Introduction

Throughout the first semester, we worked with Tyrell Jones and Claire Eden to learn, develop, and implement a wide range of techniques to aid our text analysis skills. These included uniting, objectives and tactics, as well as exploring given circumstances, hot seating, and Laban efforts. In this portfolio, I will explore and reflect upon my experience with these methodologies. 

Uniting and Objectives

We began learning the fundamentals of text analysis with Tyrell Jones, using a translated version of Anton Chekhov’s play The Bear. Initially, we read through the play, then divided it into units, also known as bits, and explored possible objectives for the characters. Uniting is a technique developed by Stanislavski to break down text into sections, Stanislavski states “units which, like signals, mark his channel and keep him in the right creative line” (1936a:124). A change in the character’s objective marks the beginning of a new unit. The objective of the character is what the character wants to achieve in that unit of text. It’s commonly referred to as the ‘want’ of the character (Merlin, 2014). Furthermore, the super objective is the overarching want or desire of the character throughout the whole play. 

Using these techniques, I broke down the text from the perspective of the character Popova.

Once this was complete, we began rehearsing the first few pages of the script, using these techniques to deepen our understanding of both the journey of the scene and our character (Popova). Previously, I have always evaluated scripts in much larger sections, focusing more on the bigger picture and super objective, rather than the smaller nuances that give the character depth. Despite my super-objective for Popova being to achieve karmic vengeance on her late husband, my objectives changed significantly throughout the play. 

In the first unit, my objective was simply to be left alone, but as the play progressed, it shifted—from wanting to intimidate Smirnov, to flattering him, and finally, to allowing herself to be loved by him. By using these objectives, my acting felt much more truthful, logical, and justified, which gave me greater confidence and assurance in my performance choices. This aligns with Stanislavski’s remark: “The Objective will be the light that shows the right way” (1936b:127). After applying these techniques, I gained a greater understanding of Popova and developed a more realistic grasp of who she is and what she truly wants.

Despite these benefits, I initially found breaking the text into such small chunks (“units”) slightly jarring. This process made the scene feel more disjointed, and with so many changes within a small section of text, I found it difficult to ensure the shifts in objectives didn’t feel abrupt and unnaturalistic. Moving forwards, for my personal acting preferences, I would consider breaking down the text into slightly larger sections. This approach would still allow me to use objectives to deepen my understanding of the character without sacrificing the naturalistic fluidity of the character’s emotional journey.

Tactics

We continued working on The Bear as we learned and developed more techniques. Building on the events and objectives we had already deciphered and created, we then began exploring tactics. This is another Stanislavski technique, exploring how your character achieves their objective. In Uta Hagen’s book, “Respect for Acting”, she explains tactics as “What do I do to get what I want? This is the action question, and it is the most important question for the actor to answer” (1973:60). 

For example, in Unit 8, my objective was to intimidate Smirnov. To achieve this, I decided to use tactics such as mocking, provoking, and threatening. Deciding how to achieve my objective through tactics made my acting choices feel more intentional and considered. Additionally, by trialling different possible tactics, I discovered more creative and interesting choices. For instance, in Unit 10, after experimenting with different tactics I changed my objective to guilt-tripping Smirnov, shifting from my original objective of simply threatening him. Using tactics like manipulating helped convey how smart and calculated Popova is, and I felt I had a more dynamic yet truthful grasp of her and her intentions. 

To aid my song analysis and storytelling, I examined the objectives and tactics in the song “Far From the Home I Love” from Fiddler on the Roof by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick for my Acting Through Song class.

Previously, when approaching songs, I focused more on the emotions I was feeling as the character rather than understanding and analysing what my character truly wants and how she expresses that. This exercise helped me find the layers within the song that increased the emotional complexity by using tactics such as pleading, praising, sympathising, and reassuring. Following this exercise, I realised how little thought I had given previously to acting through song compared to working with a piece of text. 

After analysing my song, I felt I had a much greater understanding of my character, Hodel. I discovered the complexity of her feelings—her desire for her father’s approval and for him to support her decision to leave home, the heartache of leaving her family and home behind, and the overwhelming love for her husband, which ultimately outweighs everything else. Using tactics allowed me to explore and express how she balances these conflicting emotions toward her family and home, loving them deeply while knowing she must leave them behind. I definitely benefited from using this technique, I noticed a huge improvement not only in my understanding but also in my ability to portray complex emotions when acting with text and in song.

Given Circumstances

Claire introduced us to a play called Love and Information by Caryl Churchill, which allowed us to explore given circumstances. Given circumstances refers to the information provided in the text or stage directions that helps shape the world of the character. It’s a Stanislavski technique in which we consider the “Six Fundamental Questions”: “Who? When? Where? Why? For what reason? How?” (Merlin, 2014:loc 80-81). 

Love and Information is made up of short scenes completely unrelated to one another with no given context. This allowed us the creative freedom to decide upon our own given circumstances. In one lesson, I worked with Elsie on a scene called “Affair”, in which we came up with a backstory for the scene and our characters. When we first read through the scene, I found it quite challenging to determine how to act or what my characters intentions or objectives could be, since there was no given context. However, as we slowly built up the details of who we were, why we were there and what was happening, I quite enjoyed getting to play around with different ideas to create elaborate and detailed given circumstances. 

The following week, we had the opportunity to bring in our own choice of duologue. As I wanted more practice in creating and exploring detailed given circumstances, I selected another scene with no given context: The Call by Joseph Arnone. Naima and I worked on this duologue together, created the given circumstances and experimented with some other techniques such as tactics and hot-seating. 

This time, I found it much easier to create the circumstances, as we were able to establish a clear mutual understanding of them. In the script, my character alternates between being supportive and caring, “Maybe he hung up at the same time you answered your phone. Relax—” and being impatient and flippant, “How can that seem desperate when you are returning HIS call?”. So, we created given circumstances that explained the strong, loving relationship between the two friends while also justifying my character’s annoyance. When it came to performing the scene, the acting choices I made were much easier and confident, because we had such clear intentions. I believe having a clear and detailed understanding of the given circumstances is a crucial part of text and character analysis. It ensures that acting choices are clear and justified. I will definitely be using this technique in my future work.

Hot Seating

Hot seating is a technique I’ve used quite a bit in the past, it involves answering a series of unseen questions as your character, with the intention of “more deeply understanding their motives, feelings, viewpoint, and development” (Baldwin, 2018).

Claire asked us to do hot seating as an exercise on another scene from Love and Information called “Secret.” After discussing the given circumstances, I asked my partner a series of questions about their character. We then switched, and I answered questions about mine. I really enjoy improv, so I found this process quite fun as it allowed us both to be creative on a whim, removing the prospect of second-guessing ourselves.

Since we had been so thorough in laying out the given circumstances, hot seating felt like an easy and enjoyable way to further explore character development. It prompted questions we wouldn’t have initially thought to ask and opened my mind to the intricate detail that text analysis can uncover. For example, we delved into our characters’ relationships with their families, past relationships, mental health, past regrets, and aspirations for the future. I believe incorporating play into the detail work is essential: “To play truly means to be right, logical, coherent, to think, strive, feel, and act in unison with your role” (Stanislavski, 1936c:15).

I decided to use this technique again when working on The Call duologue with Naima, as we both found it a beneficial and enjoyable way to explore character development. This approach worked perfectly for this piece, as it did with Love and Information, because both lack explicit context for the scenes. The absence of context left us with plenty of creative freedom. For projects like these, where I do have the opportunity to be creative, I enjoy using hot-seating as an analysis technique.

However, for texts that already include a significant amount of built-in context, I find hot seating to be more challenging unless I’m already very familiar with the entirety of the play or musical the character is from. While hot seating is a fun and creative way to explore a character, it can feel restrictive when the source material provides extensive details about the given circumstances surrounding your character. Therefore, I wouldn’t use this technique for text analysis in these circumstances.

Laban Efforts

We have studied Laban Efforts with our Movement teacher, Patricia Verity, in which we learned how to use the body to express inner and outer emotions. The Laban Efforts, created by Rudolf Laban, consist of four movement components: direction, speed, weight, and flow. Different combinations of these components form the Eight Efforts: Wring, Press, Flick, Dab, Glide, Float, Punch, and Slash. For example, Wring is indirect, heavy, sustained, and bound, whereas Flick is indirect, light, quick, and free.

I initially found studying the Laban Efforts a bit confusing because we practiced the movements without any intention or objective. However, once we began applying the physicality to text, I gained a better understanding of the purpose behind using Laban Efforts for text analysis. I brought a monologue to perform in this class, experimenting with different Laban Efforts in an exaggerated, outwardly visible way to explore how they altered our interpretation of the text and character.

For this exercise, I used a monologue from Heart of Snow by Adam Szymkowicz. Through this process, I decided that Wring and Flick worked best for my character. Once I chose these efforts as the basis for my character’s movement, I developed gestures that portrayed them in a more subtle and naturalistic way. For instance, for Wring, I would fiddle with my fingers, clenching and twisting my hands together. For Flick, I incorporated sudden, jerky movements with my head and arms. Adding these elements to my monologue helped convey my character’s inner turmoil, anxiety, and paranoia, which I contrasted vocally with a more upbeat, cheerful demeanour.

Using the Laban Efforts in this exercise helped me identify moments in the text where I could subtly reveal the anxiety beneath the mask, adding depth and realism to my performance. Unfortunately, I found it quite distracting to focus so consciously on maintaining the Laban Efforts, which made it harder for me to feel fully present in my performance. I also felt like this technique didn’t unveil any new information regarding my understanding of the text or character, so won’t be using this going forward.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I have thoroughly enjoyed learning, experimenting with, and exploring various techniques this semester. I discovered the value of trial and error; while some techniques didn’t resonate with me as strongly as others, I appreciated the process of finding what works best for me. I was pleasantly surprised by how impactful some of these new techniques have been on my development as a performer. I already find myself naturally implementing many of them into my work. However, moving forward, I aim to improve my documentation and note-taking skills to maximize the benefits of my training. Additionally, I want to increase the amount of wider reading I do outside of class to deepen my understanding of these fascinating methodologies and techniques.

Bibliography

Arnone, J. (2024) Monologue Blogger. https://monologueblogger.com/phone-calls-comedy-1-2-minutes/ [accessed 11th December 2024]

Baldwin, P. (2018) Drama & Theatre https://www.dramaandtheatre.co.uk/content/lesson-plans/drama-strategy-hot-seating/ [accessed 11th December 2024]

Chekhov, A. (1993) Chekhov plays: the seagull, uncle vanya, three sisters, the cherry orchard, and four vaudevilles, Translated by M. Frayn, London: Bloomsbury

Espeland T. (nd) Theatre Folk. https://www.theatrefolk.com/blog/the-eight-efforts-laban-movement [accessed 11th December 2024]

Love and Information by Caryl Churchill (2015) Directed by Wendy Knox. Frank Theatre, 22 February 2015

Merlin, B. (2007) The Complete Stanislavski Toolkit, EBSCO version. Nick Hern Books.[Downloaded 9/12/2024] 

Stanislavski, C. (1936) An Actor Prepares. Translated from Russian by Elizabeth Reynolds Hapgood, 1989. Routledge.

Szymkowicz, A. (2014) Heart of Snow https://aszym.blogspot.com/2014/11/monologues-for-women.html?m=1 [accessed 11th December 2024]