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MY ANALYSIS OF DES: LOOKING AT EXAMPLES FROM BOND PLAYS they do not leave space for the audiences meaning-making, and if the brick loses its material nature then that will cause problems when it is used as a lethal weapon and is de-cathexed in the next moment. Concentrating on how to use the objects and having the reference point of the Centre is useful for the actors in stepping away from other widely used acting methods. Often an actor in Hungary would build the past of the role and rely on emotional history to portray a character, and find answers in the role’s invented past for why she does some action in the play. For example, in the first rehearsal the actor playing the Man overacted the emotions he sensed behind the situation. When we understood more about what was happening there we started working towards a very simple presence, that Bond calls Enactment. This does not mean that emotions are absent from the characters, but it demands a very accurate breaking down of the situation and the actions. Enactment requires that the actor is present and creating and concentrating on the situation rather than the character. This way of working allows the contradictions within the role to be more apparent as the tendency with both character and emotional acting is that they explain the action of the role rather than make them contradictory. In this case, for example, it would be easier to act that the Man becomes really angry because he is reminded of his son’s death and that is why he kills Donna, but the text suggests something else: “(Hums a few notes.) My son my son... (Stops.) Time!”.*?° Then he suddenly twists to the side and kills. The text implies that the Man stops himself in being upset and almost completes the killing as a duty — the word ‘time’ refers to this. The text would lend itself to many other explanations, but as we had a reference point in the collectively chosen Centre, it was clear that this interpretation should be chosen as it highlighted the contradictions of responsibility within the Man. The struggle of a human approach towards the children and the responsibility he thinks he has towards his dead son, that he completes as a duty becomes more visible in performance through enacting this moment in such a manner. The sound ‘hgn’ after the killing can also become explanatory rather than contradictory. It could be acted as a beastly sound, showing how inhuman the Man has become. But the contradiction linked to the Centre is highlighted much more if the clue from the text is used. The Man says that his sickness has become worse, he “shan’t survive”.*?” The sound can refer to him completing the killings out of his last strength, as if he just stayed alive to complete his duty. The visceral effect of the sound can still be present, and it is contrasted also to the humming before. 486 Ibid. #7 Ibid.
