Rule 1. Actors don’t bleed. No matter what, we must ALWAYS exercise control over our physical actions NEVER allowing our performance to get away from us and potentially doing harm to ourselves or our fellow actors. We MUST maintain the ability to be aware and override all “in the heat of performance actions” with “safety first” sensibilities. We are actors, not psychopaths—right? Please, say “yes.”
Rule 2. Positive, affirming observations go a long way to build trust and a cooperative, collaborative environment. Whenever possible and appropriate, affirm the work of each other, being quicker to observe what IS working than what ISN’T.
Rule 3. We MUST respect the choices each of us makes. Rather than saying a fellow actor “should have” done or not done something a particular way, we need to think and state our observations with the mindset of what might be a “stronger”, “richer”, or more “specific” choice to fulfill the needs of the play (on stage relationship or “doing”).
Rule 4. When observing a fellow actor’s work, be respectful of them. Watch, listen and learn from what they are doing. Note the moments and choices that work. Note too what could be a stronger, more specific choice and ask yourself how would/could I articulate that in such a way that the actor could implement the suggestion.
Rule 5. Your involvement as an audience is every bit as critical to the creative process as when you are on stage. When in the audience you need to be focused upon the work being done on the stage.
