The idea that individuals are free only insofar as they are enmeshed in a network of obligations mirrors the place of an actor in the rehearsal process. Actors are individuals, but their job exists only in relationship to other artists within the larger apparatus of a production. If they focus solely on themselves and their individual needs, the whole machine could easily break down. To the Method’s critics its approach fomented insurrection against a production’s proper social order. An actor who won’t commit to a choice is neither particularly professional nor a good collaborator. Actors who
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