Process Assessment Portfolio
word count: 1812
In this essay I will reflect on my personal experience, working with Actor and Director Claire Eden, working on a variety of texts in an Actor and Text project with a focus on developing my practical Acting, Voice and Movement skills through the exploration and in-house performance of text. I was encouraged to approach these text’s both practically and analytically to help my personal development as a performer.
Throughout this process, I learnt a range of techniques for example World building, to give me a better understanding of character intention, context and subtext. These techniques helped me to make informed choices and devise my own processes to improve as a performer. Throughout the project we explored a range of material including; Punk Rock, Serious Money, The importance of being Ernest, Romeo and Juliet, Me and My girl and Waitress. By working across a wide range of genres I was able to broaden my versatility as a performer.
World building is an acting concept; we looked at ways this technique was curated including Uta Hagen’s 9 questions. I did some research to find out more about Uta Hagen as her methods stuck with me. I read her book ‘respect for acting’ in order to further advance my toolkit as a performer.
Uta Hagen’s original 9 questions were;
‘Who am I?’, ‘What time is it?’, ‘Where am I?’, ‘What surrounds me?’, ‘What are the given circumstances?’, ‘What are my relationships?’, ‘What do I want?’, ‘What is in my way?’, ‘What do I do to get what I want?’ (Ates, 2023)
I researched each of these through my external research and extra reading.
I found Hagen’s questions and world – building to be extremely beneficial and wanted to know what its limitation would be within my process, after some research I found a page which claimed ‘Hagen’s techniques will make you a better actor no matter what style you’re playing in, her exercises may be less helpful in high-concept directions. If you perform a lot of Shakespearean acting or classical theatre roles, you’ll need to add voice and movement training.’ (Ates, 2023). From this I decided that in my personal process when working with classical or heightened text I will pair World-building with Walking the text.
World building was one of the techniques we explore in this project, we applied it to our individual exploration of the song ‘On my own’ from the show ‘Les Miserables’.
unlike certain other techniques, which use immediate or instinctive approaches to performance, this technique allowed me to form a detailed understanding of my characters environment, social class, emotions and world they come from. I found that this process of research allowed me to engage with the character and text beyond the surface level and consider how a range of contextual factors/ given circumstances can influence a characters behaviour and therefor an actors choices.When I researched Les Miserables (as shown in the image to the right), world building encouraged me to explore the historical, political and social context of the piece. This helped me to gain a clear understanding of Eponine and how these factors could help shape the inner life and motivations of her. I found this technique useful as it helped me to realise that a character’s actions are not isolated choices but usually a response to something larger in their world. I believe that adding this technique into my individual process will allow me to create more grounded and truthful performance choices.
We explored this technique through practical workshop and also discussion. Under Claire Eden’s guidance we were encouraged, in groups, to explore this technique with the text ‘Serious Money’. In our groups we researched different world building elements and made PowerPoints which we shared with each other. The most beneficial part of this technique is the level of detail it requires. It allowed me to fully understand my character as a whole rather than just focusing on that moment of a scene or song, this allowed me to make informed choices about different elements of my performance for example; physicality, vocal quality and intention. I have chosen to add world-building into my personal acting process as i find it reduces uncertainty in my performance as my choices are rooted in clear logic of the world of the piece.
In conclusion, world-building has impacted my performance across all lessons and disciplines. I now use this technique consistently and i find my character work is more believable and well-rounded. It helps me approach text with clarity, intention and confidence. It has been extremely useful in preparing for my acting through song classes as we only do an individual song in those classes so it helps my performances and choices stay routed in reality.
This project also made me take greater ownership of my own process as a performer and actor, it encouraged me to have independence and reflection and critical evaluation of my personal practice. The level of responsibility improved my ability to engage with text in a more specific way. Putting emphasis on process instead of outcome let me identify the techniques which were the most effective for my training compared to others which were more limited in their application. Throughout this process I became more confident in adapting and selecting techniques and methodologies that supported my strengths but also assessing areas for development. This project and essay allowed me to more critically examine how world building and walking the text and other techniques have helped me gain an understanding of performing with text and my overall development across all disciplines; acting, voice and movement.
We also explored Cecily Berry’s technique of Walking the text. We applied this process to monologues from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. We were given the option of a few different monologues and I chose one of Juliet’s monologues (attached to the side). We took part in a workshop where we completed a walking the text exercise that involved physically walking around the space and moving based upon the punctuation in the text. This was useful to an extent as it allowed me to focus on the structure of the text and the text clues Shakespeare had given rather than getting overindulgent or focussing solely on the emotional delivery. I found that this technique allowed me to connect easier with Shakespearean language as it gave me a different point of focus. Moving with the punctuation made me aware of internal thought changes, developments and shifts throughout the monologue. I also found this technique helped me gage the importance of pace, clarity and breath when reading heightened text.
Throughout the exploration of this technique we were encouraged to trust the punctuation and rhythm written in the text to allow movement to occur when it ‘should’ rather than being a choice. In a way I found this useful as it stopped me from imposing my own personal thoughts and feelings into the characters choices and allowed me to stay separate from the character. I would use this technique again if working with heightened text as it helped me reduce tension and not over-perform which is a common mistake in this category of performance.
However I also found issues with this technique and therefore won’t be consistently using it in my process. I found that it was very effective for identifying structure and rhythm but it didn’t account for the given circumstances of the character. Many factors like age, status and social/ political context can influence how or when a character acts, moves and speaks. In this case i found that this was true as Juliet’s youth and status would restrict her freedom physically at times which the exercise didn’t allow for. From this realization I decided this methodology is most beneficial when layered with other techniques or used as a starting point.
To conclude, walking the text has had a positive impact on my work across my training. I recently applied it to a song in ATS but used the sheet music for example rests as full stops to walk the song. This was very effective in helping me decide when to move and when to embrace stillness. I do recognise its limitations but still think it can be a useful tool for finding clarity, intention and truth in my physical responses to text.
I found that World building was more useful but I wanted to test my theory by applying both techniques to one text. As a class we were set the individual task of exploring and curating world building research for Romeo and Juliet (research shown to the side). I found this to be a revealing and useful process. I researched different categories for example; clothing, politics and society. This research significantly enhanced my understanding of Juliet, the pressures she faces and how this shapes her personal behaviour. I considered the ways in which these elements would make her present within a Veronian society. I found this methodology very useful as it allowed me to see Juliet as not just a romantic figure but a very young girl who was influenced by societal expectations of purity, wealth and obedience.
After trying both techniques; Walking the text and World building, I found World building to be a more useful and transferable method, adding context to the piece gave me an understanding of Juliet’s secrecy and urgency and therefore directly informed my emotional stakes and vocal energy. Walking the text will be useful in the early stage process of exploring new texts to gain clarity for punctuation and a feeling of the movement of a piece. Walking the text, was effective for uncovering the structure but was limited in isolation as it didn’t account for external factors.
In my opinion the most useful part of World-building was its adaptability and transferability across disciplines. World building is useful throughout the entire process not just at the start. It provides a grounding and foundation that helps to inform choices in movement, voice, intention and relationships. It also allows actors to be consistently truthful in their performance. The technique has inspired me to take responsibility for my performance preparation.
As I continue in my training and move towards a career in this industry, I will keep World-building as an essential part of my actors process as I believe it will allow me to approach any character song or show with confidence. In my opinion world-building is the most valuable technique I explored in this project.
Reflecting on my experience within the Actor and Text project, I can clearly identify significant growth in my development as an actor. Working with Claire Eden has encouraged me to approach text with greater depth, discipline and curiosity, strengthening my ability to combine analytical thinking with practical exploration. Techniques such as world building and Walking the Text have expanded my creative toolkit and enhanced my confidence when working with both classical and contemporary material.
I have developed a stronger understanding of how context, intention and structure inform performance choices, allowing me to approach roles in a more informed and considered way. This has positively impacted my acting, voice and movement work, as I now consider how character, environment and language influence physical and vocal expression. I feel less reliant on instinct alone and more capable of articulating and justifying my creative decisions.
Importantly, the skills gained through this project are transferable and will benefit me as a performer in the future. I have already begun applying these techniques across other areas of my training, particularly acting through song, where understanding the wider world of the character has helped me deliver more truthful and connected performances. This process has reinforced the importance of preparation, reflection and adaptability within actor training.
Overall, the Actor and Text project has played a vital role in shaping my development as an emerging performer. It has strengthened my engagement with text-based performance and provided me with practical tools that I will continue to use throughout my training and professional career.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Bunce, L.-R. (2018). How to Bring The Words on the Page to Life – The London LAMDA Tutor. [online] The London LAMDA Tutor. Available at: https://londonlamdatutor.com/blog/how-to-bring-the-words-on-the-page-to-life/.
Ellis, S. (2010). The Body in the Voice. [online] AMERICAN THEATRE. Available at: https://www.americantheatre.org/2010/01/01/the-body-in-the-voice/.
Ozplays. (2016). Lesson 6: Breaking the Text into Thought | Ozplays. [online] Available at: https://www.ozplays.com/lesson-5-breaking-the-text-into-tho [Accessed 7 Jan. 2026].
Schott Acting Studio. (2023). The Uta Hagen Acting Technique – Schott Acting Studio. [online] Available at: https://schott-acting-studio.de/en/the-uta-hagen-acting-technique/.
Uta Hagen (1991). A challenge for the actor. New York: Scribner’s ; Toronto.
Uta Hagen (2008). Respect for Acting. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons.
