The ragged edge

I stumbled upon the website (abwag.com) devoted to the teachings of Don Richardson, a 60's TV actor who was also an acting instructor. What struck me was his concept called the ragged edge. Key ideas:

>Don't prepare yourself to do something
>Don't smooth out things
>Don't do mental acting
>Allow the body to do what it knows
>Always find the unexpected
>Actors have to throw in difficulties

I'm not sure if this is what he meant by "actors have to throw in difficulties" but the idea immediately got me thinking about Brando in Streetcar Named Desire. Earlier I was writing about how in that film, Brando kept throwing up obstructions (eating, putting on clothes, etc.) and tried to perform through the obstructions. This would be like the complement to withholding.

In withholding, you try to withhold an emotion or idea that seeps out anyway. In obstructing, you create obstructions and then perform through them. Both concepts are essentially about obstruction. The difference is in the positioning of the actor's consciousness. In withholding, the actor obstructs. In obstruction, the actor propels through the obstruction.

Now, I have to get busy working on a film called The Five Withholdings.