Larry's 02/23/2012 "True Acting Tip Of The Day"...
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 10:40AM 
"For True Actors, coming to the end of a run is always extremely difficult. You have worked so intimately for months with the rest of the cast, each night venturing out into the unknown together, hanging on to each other as you ride the wave of new life risked in each performance, and eventually you must face closing night. The next morning, it is as if the whole experience has evaporated into a fine dust and you might wonder if the whole thing was just a dream.
Natalie Symons, who gave a truly breathtaking performance as Becky in the play Becky Shaw, which I directed at freeFall Theatre in St. Petersburg, Florida, shared these thoughts with me after the run of our production ended on February 19th...
"I feel like a part of me has died and I am in mourning. I am having a terrible time letting go of Becky, the other characters and the whole creative process. I am having trouble sleeping, as I have lost a dear, dear friend. But with this production, the loss is even greater as I have been running into so many people who saw the show and they tell me that the experience of seeing the five of us on stage was so real and so true that they were overwhelmed and moved beyond words. They say that they did not feel like we were acting at all and that they left thinking deeply about their own lives. Of course, I appreciate the response to the play, yet it makes my longing to continue this production even greater, letting go of it more difficult and the sense of loss more profound. I feel so very lost at the moment."
As the director, I have been going through a similar experience as Natalie. With the end of our run, I have felt like a big chunk of me is gone and even though I was not present at every performance, I knew that the five actors were there at the theatre telling the story and giving life to our creation once again - there was such a deep comfort in this. But where has that life gone? How could it come and go so quickly?
Havelock Ellis said...
"All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on."
Natalie Symons as Becky Shaw & Jim Sorenson as Andrew