The Scene. A Starbucks in suburban Washington DC. Me: have just taken an ordered cup of coffee out of the store to the street-facing courtyard; sit down at a solitary table. Only a couple of the nine other tables have anyone seated at them. Am reading a newspaper article – always carry something to read when having a few minutes to spare. As I am reading I hear a voice behind me. The voice sounds like a woman seating herself at the table directly in back of me. “Do you have times to run lines with me?” I hear her say. My assumption is that she is on the phone. I can not turn to see her without obvious movement. “Oh. That’s too bad. I really need your help…” She continues the conversation trying to guilt the person on the phone into helping her. I am fascinated by the one-side of the conversation to which I am privy. It becomes quiet again as I continue reading, Suddenly, the same voice is at my left elbow. “Would you run some lines with me? I have an audition tomorrow…” I am speechless. Does everyone know what “run lines” means? Why me? Do I exude something that says I do? I look at her. Somewhere in her 60’s; too much lipstick for my taste, hair severely pulled back behind her head. “I’m sorry”, I say, ” I have to be at an appointment in 10 minutes. I really don’t have the time…”. As I am saying the truth of my excuse, my mind is racing. ‘This is too good to pass up. How did she come to ask me, does she ask any random person?’ Out loud I continue, “But I will do it for you”. She pulls up a chair next to me and hands me five 3×5 cards with pencil writing on them. I look at them. I look at her. “Are you an actress?” I ask. “Yes”, she says. “I was one in my 30’s and now I have taken it up again. I sort of have an audition tomorrow. I am volunteering at the Actors Center and if there is time I will be able to give this audition”. I know the Actors Center. “And what about you?” she asks. “This is not about me”, I answer, “We don’t have much time so let’s make this about you. I am a New York Actor.” Her jaw actually drops and as she catches her breath to begin the discussion of what that means, I interrupt her and say “Let’s use the cards and read this together”. And so we begin. As we run through the dialogue a second time, and she can’t remember the lines at the bottom of card #1, I suggest that the reason she doesn’t remember them is that she doesn’t know why she is saying them. I ask her why is she saying them. She says she has no idea. Well, I tell her, you have to make up a story if you don’t know. You have to have a motivation. She looks at me blankly. There is a line on the 3rd card that refers to the face of the person speaking ‘being on a box’. I ask her what that means. She says it is a cereal box. Suddenly I realize that I know this scene. i have actually watched it. Can’t recall what the programs was, but the face is on the box of a cosmetic product. I share this with her. We start over. She tells herself again she can’t remember the lines. i suggest again that she flesh out the story of what she, as the person in the scene, is doing. She says she doesn’t want to do that. Now, she says, she is confused. She doesn’t remember anything and why am I asking her to do all of this. I then suggest that she improv the scene, while I read my actual lines. Doing this I can then judge that she has most of the events in sequence. It is now beyond my ten minutes. I tell her I have to leave, and assure her she ‘gets it’ and that she will be able to learn the lines.
As i walk off I am marveling at: how she came to approach me, at her lack of tools, and at the same time asking myself: what are all these individuals hoping to achieve by doing this business called acting.