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APPENDICES
is happening here is... The actor was dissatisfied, he said he felt he was just
trying to make it work. That’s because he didn’t understand it enough, didn’t
have enough material understanding to make it work. But then drama gets
opened up in extraordinary creative way, because it is the kitchen table and
the edge of the universe. Now you can say shall I do this on the kitchen table
or shall I do it on the edge of the universe. Both are equally authentic. But this
is not kitchen sink drama and the edge of the universe is not Greek. You got
to put the two together.
AB: Does this mean that instead of motivation you will be looking at what
their investment is, what they could lose in the situation? So what are you
looking at instead of motivation?
EB: Characters become interesting when they are doing things that are
uncharacteristic, so of course I can call my characters very characterful as it
were. They are recognisable people and they are not abstractions and I think
the creation of character is very important. And absolutely vital for an actor,
but it doesn’t solve the problem of playing the play, because if you do that,
then all you are going to do is play your character. And one of the things
I keep repeating is no, you must play the play. Sometimes an actor will say
why does he do this? And I will say, cause he is in a play. So you better find
out. But it’s very important. When they did The Sea in Toulouse an actor
came to me one evening and said to me “what is my father’s profession?”
I didn’t run screaming from the theatre. I said “I don’t know, can I think
about that.” And she said “Yes, it is a very tough question.” I came in next
morning, and she said “oh, I have solved it. My father was a barber.” Well,
she needed that, that was fine. The other day one of those things happened in
the rehearsal, it was very illuminating. It was the second scene, when the girl
and the boy are sitting in the boat talking, and it was the end of the day, and
everybody was working really hard, everyone was tired and they didn’t really
know their lines yet, which is fine. It was a sort of revelation to me, and to
other people who were there. The girl, she has the problem of her father and
mother, she has all these problems. And she is always looking for solutions
and she is very practical and is trying to solve things. And Len, he has all
the questions. They are at the opposite end of the boat. And suddenly the girl
was absolutely involved in a complex family social situation. And it was if the
boy had fallen from the sky. You know nothing about his parents. You don’t
know his job. The only thing you know is if you look at the script, is that he
has got large feet. That’s not a big deal of help, is it? But the actors’ are going to
have to provide that. You can say “why didn’t the writer provide us with some
information about that”. And the reason is, that the most interesting thing
about the character is his questions. He can never abstain from his questions,
they will pursue him through the play. But, the actor will need to establish his
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