Real or realistic?

During a workshop on truth and credibility, one of the standout scenes had a school headmaster verbally abusing a crying 17-year-old student. It ended with both actors leaving the stage to the sounds of physical violence.

We had been working all day to translate genuine emotions into our characters, trying to be believable for our fellow actors and the audience.

After that intense scene, someone asked the actor playing the headmaster whether they actually felt drawn to abuse when faced with the student's vulnerability. I know the principle of not being accountable for our imagination, but I felt the discussion that followed kind of missed the point. It did, however, shine a light on something we had overlooked in the workshop: the distinction between sincerity and genuineness.

All through this collection of quotes, we keep coming back to keeping things real. But in theatre, we are deliberately deviating from reality -- that's a big part of why people come to see a show in the first place.

So our aim is not to portray genuine reactions. That would quickly land us in the politeness danger zone. What we're after are sincere reactions, especially when they differ from genuine ones.