Tuesday, April 10, 2007

You need a Stair to Reach to the Stars

Solitary Beach in Espinho


“Sure, the whirlwind of inspiration can carry our ‘creative airplane’ above the clouds […] without running down the runaway. The trouble is that these flights do not depend on us and do not constitute the norm. It is within our possibilities to prepare the ground, to lay the rails, that is to say to create the physical actions reinforced by truth and conviction”

These are the words of Stanislavski.

It is very easy to dream to do something profound. It is much more difficult to actually do something profound. An old Russian proverb says, ‘if you go to your porch, look up at the sky, and jump to the stars, you will just land in the mud. Often the stairs are forgotten. The stairs must be constructed. This Grotowski never forgot. One can easily get lost thinking, about the profound metaphysical side of a work, and forget completely the sacrifice and practical labour behind the results.

At Work with Grotowski on Physical Actions by Thomas Richards

Friday, April 06, 2007