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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 +273 +
