Are we no longer projecting ourselves?
I’ve been mourning the death of one of my favourite actors, Michael Gambon, by rewatching some of his work and reading other people’s memories of him.
A couple of things stand out, apart from his sheer breadth of acting ability. The first is, his ability to tell tall stories. Apparently he claimed he went round pubs and would be a different person in each one. He had an incredible ability to make things up and to simply imagine himself as someone else.
The second is this quote from Tom Hollander in The Guardian:
“That voice: that was a theatre actor’s voice. We don’t make them like that any more. Why? Because it is no longer normal to spend decades on stage in the way that generation did. Because people no longer smoke with that level of dedication. And because actors are now routinely microphoned in the theatre and so are not forced to develop that power. With his passing some of our cultural inheritance goes too.”
Last week I wrote about keeping hold of our voice and not letting it get shaped by algorithms. This is another example of tech, seemingly helpful, stripping away but of our humanness. Being able to use your voice is a skill and it involves creativity.
There are many brilliant parts played by Gambon, but I always recall the speech he gives at a family gathering in Perfect Strangers. He switches across anger, bitterness and despair in just a few minutes.
I read an interview with Patrick Stewart this week where he recalls there were 11 amateur dramatics clubs where he grew up. Eleven! So many opportunities to play and develop skills which few children have access to nowadays.
We’re so quick to outsource pleasure and community and then wonder why we’re unhappy.
I don’t have any answers but I think we need to be aware of what we’re losing as we hurtle forwards.
How can we hold on to skills only humans can utilise?
How can we create more spaces for us to connect with each other?
What do we need to be putting in place to feel comfortable giving new things a go?
