INTRODUCTION
In our performance project workshops, we have experimented in developing our process to analyse any text from plays and monologues with a wide variety of methodologies from different practitioners of theatre. Each workshop has given me a chance to explore these techniques and has encouraged me to do my own research on them to develop my understanding of them in order to apply them to a wider variety of texts.
I will be discussing the following practitioners and their techniques we have explored: Uta Hagen’s 9 questions, Uta Hagen’s walking the text, and “Stanislavsky’s Magic If” (Mroczka, 2013). The texts I will be discussing: Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet and, serious money. In each section, I will discuss each technique, how I have applied it, and how it has assisted me in developing my understanding of the character I was playing and how it changed my approach when performing.
9 QUESTIONS
The 9 questions is a methodology created and promoted by “German born American actress Uta Hagen” (Ates, 2023). The actor would ask the following questions about the scene they are looking at and find out the answers by doing research:
- “Who am I?” (Ates, 2023)
- “What time is it?” (Ates, 2023)
- “Where am I?” (Ates, 2023)
- “What are the circumstances?” (Ates, 2023)
- “What surrounds me?” (Ates, 2023)
- “What are my relationships?” (Ates, 2023)
- “What do I want?” (Ates, 2023)
- “What’s in my way?” (Ates, 2023)
- “What do I do to get what I want?” (Ates, 2023)
In the attached image you can see evidence of me applying this method to the dagger monologue from Macbeth. At this point in the play, Macbeth is about to kill King Duncan and is hallucinating a floating dagger leading to Duncan’s room. In the first attached image, you can see I have researched the given circumstances, time period, and the location where the piece is set. I have also touched on the relationships that Macbeth would have and how they wound be effected by the act he is discussing in this soliloquy as is evident in the second attachment. The function of the 9 questions technique is to heavily develop the actors understanding of the character they are playing by developing their contextual knowledge of the character and the show as a whole and the relative historical events happening in the time the show is set. This in turn would effect acting choices relating to why they treat certain characters or situations a certain way.
When I first used the 9 questions, I found it challenging to differentiate between information which I could use to assist character development and the information that wouldn’t. This led to me being overwhelmed with the amount of information I was exposed to making me struggle to portray my understanding of the character and their emotions. This mainly impacted my answer to the given circumstances as there is a lot of contextual information which is both relevant and irrelevant to the text and deciding what information can be used or not was a challenge for me. After further use, I can now easily sort through the information I research and decide which would help my character development and what wouldn’t.
Before Performance Project, I had no technique or ideas on where to start developing the characters I was playing as I had never done it before. After being taught this technique, I have started applying it to all of my acting classes and to every song I look into. For example, with my formative singing assessment I chose the song Easy to Love from Anything Goes and I used the 9 Questions to give myself the knowledge which would direct my acting choices, the nine questions have been answered as seen the attachment on the left. When I start a new song with my singing teacher, I now research the given circumstances of the song and all answer all of the 9 questions to give me a stronger understanding of the songs objective. This is a useful technique which I have been taught and I will use it with every script I get in future.
WALKING THE TEXT
Walking the text is a methodology inspired Cicely Berry, who is a theatre practitioner who places an emphasis on Actors linking “body movement to their voice work” (Acting Coach Scotland, 2024). Walking the text is primarily used in plays written by Shakespeare and the play we used to explore this technique was Romeo and Juliet. This technique involves walking around a space and performing a different physical action each time they reach a piece of punctuation. As Shakespeare is difficult to understand due to the style of writing, walking the text provides the actor with insight on how the rhythm of the phrase. The actions are as follows:
- Comma – change direction of movement
- Question mark – spin in a circle
- Exclamation mark – jump in the air
- Full stop – stop moving
We used the beginning of one of Juliet’s soliloquy’s, as can be seen in the attached image, to test this methodology. This soliloquy takes place after Juliet has found out Romeo is in her families rivals group the Montague’s and she expresses how she desires to be with him. I have highlighted in the text all the punctuation used so that when I read it from the script I don’t forget the movements. This technique is not something that is used for the production or the showcase of the monologue but is instead used to better the actors understanding of the flow of the monologue and how certain phrases should feel when spoken. This would then lead to a stronger and more convincing performance of the monologue as the actor would have more confidence in how the monologue should feel, which also makes the audience believe the ideas the actor is portraying.
When I first used Walking the Text, I felt like it wasn’t going to help me with my understanding of Shakespeare as I had never understood Shakespeare as the language and phrasing confused me. I thought too much about what actions I was supposed to be doing instead of the monologue itself which made my confidence with Shakespearean work decrease a lot as I just didn’t understand what it was supposed to do. This lead to me trying simpler techniques to understand Shakespeare, like translating the text into modern English which did help but it still didn’t increase my confidence. This work pushed me far outside my comfort zone. However, I have begun to slowly understand how this technique makes you physically feel how you’re supposed to feel when saying the phrases and now is helping my understanding of Shakespeare.
Before Performance Project sessions took place, I had no understanding of Shakespeare as I had never done Shakespeare in a theatrical setting before. But now as I have started using it more, my confidence in understanding the Shakespearean plays has gotten better. I used Walking the Text in R&D week. The time period of the show we were working on was not in Shakespearean, but was written in a Shakespearean style so methodology could still be applied. Whenever we were given scenes, I would go into a room by myself and run the lines while doing the actions in the technique so I understood how the text was supposed to feel which led to a more confident performance of the text. Even though I am not completely confident with Walking the Text, this methodology has proven to be vital in my journey as an actor as it has assisted me in my understanding of Shakespearean work and not only has it made me feel more prepared when dealing with it in the future, it has also made me enjoy working on Shakespearean plays.
MAGIC IF
“Stanislavsky’s Magic If” (Mroczka, 2013) is an acting methodology in which is used when “parts of a characters backstory is left cloudy or unanswered” (Mroczka, 2013) by the play or musical. I was introduced to this technique with the text “Serious Money” written by Caryl Churchill (1990). This play is about the “corruption and how all money will corrupt people” (Concord Theater, 2025). Very little information is given to the performers about the characters lives in this play. I chose to play the character of Corman in the extract we were given and according to Methuen, Drama, Corman is described as a “Corporate Raider” (2002) and that is all the information given about him. Other information can be inferred about his character but this is the only fact in the show about him. In the attached image you can see I have asked a variety of what if questions about the character based off his dialogue and interactions with other characters in the show. By applying this methodology, I started to form an idea of what sort of character Corman was and what sort of character traits he would have.
This methodology was difficult for me to use at first as I had never had a situation with a character and I found the creative freedom both a win and a challenge. I was not confident in making my own assumptions about a characters past as there is no way to check if it is true and in the past I have typically preferred to base the characters in truth more similarly to the methodologies presented by Katie Mitchell in where “the characters past and their experience are linked to real historical events in the times where it is set” (Cornford & Svich, 2010). This pushed me out of my comfort zone and forced me to create the backstory for the character, but once I started with one idea it became easier discover more What If scenarios which lead me to try make more assumptions about the character until I had enough information to play around with what worked and what did not within the show. This developed into my characterization of the character and even with an abstract show, such as Serious Money, I felt I was able to portray the narcissism the character required in a convincing manor.
Before performance project sessions, I had never been put into a situation where I had little information regarding a characters backstory. Now, with the Magic If technique I am now equipped and feel confident to tackle these situations and characters in shows in future. I have used the What If methodology in R&D week as with our project, the villain had no backstory information so when devising scenes for him, I relied on the Magic If to create an idea of what he would be like in my own mind and I found it to be very effective when devising scenes with peers. Overall, I would say this technique has positively impacted my development as an actor as it has drastically increased my confidence with creating my own characters and developing characters I don’t have enough information about.
CONCLUSION
Overall, Performance Project sessions have been essential to my development as an actor. I have come from a background where I had not been taught any techniques which I could use to develop my understanding of characters I play, so when I was introduced to these I was confused on how to apply them, for example I would research too much information with the 9 Question and I also haven’t done Shakespearean plays or monologues enough for Walking the Text to be fully useful for me. But the more I used them in these sessions, the more I have began to understand them and I now feel comfortable applying these to different areas inside the course as a whole. For example, when researching the context of songs for Acting Through Song, and playing characters in different classes where I don’t completely understand the characters motives. Walking the text has also been essential for me to use and learn as it has now given me the confidence to tackle Shakespearean productions in the future. Performance Project sessions have given me the knowledge and the ability to research, understand and portray characters from various shows in different contexts confidently and have given me the frameworks for me to develop my world building and character building skills.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Ates, A. (2019) The Definitive Guide to Uta Hagen’s Acting Technique Backstage.com. Backstage. Available online: https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/the-definitive-guide-to-uta-hagens-acting-technique-68922/ [Accessed 3/January/2026].
- Churchill, C. (1990) Serious Money. London: Methuen.
- Cornford, T. & Svich, C. (2020) Katie Mitchell’s Theatre. Contemporary Theatre Review, 30(2), 137–150. Available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/10486801.2020.1732952.
- Drama, M. (2002) Serious Money. Dramaonlinelibrary.com, 1(1). Available online: https://doi.org/do-9781408169520.
- Mroczka, P. (2013) Illusion of the First Time – Broadway Educators Broadwayeducators.com. Available online: https://broadwayeducators.com/tag/illusion-of-the-first-time/ [Accessed 3/January/2026].
- School, A. (2024) Actingcoachscotland Actingcoachscotland. Available online: https://www.actingcoachscotland.co.uk/cicely-berry [Accessed 3/January/2026].
