All the world's a stage
I feel like I have written this memory out before, but if I did it was probably long ago on my Vox blog (the defunct web space I think I miss most, a weird golden era in my memory). You’ll also have to forgive what looks like a little name-dropping.
Most people reading this will know that when I was young I wanted to be an actor, and studied theatre in college. The summer after my freshman year I was in a production of The Odyssey, adapted and directed by Mary Zimmerman.
With The Odyssey being an epic poem and Mary having an aesthetic tied to performance art, we weren’t going for psychological realism. Mary had to frequently remind us young actors in the ensemble to stop acting so much.
I remember a particular moment. J.P. Manoux as Telemachus was rehearsing a scene with Meredith Zinner as Athena. I think he was bringing a little heightened emotion to the scene and Mary wanted him to dial it back. She said something like this:
Forget about Telemachus and Athena for a moment, forget about the play. Just enjoy the fact that you are here on stage right now with your wonderful friend Meredith. Just talk to Meredith and forget about everything else.
I think about that a lot.
That’s also why this is my favorite scene in the Harry Potter movies.