002. Viola

Viola always looks like a frightened deer for those first few moments after arriving to see me. Before we get down to work I ask her about her state of mind. Up and down, she says. She's been irritable, has experienced feelings of emptiness that she's made every effort to combat. She's tremendously talented and I tell her so. She's also neurotic and her own worst enemy. I tell her that too which she takes in good part, knowing it to be accurate.

I asked that she read Chekhov's Uncle Vanya before coming along, focusing especially on the character of Sonya. We perform the scene from Act Two in which Sonya asks Astrov not to encourage Vanya in his drinking and listens as Astrov relates his views regarding those around him and his own loveless life. I have a particular reason for suggesting we do this. I know that Viola is excellent when she has a whole chunk to read. Speeches don't hold a lot of fear for her. What I don't know is how well she interacts, reacts and, more specifically, listens. Listening is as much a part of acting as speaking but it's not easy. The actor who is listening is, of course, silent. That doesn't mean, however, that he or she stops performing. In drama there is no such thing as an empty pause, there are no empty gaps. Drama abhors a vacuum.

And so I want Viola to listen.

Sure enough, she doesn't find it easy at all. As Sonya, she 'acts' listening, pulling a 'listening' face whenever she thinks it appropriate to do so. And yet when she listens to me as Viola, it's perfect Sonya. In other words, we discover that there's no need for her to 'act.' She simply has to respond as she would normally, respond to Astrov's words as Viola herself would respond if she were to find herself in the same situation, - loving and fascinated by a man who has no romantic interest in her. When I point this out, she actually does start to listen, really listen. Not performing listening, not acting listening, - just listening. Pure and simple. It works. We begin to communicate, to bounce off each other and the scene suddenly bursts into life.

It's a good lesson and Viola's done well. It's always worth remembering that a play can never be successful if it merely relies on characters talking. If you don't get a sense of characters listening it will always fail. Drama is as much about reaction as it is about action. And that holds true even if the reaction is a silent one.