I’m on an extended tour of Turkey and Bulgaria with many of my friends who are students of Sri Chinmoy. In the evenings we often get together and put on skits about inspiring topics. My friend, Databir, frequently directs these amateur performances and he is phenomenal. He can put together an entire production, from writing the script to getting the costumes to rehearsing with the actors, in a few days.
Databir occasionally asks me to perform in his skits, but not because I’m a good actor – it’s because I’m good at memorizing lines! Concerning my acting, I’ve been bluntly told that I overact and that every character has way too much energy!
The other day Databir handed me the script of a skit he wrote about the life of Albert Einstein and asked if I would play the part of Dr. Einstein. I accepted and figured that this was an opportunity for self-transcendence. If I could improve my glass balancing or one leg hopping, why couldn’t I make progress in my acting? I was determined not to wait until the last minute to learn my lines, but to really take my time and try to get into the character.
