Jennifer McKenna is an Arts Advocate and Consultant in the Theatrical and Artistic communities. She is striving to address and progress beyond the starving artist paradigm that so often adheres itself to creative people in our culture today. Jennifer feels a holistic approach, finding a depth of reciprocity between day to day practices and the heightened experiences of performance, can ultimately offer a richer pallet of play for the actor, in due course engaging a given birthright for the greatest experience of the self as an artist and performer.
“Man is a make-believe animal — he is never so truly himself as when he is acting a part.”
William Hazlitt
First, We Must Be Our Own Muses
What is this constant search to be someone else in front of others, to be seen for who we are as someone else? Is it that we long to feel that vulnerable in our own lives, open and living without judgment? Is that why we seek this medium as our way of life? I believe that we act to find our truest selves, play these characters in an attempt to find who we are, to feel who we are at the deepest levels. I believe this is what ultimately brings us or leads us to the stage in the first place, the search for more of who we are, and the opportunity to connect with others. The freedom to connect: there are few acceptable places where we have the freedom to be that vulnerable. This vulnerability is a great strength deserving of development and cultivation. Acting is not, in its current incarnation, a self-generative art; it is dependent on the decision of others. That is not art. We have to evolve this thing. What does that mean? What could possibly be there we’re not seeing? These questions excite me as I know to the core of my being there are answers to be found here. The actors, directors and artists I’ve explored this with feel the same, and it seems to come down to this point: first, we must be our own muses.
The Place where Intellect and Intuition Meet
As artists, as storytellers, is it not essential that we stand in the tension of the unknown with grace and openness? Life creates from the unknown. Stories come from what wasn’t there before… We can’t know ahead of time what will make us happy, though everything marketed to us tells us otherwise. To be able to sit in the tension of the unknown and hold that space with integrity is essential for happiness as an actor or in any profession, but especially as a storyteller. Some time ago I spoke with one of my favorite playwrights about that point in the rehearsal process where an actor surrenders to a play. We all know this place, this point, the challenge to get there. Imagine coming into a production in full surrender from the beginning and being completely open to what may come in all ways. And personally off stage, in our rooms, alone, to own that fullness as an artist, creating simply by feeling the length and width of who we are, whether rehearsing for an audition or just listening to music. To surrender; to know these seemingly little acts are profound catalysts to crafting your life and art. Knowing this, believing this, living this. It’s like being young and losing yourself in the instant before you, playing. That’s the feeling we’re all trying to get back to. We don’t grow out of it; we just forget how to make it happen. Let’s remember.
It feels to me we’ve only just scratched the surface of what acting truly is as a whole, how it can affect us creatively, personally and socially. In the heart of this belief I’ve found a question repeating: how do we, as actors, live happily day to day when the place we seem to be most content is on a stage? It seems young men and women continue to go out into the world, after an expensive education, to live out this question with very few answers. The truth I’ve found is that the stage is only one small facet on the diamond of what we love so dearly. It is my hope to help actors make that bridge between life and stage, to find fullness in the whole picture of their lives.
museaiam 