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 Showbusiness Weekly
No. 217
March 12 - 18, 2003
As every good actor
knows, a successful performance begins with preparation,
and each actor has his or her own method—
usually a combination of methods culled from various
teachers and acting classes. In New York acting
teacher Jim Bonney's new CD, Bonney puts the influence
on "emotional preparation"—a step-by-step
process that helps the actor to get an emotional
life going before the scene begins or the camera
starts to roll, or even before he or she walks
into the audition room.
Using a variety
of guided imagery paired with subtle music, Bonney,
with his patented, calming "acting teacher"
voice, leads students through exercises to connect
them to what he calls "the four main emotional
lines": anger, sadness (including pain and
loss), fear, and happiness. The process is simple
enough to follow, and seems sensible and practical
in its application—those really are, it would
seem, the primary emotional states for an actor
to be able to access. Bonney doesn't push a wacky
revolutionary approach; his exercises and imagery
are basic and elemental, and that's a good thing.
Good actors are aware that simplicity and an emotional
connection to the life of a character and a scene
are what is called for in the most fundamental
sense—and is often the most difficult thing
to achieve.
 And
even though, while listening to all of this objectively,
it's sometimes hard not to think about the famous/infamous
song "Nothing" from A Chorus Line
in which acting exercises are mercilessly ridiculed,
it doesn't detract from the CD's overall effectiveness.
(I'm convinced that number must still be the bane
of serious-minded acting teachers everywhere.)
Bonney's exercises, as demonstrated here, are
free of pretension and pure in concept, and this
CD should prove to be helpful and instructive
to actors looking to fine-tune their approach
to emotional preparation.
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