TOOL TIME: CORRIDORS (GRAB THE TISSUES)
The beauty of invoking different methods over the course of a lengthier process of a production is getting to build out one’s tool belt. Not every tool is going to be for every person. Different strokes for different folks. Michael Chekhov, Laban, and Viewpoints offer a lot of tools to execute physically that will then inspire something psychological. This is why we call them psycho-physical techniques (although it does suddenly sound a bit more clinically unnerving to do so).
For some, the physically expressive explorations and the abstracted movements might not cut it. For some, that kind of work can create a barrier and requires more work to release into and cross the threshold of trust. Super fair. For such actors, in addition to their other script and character preparation, one might call upon a tool called “Corridors.”
I’ll offer that Corridors, like any other tool, still requires an actor to separate themselves from their art-making, allowing their art to be created imaginatively rather than drawn from personal experience. As a general rule, separating art-making from personal trauma is ideal in the theatre. Theatre asks that experiences be repeated night after night after night after night. How much more dependable, more safe, more consistent, and more satisfying for the actor it will be to have created something that does not potentially inflict harm to themselves, those around them, and contributes helpfully toward the storytelling of the entire production team and cast (rather than living out a moment that applies to just themselves). For this tool, like all tools, trust that the imagination is enough to generate what you and your character need.
In this tool, themed or titled corridors are generated in the imagination for the character. Typical of SOTP’s use of Corridors as of yet has been the Corridor of the Past, the Corridor of the Ideal Future, and the Corridor of the Worst Future. This is a tool taught in depth at the Great Lakes Michael Chekhov Consortium. (SOTP has a handful of company members and associated artists who have gone to the consortium and became certified in teaching the technique. [Shout out to the lovely teachers and artists who contribute and build GLMCC!])
In real space, the actor will step into their character and walk through these imagined corridors acting as a spectator - as if going down a museum of imagined life moments for the character. You may likely predict what sort of life moments exist down each of these corridors. As the character approaches these moments, Chekhov instructs that it’s like walking by a car wreck. They are present to witness the experience of the wreck, but they are not enduring the experience themselves. Depending on the corridor and depending on the life moment, this tool may generate a lot of emotional activation. It’s important to note that emotional activation has value and power AND is different from being traumatically triggered. (This is language that was helpfully articulated at GLMCC.) As actors and storytellers, there are often scenes and characters in which emotionally charged experiences occur - discomfort, fear, sadness, elation, rage, etc. - and it’s important that while working, those experiences are imaginatively created rather than pulled from the actor’s real life.
That said, choosing the most potent and evocative corridors or life events possible for a character can be helpful in discovering the stakes, the depth, pressure points, and so much more for a character. Empathically or compassionately the character can see those moments (without interacting with them). It’s then possible for the actor to place corridors in the space of the character onstage - having these life events/memories occupy space to help activate the character or tether the character to the architecture of the space. This could potentially generate ideas for blocking or movement during the course of the play and allow for the character to feel grounded and emotionally activated for the story they are about to explore.
