene. It’s an important distinction because your relationship to the past event in the present is different than it was at the time it was happening. There are no hard and fast rules here. Often we move in and out of the past and present, as we do in life when telling a compelling story; and it’s a valuable exercise to talk out an event from both perspectives. But ultimately, how you experience the past is influenced by your relationship to it (then and now), and what you're doing in the scene.

Next Episode

Know Where You’re Going

It essential for us to step back and look at our character's timeline in the play, to know where he or she is going. One of the benefits of playing a role is that, unlike in life, we know what the future is. And so the actor, unlike your character, knows where your character is headed. This is important information to have because it informs what pieces of past we need to build in order to get there.