GENEROSITY
How to play well with others on stage.
In life if you are not listening to someone who is talking to you, it becomes apparent fairly quickly, because you start to answer them with words that make no sense. In a play you are given the dialogue in advance, and the playwright has assured that the things you say will “GO” with what was said before. So people take the easy route and just “Learn their lines”And wait for their “cue”. Unfortunately, we the audience, can tell that you are not listening, your fellow actor can tell that you are not listening. Since you are acting away in a bubble you may think you are amazing because you are saying everything exactly how you planned it. The audience will be uncomfortable because the scene is continuing but something is wrong. The scene just falls flat. It’s boring. The audience stops listening and falls asleep, and I don’t blame them as you are emotionally and physically making no sense.
Allowing others into your space, acknowledging them, sharing the stage, listening, reacting, this I call Generosity, and it takes practice and awareness.
