PRIVATE STUDY

IF CHAKRA WORK IS A TOOL, CONSIDER IT THE MASTER KEY.

“Murisa and I began working on a Cleopatra piece from Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra (what a way to throw me into the Lion’s den, Murisa!) In all seriousness, it was the perfect piece for the work we were about to do. In this monologue, Cleopatra is grieving the complicated death of her love Antony and rallies her attendants to join her in taking their own lives. It is a rollercoaster of a piece; once you’re on it, you really have to lean into all the twists and turns it takes. Take for instance the beginning of the monologue, when Cleopatra is holding Anthony after he had just died and says, “No more but e’en a woman.” Working with Murisa, I discovered this came from my sacral chakra, the most sensual, intimate part of my body. That combined with elongating those vowels within the first line, I was surprised at what came out of me. It was not “emoting.” It was experiencing.

Many actors have shared with me, and I absolutely agree, it can be challenging to truthfully harness the amount of energy a monologue like this requires when it’s isolated from the rest of the play, especially in an audition setting. I think that is part of what makes energy work so valuable, it creates a sort of visceral memory that lives within you. Once I had done the work to open the channels where breath could flow freely and discover where specific text lived within my body, I could call upon this tool in a repeatable, sustainable way when I needed guidance, re-connection, or a jump-start into a monologue. I could combine it with other tools to stay active with my partner. Oh, and a little added bonus– in the midst of doing chakra work in my own rehearsals, I discovered and harnessed my own power. If Chakra work is a tool, consider it the master key.”

—Sophia A.