Life is too hard. I am at the end of my rope. I am alone. I will have a bottle of vodka and a loaded gun and I am determined to put an end to my misery. I have done bad things in my life. I have been hurt and I have hurt people. I have cheated and been cheated. I no longer feel like I have the capacity to love and be loved…
…But most importantly, I have played many a character, which is exactly what I am doing now. So please, put down the phone, don’t call for help…I, Tracy, am not going to kill myself. But tomorrow, “Maggie” is going to end it all.
Playing a character, otherwise known as “acting,” allows me to do all the things I just said. I can kill myself. I can kill someone else. I can cheat. I can be a sinner or a saint. I can be happy, sad, funny, and mad. I can be anyone else other than myself. And although I love myself, I do not exactly have the life I dreamed of. But on stage, I am no longer me. I am not in chronic pain. I do not feel like my life is passing me by and taking with it a thousand missed opportunities. I am not responsible for my actions, only my emotions. When I am on stage, I am someone else. And, when it comes to acting, I am pretty darn good, probably due to the fact that I have been pretending to be someone else for most of my life.
If you look at an acting class from a psychological perspective, it can be very beneficial for people who are in pain, be it physical or emotional. Acting is a safe haven, a place to express every emotion, reaction and feeling that is not acceptable in society. For example, I can’t scream, yell and cry in public without being looked at as crazy and possibly being locked up. I can’t express my anger, hurt or frustration by throwing things around or having a fist fight. I can’t have a laughing fit in the middle of a store. So many of the emotions I (and others in similar circumstances) have are socially unacceptable. The rules of our society dictate that it is not okay to express your every emotion…but on stage, I can let out every single emotion I have built up inside me…and it’s safe. There is no judgment. As a matter of fact it is the one place where the more emotion I bring to my character, the better I am!
Many local community theaters offer inexpensive classes. When I was a practicing social worker, I actually utilized some of the exercises we do in class as a way to help people get in touch with their real emotions and express them in a safe way. I also used improvisational comedy exercises to help people both release emotion and LAUGH. Laughter truly is the best medicine (not to mention the adrenaline of performing acts as a potent, temporary pain blocker). Try an acting class and I guarantee, you will not only find a healthy release for those pent-up emotions, but you will probably bust a gut doing so. It doesn’t matter if you do it as a psychological exercise, a hobby, or you are Broadway-bound, acting is a healthy, safe release.
My acting class is the one place where I can be someone else and at the same time, really be me.
Finding the "Method" in My Madness 