Shout About It!

I have a temper. I lose it occasionally. Much less often than I did in the past. Like many others, I express it in inverse proportion to the seriousness of the situation - the less important the situation is, the louder my voice.

I don't lose my temper for long. I can be furious one moment and calm a minute later. The rational part of me quickly resumes control and reminds me that anger is natural but debilitating. It creates more problems than it solves and leaves an unpleasant taste in the mouth and mind. I'm also aware, now that I near the end of my sixth decade, that it can be physically harmful. It raises blood pressure and increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. When I'm angry, I can feel the pressure in my chest and skull - not serious enough to be concerned, but enough to remind me to cool down pretty quick.

Because of the physical changes in the body when someone becomes angry, for some people anger can be addictive, almost enjoyable. Like a sneeze, an orgasm, scratching an itch or a bowel movement, the nerve receptors that register pressure, pain and pleasure are closely linked. Shouting at you brings heightened sensation in my body; it makes me feel good. I'm going to keep on doing it.

Steve, my character in Clouds of Grey, gets angry a lot, but it's only in the last few rehearsals that I have found that anger and let it explode, yelling at or hitting those who displease him, threatening all and sundry as the mood takes him. Uncovering this layer of his character gives him more depth and makes the interactions with others stronger and more realistic. At the same time, director Seth Jones is continuing to add ideas and layers to the action, creating a play (or rather, half a play, because the other half is being directed by James Tobias with other actors in a secret location...) that should draw in the audience, entertain and shock them. Definitely something to shout about.