Performance and Self

I see RVCBard wondering how to get outside the box of revolving around a concept of self in our performances. She quotes Isaac Butler at Parabasis:

". . . most acting methods center around finding some kind of true self of the character."

After some discussion of that, she asks:

"What other ideas of Self can we use or create that include seeming contradictions?"

I have an image of a performer asking herself "Who am I? What kind of person am I?"

How can that help us do whatever we're trying to do with our performances? How can it confine us? What can we do about it? Can we free ourselves from the limitations without losing the benefits?

I have some ideas of how it can help, but I'll leave that for some other time. Now I want to discuss concepts of self, and how we might get outside the box of revolving around them.

Concept of Self

My concept of who I am, what kind of person I am, might include some qualities, interests and capacities. My qualities, interests and capacities are different in different circumstances, and continually evolving. Considering what people might mean by "true self," one idea that comes to mind is that I see us all repressing some of our ideas and parts of our personalities, because of how other people might react to them. A person might think of the ideas and parts of his personality that he represses as part of her true self. Another idea is that sometimes we try to put on an appearance of having qualities, interests and capacities that we don't really see in ourselves, in order to be admired, to be part of a fellowship, or to influence people. A person might think of those as not part of her true self. One way or another, a person might think of some of her qualities, interests and capacities as part of her true self.

I'm using qualities, interests and capacities as examples. Other people might have other ideas of what a person's true self is composed of.

In my performances I'm trying to shape my life to illustrate visions I see in the writings of Baha'u'llah. To exhibit those performances, I'm hoping to either learn to write stories about them myself, or find a good story teller who would like to do it for me. In my case I'm not revolving around a concept of qualities, interests and capacities I already have. I'm revolving around a concept of qualities, interests and capacities I would like to have. Interestingly, according to Baha'u'llah, that is my true self.

I want to do all the good I can do, and be the best person I can be. The individuality of that comes from the possibility that the good I can do might be different from the good that another person can do. The best person I can be might be different from the best person another can be.

That might raise red flags for some people. It would have for me, some time ago. I want us all to love ourselves the way we are.

Now I don't see trying to improve ourselves, and loving ourselves the way we are, as mutually exclusive. In fact, they might be complementary.

How to get out of the box

I have an image of a fish wondering how to get out of its fish bowl, without even having a clear idea of what it is. It sees some other fish in other fishbowls. It watches what one of them does, and tries to learn to do the same, trying to imagine itself in the other fishbowl. It does the same with some of the others. What it learns helps it get a clearer idea of its own fish bowl, and how to get out of it.

That brings up a question. Where will I be, if I get out of my box? If a fish jumps out of its bowl without jumping into some other water, it will die. Maybe, at the right time, it can jump into a pond, or a lake or an ocean.

I'm trying to jump out of my fish bowl into Baha'u'llah's fathomless and surging Ocean.

What are some other ways a performer might get out of his fish bowl? One way might be to spend some time with other performers in their fish bowls. Another way might be, instead of asking "Who am I, what kind of person am I?" to ask "Who am I, what kind of person am I, in this scene at this time?" looking for different answers, even contrary answers, in different cases.