Actors at the University of Idaho find themselves in a constant struggle, both physically and mentally, when it comes to acting in a performance or in a theater class.
Peyton Edmans, a first-year theater major, explained some of the physical requirements and risks involved with a performance.
He said maintaining a physical well-being is one of the biggest factors an actor must maintain while in pursuit of a role, because of the strain on their bodies while on stage. Actors are always using their bodies to express emotion, so they must be in good physical condition.
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“If you are not sweating when you get off the stage, you really haven’t tried that night,” Edmans said.
He said he takes trips to the gym about twice a week in order to stay physically fit and watches what he eats to prevent vocal cord danger.
Joseph Winder, a UI fourth-year who played Adam in UI’s most recent performance “Drowning Ophelia,” described the physical risks involved with acting.
“I think trust, communication and building safe habits is the best way to avoid any kind of injury,” Winder said.
David Lee-Painter, UI professor of performance, specializes in both acting and directing.
“I think that you have to figure out how you can have stamina — to be a real actor you have to have physical stamina,” Lee-Painter said.
Last spring a performance went on for three hours and many of the younger performers had to find their physical strengths, Lee-Painter said.
Many of the requirements for these actors can be physical, but possibly more is required of them mentally.
Grace McGreevy, UI second-year, has dealt with some of those mental requirements.
McGreevy played a scene where she was a young girl at her mother’s funeral, and through no dialogue she had to express the pain of loss with pure unfiltered emotion.
“You have to convey the sadness and the hurt and the pain,” McGreevy said. “And to get to that space every night, several times that night, as many times as you need to run that scene is painful.”
Winder also encountered a similar experience during Drowning Ophelia when his character commits an abusive act toward another character. He found himself sobbing because of this horrible act he had to portray.
“It was simply because I had to wrap my head around how I can possibly get myself to empathize with someone who would do something that horrible,” Winder said.
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Lee-Painter said that while you’re learning and practicing, being able to understand what the director and playwright want is important. But when you go on stage it’s not the time to let your thoughts overwhelm you. He said it’s a balance between “intellect and emotion.”
“You have to know when to turn your brain off and when to turn your brain on, ” Lee-Painter said.
McGreevy said the things she has learned from the program are invaluable. And she loves the feeling of performing as she tells the audience her message.
Each actor in the end agreed that through all of the tears, blood and sweat the end outcome is worth it.
Grayson Houston can be reached at [email protected]