about John Markland
The focus of my approach to acting, is personalization and unblocking of emotional walls.
What is that?
If you are feeling stagnant or blocked in an area of your life, relationship, or work and are not growing as free as you would like, then these are the areas I ask you to dig in, expose and reintegrate with/through your character. These places often have the richest soil even though it may feel the opposite. I want you to feel bold and instinctive in your choices, feeling the work from a personal place rather than an external goal orientated one. The destination is original work with risk taking from authentic intentions.
You will gradually feel your work move beyond a performance and into an experience.
Follow Us on Instagram
Follow Us on Instagram
“STATE OF PLAY”
John approaches the work, and artists, with a sincere belief; there is no separation between life and art. Our personal evolution, as a human beings, is intrinsically connected to the development of our art. This symbiotic relationship allows experiences from life to enrich our art and discoveries through our art to further our self-awareness.
Children explore and discover themselves and their world through play. It is a form of translation between the conscious and unconscious - the Ying and Yang. Perhaps, undivided, in the earliest stages, our consciousness separates and continues to grow apart as we age. So, as wounded healers, as storytellers, imagining metaphorical, symbolic worlds and birthing them into reality, we must some how encourage that state of communion our conscious and unconscious mind once had. The two minds must dance, and dance in balance, for then magic happens, paths clear, faith rises and our art transcends, allowing our humanity to connect to others.
Another way of looking at it, we are fragmented selves and our goal is to become whole. This suggests the process of reunification itself is fragmented or interdisciplinary. Body, breath, psychology, emotions and dreams are all strands of a web we must weave. The pains, shames, self-sabotaging, addictions, deceits and many of the darker wounds we carry could be said to be the side effects of this fragmentation. Allowing, forgiving, exposing, acknowledging, accepting and expressing therefore would be part of the healing necessary to re-integrate.
This approach to living and acting is not just restorative; it’s redemptive.
We rediscover a State of Play.
Current workshops/classes
Scene Work Fundamentals
Fundamentals sometimes get lost, or forgotten or just never learned along the way. But these simple and at times, vital, elements are aspects that allow you to move more freely, not having to work so hard and even, cut noise out of your head. Scene work is an explorative play exercise that allows for original interpretation of a script. If explorative or play or original or interpretation is not there it falls flat and that’s where the work begins.
LA
AUDITIONS:Tasks
An audition is an opportunity to enhance and evolve your craft while demonstrating the level and range of your work to a casting director. You want to dissolve the false belief it is to get a job. Fact: you could deliver the best audition the casting director has ever witnessed, making them laugh and cry from their hearts but you are too tall, have blue eyes, remind the director of his ex-wife, cologne is too strong, have big hands, look like the lead’s sibling, voice bit too high. etc. etc. You do not control being right for a role.
ONLINE
CHARACTER WORKSHOP
There is a lot more to acting than “what’s your moment before”. You were born. You had parents. You had a childhood home. You were awkward during puberty. You had love. You lost love. You were hurt wrongly and maybe hurt others wrongly. You have inherited fears and dreams, some that are true and many that are not. But you have a full life and inventing, discovering, and exploring all that is NOT on the page, it is what we craft whether a lead, a reoccur or a guest.
WORKSHOP
“A number of the younger dream work practitioners, such as Elizabeth Kemp, Kim Gillingham, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, and actor/director John Markland...as well as Sandra’s daughter and fellow acting coach, Greta, all claim Seacat as their mentor.”
