Wasn’t Shakespeare amazing. It would be so interesting to find out how his genius developed – what he saw and experienced in his life that helped him write such beautiful words and comprehend so deeply the human condition in all its different aspects. I can think of other notable geniuses in history – Mozart in music, Newton in science etc. – but Shakespeare is a sort of mythical other, shrouded in mystery, whose breadth of insight has the greatest impact on me.
Category: Drama
Journal 2020-07-19
I think I’ve found a new thing. I’m really enjoying putting a podcast together on drama – and am working out how best to film some of the recordings. It will include some of my music as well.
Journal 2020-07-12
I’m interested in performing great monologues from literature – it seems easy to upload audio as a podcast and also filmed versions for a YouTube channel.
I’ve been looking for a podcast where I can listen to dramatic performances of literature, but am finding mostly dry monotone readings of poetry. Monologues on YouTube seem to be mostly non-realistic anger and angst.
Journal 2020-06-19
Acting is an exercise in empathy: the actor tries to understand the thought processes and emotional life of the person being portrayed. I first look into the world from the point of view of a human being, then try on some different clothes.
Journal 2020-04-25
A flow state is when your inner voice has got out of the way and you are free to be one with who you are and what you are doing. It’s easier to get there when lost in the energy of music. I admire good acting that is able to reach the moment just by using imagination and presentness with other performers.
Robert Walker 