Guidepost 3: The Moment Before - Major Points

Guidepost 3: The Moment Before - Major Points

Overview Some might refer to it as "given circumstance," but something always precedes whatever is happening in the scene - something Shurtleff calls the "moment before." By knowing this moment before, it gives the actor a certain energy and objective when performing the scene.

Major Points

• Every scene begins in the middle.
• It is up to the actor to create the moment before.
• The actor has to come onstage with it, not wait to get going.
• The more specific, the more focused the moment before, the better the scene will be.
• The moment before requires an important emotional commitment. One has to seep oneself in it, drown in it, be overcome by it.
• Underneath every human being’s rational cool exterior is passion.
• The moment before must be strong, full, and meaty; it has to give the actor something to feed on for the entire scene.

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