Daniel Pink concludes his brilliant book A
Whole New Mind with a suggestion from Naomi Epel. Epel writes, “I once heard Danny Glover
say that he dedicates every performance to someone – it might be Nelson Mandela
or the old man who guards the stage door – but he is always working for someone
other than himself. This focus
gives his acting purpose and makes his work rich.”
Pink adds, “You can do the same. Dedicate your own work – a presentation, a sales call, a
report – to someone you admire or who matters in your life. You can infuse your work with purpose
and meaning when you think of it as a gift.”
Recently I encouraged my acting students to think about whom
they might dedicate their work to.
Scene work on a given day, their work for the semester, anything else
which helps inspire gift giving in their work.
Actors work hard to discover within themselves, from their
own lives, experiences which will make a character they play believable,
compelling, and above all, truthful.
That work can sometimes be painfully difficult, reaching back to agony
most of us prefer to deny, forget, and leave behind by any means possible. That painful sharing is an actor’s gift
to the story they are helping to tell and to the audience they are telling the
story to.
Tonight, my wonderfully gifted daughter, Elizabeth Hope
Williams, opens on stage in a new show in Chicago, CCX. You can go here to learn more about the
show and Elizabeth: http://ccxplay.com/
. Read Elizabeth’s biography. You’ll see that she has chosen to
dedicate her performance to her brother, William. You need to know that William died barely three months ago,
as a result of a heroin overdose.
You need to know that Elizabeth will be portraying a heroin addict. You
need to know, or at least be reminded, that as a family we made a pledge at
William’s memorial service: “We
promise to do everything in our power to educate and inform people about drug
abuse and its prevention, to provide ever more enlightened treatment for
addicts, to help make treatment options for addicts more readily available, and
to remove the stain of shame surrounding this disease.”
Finally, you must know how proud I am of Elizabeth’s
courage, generosity, and artistry.
She is, as I said above, wonderfully gifted. For the next five weeks she dedicates a wonderful gift to
our William. Art from pain. Thank you Elizabeth.
