Radically Present
You’re crossing your arms.
I’m crossing my arms.
You’re crossing your arms.
I’m crossing my arms.
Your arms are by your side.
Sanford Meisner championed an iconic repetition exercise for actors. Two actors face each other, and they exchange observations about each other’s body language, repeating what the other person notes about them. The example above is a basic demonstration of that.
There are a few rules to this exercise:
The observations must not be based in time
ie. no past tense, no future tense, no “you just…”The observation can’t assume anything about the intention/emotion behind the body language
ie. “You’re annoyed,” “You’re embarrassed,” “You’re avoiding my eyes.”The observation must be behavioural, not on appearance, clothing, body type etc.
It sounds easy, but it’s a lot trickier than you’d expect. The reason for that is pretty simple:
We’re unaccustomed to being present.
This game is about noticing the behaviour of your scene partner in real time, to be aware of how they (and you) are changing based on what is happening. If your attention is brought to the fact that your arms are crossed, you might be compelled to uncross them.
The exercise goes through a few phases. At first, it is clumsy and mechanical. Then it becomes competitive. Finally, if you’re perseverant, you enter a phase of intimacy, vulnerability, and presence. That phase – where you are completely and openly aware of the actor in front of you, and the ways you are affecting each other – is where we should strive to be.
Teaching the artists of Pacific Opera
When I’m working with students, I spend a lot of time on this exercise. They learn to be present to each other, to look for the smallest sign that they’re having an effect on the other person, and they learn to play in that space. They get a taste for radical presence. It’s a skill we all need, and it’s something we should all be practicing as much as we can.
A lot of the arguments we have in our day to day lives only take place because we’re not actually paying attention to the responses we’re receiving - verbal or nonverbal. We’re so focused on what we’re doing or trying to do, and we’re not actually looking to see if it’s landing. When you’re present with people - truly present - you’ll save everyone involved a lot of stress, confusion and time.
I highly recommend trying the exercise with someone you know and love. A great example of it in action is here.
It’s one of those few exercises that make us better actors, but can also make us better people.