Peter Brook

Peter Brook
Just me

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Auditng Gregory Berger Sobeck's class

Went to audit his class tonight.
Wow must say he has allot to offer. If you're looking for a hard working guy you've found your teacher. Now be forewarned he is going to get you in touch with parts of yourself you didn't know existed. For me as I told him, its like he got me in touch with a passion I knew I had but only briefly have experienced.

Audited beginning scene study Wed 7-11pm. Atwater Village really cute little theater maybe 50 seats or so (he has his own little theater). Also his assistant John is a really sweet welcoming person as well.

Things that stuck with me from my notes I took (in no particular order):
1. Ask myself, who is the other character to me? What do I want from them? How am I going to get it?
2.What do I need from them?
3. Get specific with my need.
4. Attach my need to something singular and specific.
5. Lines are to change someone's actions feelings or beliefs.
6. Am I focusing on the result of the personalization or the personalization itself.
7. Acting is exploration. The body is searching for safety.
8. Focus on my likes and dislikes as it relates to my goal. Start my scene on one of the likes in line with my goal, on something physical.
9. Be a worker bee. Give up the concept of greatness.
10. We should seek living images not stagnant: ones that reveal themselves to us not us to them.
11. Get the other person to see the images I am creating, literally transmit them to the other person.
12. No such thing as lines: there are only ideas and experiences.
13. Do I have a sense of irony and humor?
14. Believability is a myth. We are pretenders.
15. One technique when two people are either flirting or in conflict is to compete with one another. Compete using the words/phrases/sentences as small little darts. Literally pierce the other person.
16. Ask myself when preparing a scene, why is the writer writing this? Why am I doing this? Why is the other person doing this? Keep asking why. Acting is discovery. It is about the questions not creating the answers.
17. Do I care about the other person? Is it in the text or do I have to make it personal to care about them?
18. What in my past makes me the way I am.
19. There is no such thing as a character, all there is, is me.
20. Acting is simply setting up triggers, then walking in and allowing the landmines to go off so I can react.
21. We imitate each other when we are flirting or in an altercation.
22. I want to start the scene by drifting, by focusing on something physical that reminds me of something in my own life. I want to be drifting and throwing the lines away simultaneously as I say them.
23. Allow myself to dream while I'm up there because it's what my body wants to do.
24. Language exists in the body because language is born out of the senses.
25. Circle all the sense and stress words when first analyzing a script.
26. It's never about what we're saying, its about what we need from one another.
27. Ask myself: what is it about the other person that completes me? What is it about them that I need?
28. What do they have that I lack?
29. The arc: the beginning must be different than the end of the scene or else there is no evolution.
30. Always be asking why why why!

Great experience. Great group of actors, mostly young and some very talented.
Definitely highly recommend.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Hello and Welcome

Hi everyone. My name is Peter Brook and I am an actor.
I'm 40 years old and am just starting out on my journey.
I grew up in the entertainment industry having been in the classical ballet, TV and film from a young age.
That being said I quit my careers about 15 years ago and have only recently decided to venture back into performing: facing my self, my past, my demons and my desires.
I've been studying scene study and acting technique for about a year and have no acting credits to my name, as of yet.
My goal is to create a safe place here where performers of all levels feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings about themselves and their craft so that we can support one another.
Since I'm focusing on acting I'd love to hear from actors just starting out. God is it hard. You feel so lost and alone. I anticipate for those working actors and performers who want to be of service, that this will become a place for you to share your experience strength and hope with us all.
Most importantly I want us to feel safe to share whatever is going on underneath the day to day stresses of striving to be the best performers we can be.
I know it's hard. Trust me I've got all the seeming external factors against me: age and lack of experience.
But I do believe, with others' support and guidance that I, along with all of you, can achieve the dreams the Little Kid inside of me had so long ago.
I'm hoping you'll chose to share your hardships and your triumphs: your success is my success! I want to hear about it all.
So here's to getting honest, sharing, self-love and success!