14 May Acting happens always in the present

Acting is an activity that makes you face your reality. As soon as you start to act, you are immediately confronted with many fundamental questions.

“Who am I?” as a person first of all. And “How can I act in order to play a character who’s different from myself?”. “Where am I?” as a person, how can I orientate myself on the stage. And “Where am I?” as an actor, what’s my position in the story, what’s really happening in this play at the present moment. There are many more questions that require an answer right away, or multiple answers that change throughout the play.

All this information points to an aspect: acting can only happen if the actor is rooted in the present moment. The actor has to be open outwardly to the acting partners and the actions and reality of the play. And she has to be open inwardly, toward the “inner director”, the recollection of text and movements, and the acting elements, the spontaneity that keeps the acting fresh and “in the moment”.

Rooting the acting in the present is an integral part of our training at Instant Theatre Berlin. The training is based on stage exposure, concentration and multitasking, in order to prepare the actor to interact and “live” the stage experience organically, without distractions and focusing only on the present moment.