Wednesday, May 9, 2012

BLOG #37: Why Acting is so Bloody Hard… Daenya tackles Berniece from August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson.



So much has already been said on this subject, why am I sinking my teeth into it? Well, because I’m obstinate and once something comes to mind I think needs writing about, my fangs start rattling like Hannibal Lechter’s…
You need strength to write about acting; it’s an EQ, IQ sort of subject. You have to lay yourself bare to the deep angst that lies at the base of every actors’ psyche while simultaneously giving swift, pithy, precise mental punches for your words to be of any use.   If you say one thing, then you immediately have to say the opposite mirroring the crazy imbalance of human nature, while trying to make sense.
Today, I was working with Daenya, an actress of a certain age, who is still very beautiful. Originally from Jamaica, she arrived in America when she was eleven. For the past twenty years she has worked as a dental technician. Her husband left her ten years ago and, as a pedicab driver, has never been in a position to pay alimony or child support for their daughter, who is now fourteen. Daenya’s been taking classes with me for almost five years. She loves acting – learning about the artistic process itself, although she is often invaded by despair since there is no room in her life for auditioning let alone appearing in a showcase or even shooting a student film.
The Big Depression that began in 2008 – sorry, I refuse to call this catastrophic diminution of wages and quality of life a mere ‘Recession’ - has made Daenya’s already difficult life incrementally worse. Her problem is not principally financial, although that is certainly a factor, and she is not particularly oppressed at work. One of the signs of a ‘true actor’ – or perhaps any artist - is the need for a holistic life – one in which the pieces fit together. The parts of Daenya’s life have started pulling away from each other, leaving gaps that only the firmest resolve can bridge.
Daenya is aware of other people – she cares for the dentist she works for. His business dropped off significantly when the actors who formed most of his clientele were impacted by the downturn in the economy. Gone are the days when he was making thousands of dollars a day improving the smiles of thespians. Daenya is grateful that she alone retained her job, although it means she is run off her feet six days a week. The train she takes into the City from Queens for her Sunday acting lessons is often out-of-service and her husband can no longer take their daughter for a couple of hours because all the former office workers are now moonlighting as pedicab drivers, and Sundays are the only day anyone can make money, etc., etc!  Daenya has gone from disadvantaged person (sub-standard education and accented speech) with a dream to oppressed person, refusing to give up.
From time to time Daenya has given up her lessons for a few months , but she always returns. Considering her life difficulties, I neither encourage nor discourage her continued participation, but I am very happy when she returns and deeply moved by the continual progress of her acting in spite of everything. At her lesson this week we were attempting to put together elements of Berniece’s monologue from August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson. Daenya has been working at solving its problems, on and off, ever since she started studying with me.  In group class, she tackled the scene where the preacher, Avery, who is in love with Berniece, is trying to get her to play her piano and sing again. During the last couple of years when she’s had time only for private classes, Daenya has returned again and again to Berneice’s monologue from that scene. 
It can be hard for non-native black actors to identify with the deep wound that still festers from the time of slavery in America.  Obviously, African Caribbeans have had similar experiences with matters of race and color, but it hasn’t been ground into their bodies and minds – and August Wilson would certainly say souls - by a white majority for an extended period. Racial prejudice still exists in this country and was up front and central pretty much into the 1980’s.  (I don’t mean to say that there haven’t been deep and very painful issues of race in the Caribbean – it’s just different. I’m not an authority and I don’t know enough of the history for an authoritative discussion.  All I can say is that as an acting teacher, I observe a greater ‘rage connected to race’ in African Americans than African Caribbean’s.)
In my next entry, I’ll explain how Daenya eventually found the roots of the character within herself and was able to think and feel her way into the character of Berniece… 

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