The Problem of Knowing How Good Your Acting Is

Bil, at tip your waiter, reports on the difficulty:

In rehearsals through this play, I have felt many times that what I was being told to do was wrong, that it wasn’t what my first instinct was, that it should feel more natural than it did. But I watched someone else rehearse this last week, and the other actress vocalized exactly what I felt. She said things like, “This isn’t how I imagined it,” and “I liked it better the last time we rehearsed it,” and “Ouch.”

Directors. They don't want you to act the way YOU want to act! But...

It was the best acting she’d done on this production up until that point. She just didn’t know it. It looked better, it sounded better, the character became more interesting, and she wound up being more unpredictable. And for that role, it was brilliant. And we all told her so. Of course, she didn’t believe us.

It's a sad fact
that when you act
your feelings inside
are imperfect guides
to your impact.