The Pink Elephant Creates Opportunities
Have you ever seen a live performance where something has gone wrong? For example, an actor needs to carry a prop across the stage, and then they drop it in front of everyone.
For a moment, any focus and attention from the audience and the performers is palpable. Even if the audience has not been paying attention at all until this point, this one moment is usually so honest and authentic that everyone is now fully listening to see how the actors will respond.
The actors in this scenario have two choices in this exact moment: either pretend like it didn't happen and keep going, or pick it up, give some attention to the item for a moment, and then continue.
We like to call this item "the pink elephant in the room." It is anything that lies in the undercurrent of a scene, that if not addressed, proves to make the situation more odd or uncomfortable by choosing to avoid its existence, and it is usually associated with a denial of the reality of the given circumstances.
In the example above, the dropped item has become the pink elephant. If this actor chooses to 'push through' and keep going with the object still clearly on the ground, the audience's attention, no matter how much they want to continue watching the actor, will keep their attention on the dropped item. Why though? Why is the thing that's fallen such a tremendous distraction? Well, more likely than not, in everyday life, if we drop something-- we pick it up.
When an actor denies that something is happening in front of them, the audience disconnects from the imaginary world they have placed their trust in. Once that trust is broken, as in real life, it becomes significantly harder to gain that trust back.
The authentic moment is that something has fallen onto the stage floor. This reality is so honest and genuine that we cannot deny its force or attention. The brave actors choose to go off-script and, without breaking character, carry on by picking up the item, and ideally, continue on with the dialogue without a hitch or a missed moment.
Tom Hanks is a wonderful example of this type of commitment. According to Variety, a patron at a performance at one his performances of Henry IV in Los Angeles became dehydrated and had a medical emergency. The production was halted for a moment as emergency crews directed their attention to the audience member. However, Hanks was aware that the audience was growing restless, so rather than let their attention become entirely diverted, he went back out in character and improvised until the medical crew was able to leave the theater. He even used the audience members to his full advantage and pulled a few on-stage with him to continue the improvised dialogue. The play then transitioned almost seamlessly when it was allowed to continue since Tom Hanks confidently chose to acknowledge the pink elephant in the room.
Pink elephants may be used to your advantage as an actor and should not be considered a hindrance. Pink elephants, instead, may be looked at as opportunities to test our abilities as actors. We do not know what is going to happen in any performance, nor should we predict how any outcome will occur.
By Diana Frankhauser
Now that we have an understanding of the pink elephant in the room, why not challenge your ability to stay present at the moment with our Meisner classes at the Houde School of Acting? Classes are filling up quickly, so please do not hesitate to sign up for your free class!
https://www.houdeschoolofacting.com/online-registration
Also, feel free to check out the original article about Tom Hank's performance below and watch a clip of how he handled the situation.
https://variety.com/2018/legit/news/tom-hanks-shakespeare-improvise-henry-iv-1202847045/