Billy and Annie Discuss their approach to helping students understand the script and create colorful believable characters.
The Table Work -- The development of character BEGINS with the script.
It EXPANDS via actor’s imagination
Research. Research. Research.
Learn to be an “Intellectual Detective”.
3 Things –
learned from lines spoken by,
learned from lines spoken about,
learned from information given by playwright
The Script -- The words are important!
The playwright carefully chose his words; it is incumbent upon the actor to take the same care when memorizing.
It is fully expected that the actor will memorize the part verbatim.
The actor MUST finish all interrupted sentences, AND memorize the entire line.
Ellipses . . . . why are they there? Usually it’s a leaving off of thought. Something is happening there; don’t run by them.
Create a back story.
The Dictionary is Your Friend -- You can’t say it believably until you know what it means.
Actors are required to define all unknown words or phrases.
But the Thesaurus is Your Best Friend. Why paint a room “red” when you can paint it “Firehouse Blaze”?
Angry is not the same as annoyed is not the same as sore is not the same as violent is not the same as stormy.
“Happy” has 108 synonyms and each of them has a different connotation.
Develop an Emotional Palette. We’ve alluded to this before, but let’s get specific.
Painters are rarely content to use only one color. Why are actors?
Emotions make up the actor’s palette, like the colors on a painters palette.
But unlike painters, most actors have a very limited palette.
After all, it’s not as easy as mixing two colors to make a third.
(If you ask a group of student to call out different emotions, chances are you will hear happy, sad, or mad rather than euphoric, miserable or incensed.)
How do you expand their emotional palette?
Well . . . you begin by making them do table work and then you expand on that when they get on their feet.
In Rehearsal
Preparation by the Director. Don’t take a parka to the beach.
It is vital that the director know what she wants to accomplish with the scene. She must know the destination so that she ensures the actors pack appropriately.
I have a saying: “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.”
Although true, it’s not an axiom you want to adopt for your rehearsals. You need a specific road!
Blocking -- Be more concerned with moving the audience than with moving your actors.
Pre-blocking Leads to Hollowness.
In my experience, if I begin by telling them where to go, the audience ends up telling me where to go! (In other words, I end up with a slick, polished play that has no heart.) I let the blocking grow out of actors’ desire to move. (The trick here is to lead the horse to the trough of your choice!)
Develop Character Through Blocking.
The second-by-second detailed analysis about alternative blocking results in examination of motivations. The actor will only arrive at her personal truth when she is allowed to explore WHY she moves. Trust the student to make it natural, and then refine it directorially.
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