March 2002 Issue - Essay # 14
A
Place Inviolate
By L. David
Ryals
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I
didn't hate college completely. There
are two classes that stick out in my mind.
I took two acting classes with a remarkable woman named Kelly
Patton. She was a small woman with white hair cut just above her shoulders
and intense eyes. Kelly would
tell us as we gathered on the stage that "what you do here affects
what goes on in the world." The
first time we heard that, we giggled; mistake number one.
"I'm serious, damn it!" And
serious she was. Over the
course of that semester, we learned to have respect for ourselves as
students and as people. Through
our acting exercises, we learned how to trust one another and how to
deal with what's important. I
learned, most importantly, that it's all about what happens on the
stage. Kelly advised us
always to "be in the present moment. Five minutes ago is not now!" The
joy of that class came from learning to be who you are in your own skin.
"This is a rough business," she would say, "it
tends to eat people alive. But
this business isn't who you are. It's
what you do. You need to
build a place that's inviolate; a place that you draw energy from, that
comes from the very heart of you." Kelly would give us her bit of wisdom and then, we'd do quality
walks. In this exercise,
she'd call out a quality such as confused, and we'd have to embody that
quality while walking on stage. Before the end of a class, we'd sit in a circle and talk about our lives and the state of the world. Kelly would remind us, "This is a special time, being young. What you do here, on this stage, affects the world out there." This time there was no laughter. "If you are able to be strong here," pointing to her heart, "and here," pointing to the stage, "then, there will be nothing and no one who can stand against you." Kelly
would look each one of us squarely in the eyes, "There are no
pretenses here on the stage--no props. You bring to this stage and this craft the essence of who you
are. This life you live is
your play; your performance. Your
performance may vary from day to day, but until the final act, you
always have the capacity to be better." Those debriefing periods were some of the best times of the
class. Kelly would have us
debrief because, "Sometimes, the feelings that we convey on stage
has the power to overwhelm us. And, it is the debriefing that brings us back to ourselves
before we face the world." The
acting classes were a great joy to me and the people there, probably
without even knowing it, weekly restored my faith in human beings. The enduring gift of Kelly Patton, however, were these words she
reminded us with at each class: "When you come in here to this
stage, the world falls away. You
become members of a noble profession; a brotherhood and sisterhood. If you leave this class with nothing else, remember, that you
are actors; foremost and always. If
you leave this stage and face the world with a little more courage than
you had before--bravo!" Kelly
Patton's words and actions as an actor is the bedrock of my inviolate
place. |
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Author's Biography L. David Ryals is a New York writer, poet, and teacher--and Seven Seas' assistant editor. He holds a BA in Writing and Literature and an MFA in English and Writing from Long Island University. He currently teaches high school English in New York City. E-mail David at ldavidryals@yahoo.com
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