We are big proponents of safety in class. Whether it means setting up guidelines for privacy in class, or how to treat the furniture, we believe in creating a safe place for actors. This especially means establishing an environment that is supportive and conducive to honesty and vulnerability.
In my first article Welcome to the Desert, I explored how living in the arid, isolated reality of Los Angeles can often immobilize an actor’s life. Too often that paralysis stifles the actor’s creative soul – both personally and professionally. Today I want to explore another common dilemma for the actor: the dual life actors must lead in order to succeed.
Whether you are a new arrival or have been here for a number of years, I want to welcome you to LA. As a director and teacher it has been my experience that many actors, whether seasoned veterans or enthusiastic newcomers, can make life in LA more difficult for themselves than it need be. Too often actors can get lost when approaching their work, and grow immobilized when striving to remain active and focused. In this first article, I want to offer a personal insight as to why LA makes it so easy to lose your way and become immobilized.
Remember when you were young and play included imaginary games of Cops and Robbers, Hospital, Spaceship or whatever? Whether with friends or by ourselves these games would seem more real than regular life. For many of us, our childhood was the peak of our imagination. We were able to slip from reality to fantasy, and then back again effortlessly with total commitment and enjoyment.