What Actors Know about Being Human
Recently I gave a speech in the heart of ‘the system’…..
A couple of weeks ago I gave a speech at one of the world’s biggest banks. Around 30 attended in person. Another 1700 joined the livestream from the Asia-Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
It was an unfamiliar world for me, more accustomed as I am, these days at least, to the quiet of my art studio, and the occasional mayhem of a primary school classroom.
I’ve been an actor, though. Unfamiliar worlds are familiar to me.
It’s complicated, navigating new worlds. I’m often critical of our economic system (and the political system it enables). Then I find myself at the heart of the system I criticise.
I’m not perturbed by that complication - for two main reasons.
Firstly, I need to live. I never condemn someone for putting food on their table. Just because I’m critical of the system doesn’t mean I’m not part of it. After all, I’m critical of our dependence on oil, yet still drive a car.
Secondly, I’ve been working and writing for the last years about What Actors Know - the core knowledge creatives and performers have, about how to live happier, richer, more sustainable and creative lives.
The heart of my work on What Actors Know is simply this: when actors come together to create and perform, we go through processes of self-development, we connect with others, we develop clear strategies for communication, we learn to be flexible, adaptable and responsive in the face of the unexpected, we are playful and creative. These are core skills for creating community, and for being a healthy empowered individual within communities.
They’re also skills which are increasingly devalued in our culture of monetised distraction and algorithmic outrage.
When I bring the insights of What Actors Know to an organisation - a massive global entity or a small community group - I can make the daily experience of those within that organisation a little better. That benefits the organisations itself of course, but my concern is primarily with the lived experience of the humans who work inside the system.
It took a couple of months to prepare the presentation I gave in London. Doing so enabled me step back a little from the work I’m doing on What Actors Know to get an overview. I’m trying to write a book about this work, and can get a little overwhelmed - partly by the breadth of the research needed, and partly because I doubt it will ever get published. That’s another story though.
My presentation was called; ‘Being Ensemble: Fearless Humans in Brilliant Teams’. At least, I thought it was. A week before I discovered it had been presented to attendees as ‘Courage in Times of Change’. No matter. Brilliant teams - ensemble - are the foundation of courage and navigating change. Though the romantic western myth is of the brave-though-isolated hero, the reality is that we thrive, evolve, and innovate in the mutually supportive environment of the collective.
In a functioning collective each individual is empowered and has agency. Each is also in full and unconditional support of others. It’s individualism PLUS.
In ensemble we become more that an isolated self, we become an interconnected self - a self-with-others.
Though the heart of the presentation was my research and experience in ‘ensemble’ it was interesting to see how the other three strands of my work appeared as well: presence, improvisation, and self-development.
Presence is the foundation. Put simply it’s our ability to quieten distraction and attend to what we’re doing, and who we’re with. It’s learning to direct our attention towards reality. Unless we do that, we operate from the (often toxic) stories we tell ourselves, or that others have told us.
Improvisation is the core human skill - it’s our capacity to respond flexibly and appropriately to the uncertainty of the world. However much we try to convince ourselves otherwise, we’re not in control. Reality is stronger than our plans. Strategies and intentions are great, but our ability to respond to the unexpected is greater.
Self-development is the heart of growth. Though I ‘train ensemble’, we can never actually train a group. We can train individuals within a group. In fact, we can’t even do that. We can create space and encouragement for individuals to train and develop themselves.
Presence. Improvisation. Self-development. Ensemble.
Core skills that emerge from a lifetime in performance. They are, none of them, skills or abilities we need to buy from someone else, or pay a subscription to some tech-bro in order to access. They’re capacities we’re born with, and that we can access and develop whenever we choose.
The response to the speech I gave was strong - both in the room and in conversations within the organisation in the following weeks. I believe I enabled people to feel more empowered and confident in their daily work. I encouraged executives, managers and leaders to examine their systems and relationships, and align them more fully with human community values.
That was my intention.
In an increasingly inhuman world, I’m unswervingly committed to our human/animal ability to be beautiful inhabitants of this planet.
As I said towards the end of the speech:
‘Everything - all the technological innovations we spend our lives drowning under, or the endless obligations we struggle to meet - every one of them is ultimately meaningless, unless we recommit first and foremost to being human.
Gloriously human, messily human, and none the worse for it.’
Whatever you’re up to these days, I hope you can pause and remember that you’re a wonder, and that we must share this wonderful world. Then, do what you can to stop our planet and communities being further damaged by those who’ve lost touch with their humanity.
Warmest Wishes to you,
John