UC San Diego

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO

The Risk of Living from Your Heart

A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirementsfor the degree

in

Master of Fine Arts in Acting

by

Jordan C. Smith

Committee in charge:Ursula Meyer, Chair Marc Alexander Barricelli Stephen W Buescher Manuel Rotenberg

2022

©Jordan C. Smith, 2022 All rights reserved.

The Thesis of Jordan C. Smith is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ Chair

University of California, San Diego 2022 DEDICATION Lee Kenneth Richardson

TABLE OF CONTENTSSignature Page................................................................................................................ iii Dedication....................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents............................................................................................................ v Acknowledgements........................................................................................................ vi Abstract of the Thesis..................................................................................................... vii Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To the entire Theatre & Dance Faculty at University of California, San Diego including Eva Barnes, Marco Barricelli, Kyle Blair, Stephen Buescher, Jennifer Chang, Allen Gilmore, Carla Harding, Ursula Meyer, Richard Robichaux, Eileen Troberman, Linda Vickerman, Kim Walsh

Special Thanks to my mother Iris L. Sykes and father Richard C. Smith Jr. thank you doesn’t seem like a sufficient word to describe my gratitude for y’all. I hope to continuously make y’all proud as I progress through my career.

To my grandparents Richard C. Smith Sr. and Theresa Smith I am the artist who I am today because you’ve lived your artistic truth fully and boldly.

To my grandmother Patricia D. Henderson for the words of encouragement and reminding me of who I am when I wanted to give up.

Lastly, special thanks To Lee Kenneth-Richardson, the greatest acting teacher I ever had. I hope from heaven I am making you proud.

ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS

The Risk of Living From Your Heart

By

Jordan C. Smith Master of Fine Arts in Theatre and Dance (Acting) University of California San Diego 2022 Ursula Meyer, Chair

Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. A common phrase I heard growing up. As I’ve gotten older I’ve realized how ironic it is that I was conditioned to not take words to heart yet words come from the heart. There is a magnetic power that words hold as saying a certain string of words produces a feeling like that of certain musical chords evoke a feeling. It is estimated that Shakespeare invented over 1700 words in the English language that we still use today. The words are found in plays that are near and dear to millions of people. Examples include Hamlet, Macbeth, Taming of the Shrew, and so much more. Performing Shakespeare has always been often debated and I don’t have an answer for one clear way to perform Shakespeare but there is a belief that Shakespeare wrote in correlation to a character's thoughts in most of his works. In the modern 21st century we’ve been conditioned to think before we speak and to not really express what you are really thinking in the moment so you won’t be perceived as uncouth. But Shakespeare ploys soliloquies in his text as moments where the character goes down the rabbit hole of their thoughts. John Barton who inspired esteemed English Director Michael Langham, believed that Shakespeare’s text was meant to be trusted and surrendered to. That if an actor and director allowed themselves to be guided by the text that there would be a freedom instead of a fear of the verse being a threat to throw the actor off. Living Thought is a concept that is notably known as a character grappling with the giving circumstance of what's happening and finding the words in the moment. This is something that isn’t foreign to your average person. When probed with a question our eyes look away or in the distance to search for the words that will answer that question accordingly. It's the same in Shakespeare the words spitball and spitball and what the character might have thought would be two sentences turns into a monologue. The character is living the thoughts out loud instead of keeping it in their head. There is a huge risk and fear of performing text with this concept. “What if I forget my lines?” “Maybe I should learn my lines in a pattern so that I don’t throw myself or my cast mates off?” But what I’ve learned from this is that is exactly what the character feels. In embracing that fear and that risk it adds to the discovery and wonder in living in the moment of finding the words to say just as the characters are in the moment of their circumstance. And in doing that feelings and emotions pour out not because you are enforcing a feeling but because an actor is surrendering to the words holding the weight of something stronger than sticks and stones, your heart.

Bibliography