Why love in a scene is a must for Actors

Why love in a scene is a must for ActorsSaw Pinter's THE CARETAKER at BAM the other night. Handsome production. Pryce was great. But the dull shrug that Cox chose for Aston left his character outside the relationship; turned him dumbly withdrawn rather than with a slow curiosity.

Without curiosity, there's no reason for him to bring Jenkins home, strive, after all, for some sort of friendship after the terrible electirc shock treatment, even if with a tramp. Cox's choice left Pryce, especially in the first act, to fill the air. The menace, then, that Hassell's Mick is meant to bring into the play, becomes stilted -- there is no budding friendship for him to break up. He become aberrantly mean, only odd. Lots of pathos & tenderness, sadness in the evening, swipes of humor. Lots of good acting. But no danger, no heartache longing, but for Pryce's Jenkins, none of the twisted possesive stalemate that undercuts the lives of the brothers. 

Another moment in theater where the love in therelationships must be clear, come first, before all else, before any thought of style or mood.