Introduction
In Actor and Text we have developed a process for approaching a text as a performer and using it to inform my creative choices. This involved working with a variety of texts and experimenting with different practitioners techniques and closely observing how they then affected my performance. At times, I found certain techniques challenging or struggled to see their benefit, but at other times they had an immediate impact, allowing me to think more creatively and make choices with greater ease. By the end of the module, i have gained a clear understanding of the process and the purpose of each element for both myself and my character. I have begun applying this process to other areas of my practice to support my development as a musical theatre performer, finding it more accessible in singing then in dance, while still recognising that even subtle aspects of the process can be beneficial.
World Building
The first technique we explored was world building, popularised by Konstantin Stanislavski through his concept of Given Circumstances, and further developed by director Katie Mitchell, who emphasises that every detail of a world should be accounted for. This includes set, costume, and detailed character research, often supported by creating full character timelines. While writers are the primary creators of a play’s world “Writers must play God. We must create a world – otherwise known as worldbuilding.” (Jensen, 2025), my role as an actor is to understand the specific environment my character inhabits and how it shapes their behaviour. We applied this approach to Serious Money by Caryl Churchill, a play I initially found difficult to understand. By researching the political, social, musical, and fashion contexts of the time, I gained a clearer understanding of the plot and character motivations, particularly how Churchill satirises the unchecked greed of the financial world. This research directly informed our staging choices, including costuming inspired by 1980s workplace fashion: women in the work place wanted to look as big as possible in order to look powerful, so we envisioned our characters with large shoulder pads, blown-out hair and large statement jewellery. This then influenced our heightened physicality and urgent movement. We also used period music to score the scene. Overall, studying Serious Money demonstrated how effective world building can transform understanding, allowing me to make creative, era-appropriate character and staging choices.
I found this concept to be the first thing I used in other areas of my practice. During a Jazz Repertoire class we were working on a routine from Shrek. whilst learning, I was struggling with deciding how to act the dance as I hadn’t been given a specific character. To fix this, I turned to world building, as well as the work we did on character research when looking at Punk Rock by Simon Stephens. I began mining the circumstances that my character was living in and filling in any gaps with my own ideas, using the concept of Stanislavski’s “magic If”. After doing this I was able to bring much more personality to my performance, as I felt I was now actually portraying a character with an objective rather then just performing the choreography. By using this part of the process in another context, this has shown me that world building and character to research can aid me in both understanding the meaning of a show as well as helping me as an actor to make informed choices in order to create my character, no matter the situation or setting they may be in.
Analysing the text
The next text that we studied was The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, where we focused on the idea of breaking down the text; another method coined by Stanislavski. This is a process that I was not unfamiliar with, as I had practiced it on monologues. However, I had never attempted to section a scene between multiple characters into beats before, and initially found this very challenging. This was because I could not easily track one linear thought process, so identifying when exactly a thought would change was never completely clear. To overcome this, I realised that I would have to broaden my definition of what a thought is. Rather then focusing on specific thought changes, I instead focused on finding a change in subject or emotion between the characters. As stated by Cullens, 2019: “Beats change when characters change the tactics used to achieve an objective”. This helped me to clearly map out the progression of the scene and see exactly How the dynamic shifts between the characters. I also broke down the language of the script and identified the specific punctuation, objectives, obstacles, and linguistic devices used. Through taking the time to comb through the script, I felt as if I was paying attention to the words my character was saying and was able to spot more nuances in the script. One example is Jack’s use of antithesis, which highlighted that he is desperately trying to impress Lady Bracknell and is second guessing himself on what she wants him to say. This then influenced the choices that I made when staging the scene, as I found my knowledge of what Jack was trying to achieve was much more specific to each line of the the script, and was able to work in immense detail when it came to deciding how I would deliver each line and why. By taking the time to analyse my script, I was able to find shifts in tone and energy to figure out the most effective way to pace the scene to create tension and play my objectives. I felt able to make bolder acting choices, like making the delivery of my lines much more exaggerated and leaning heavily on physical comedy; literally coiling up with embarrassment when Jack said something that Lady Bracknell disapproved of. I felt I had more confidence in the satirical and mocking nature of the play, as well as the comedic undertones of the scene. I found this part of the process incredibly helpful, because as soon as I begun analysing I was able to pull out much more detail and intention to play with.
I found it easiest to apply text analysis to acting through song. Before bringing a song to class, I have been looking at the lyrics and picking it apart the same way I have been taught to with a script. Through doing this, I am beginning to notice moments of change and tonal shifts within the lyrics themselves, rather then just changes in musicality. I find that I am paying more attention to the words, and am trying to find deeper meaning in them by asking myself questions such as what does the character really mean? by doing this, I am understanding what the character is feeling and trying to achieve by the end of the song, and am more able to make accurate choices that are well-informed and detailed, as well as staying true to my character’s objective. For example, I was working on the song “Falling in Love With Love” from The Boys from Syracuse, which appears to be a song full of bitterness, so this was how I played the song. however, when I applied breaking down the text to this, I realised that there was a definitive change: the character goes from warning others about the dangers of love, to singing to herself about how much she actually enjoyed the experience of falling in love. This then completely changed what acting choices I made for the second half of the song, making them much more personal and heartfelt as my choices were now coming from a complete change in objective. By breaking down the text, I was able to identify the true meaning of the song and deliver a more truthful portrayal of my characters emotions and objectives. “The Best musical theatre performer is the one who finds the heart of the song” (Price, n.d).
Putting the Process Together
In week seven, our task was to apply the entirety of the process we had learnt onto a monologue, and I picked Macbeth’s from act 2 scene 1. Similar to Serious Money, I found research into world building and Macbeth’s relationships incredibly helpful, and later found that having that knowledge of my character’s lifestyle informed many of my choices, like how he would have a very imposing stature due to how society would have viewed him at the time. One thing I would like to improve on is time management during research. I was spending well over ten minutes on each section of research, looking into the details of history that were not necessarily directly linked to my character. although this can still be helpful when working on a play, when approaching a text for the first time mass levels of detail are not always a priority. Next time I use the process, I will try and work on this by only sourcing the relevant facts towards my character and their situation, and spending a bit more time focusing on the writer’s intention in the scene, as this was something that upon reflection I felt was lacking as my choices were mostly from my own interpretations.
When writing down my acting choices after carrying out the process, I noticed that it had had a huge impact. This has shown me that although I can not always see the immediate benefit of every part of the process, it really does all help in the long run and brings certainty and logic to my choices, rather then just delivering a line differently for the sake of it. For example, Although researching into Macbeth’s relationships with other characters is important for the overall play, I didn’t initially see how it was relevant to this particular monologue. However, when it came to making choices, I realised that his loyal and respectful relationship to Duncan is exactly what is causing Macbeth such conflict in the first place. Therefore, his physicality would be very different in this scene compared to the rest of the play, as he is so overwhelmed by conflict as he debates taking the life of a character he holds so much honour for. If I had not taken the time to research, I may not have realised quite how great the stakes of the scene truly were which then in turn affects my performance.
Conclusion
In conclusion, my work this term on developing a process has been incredibly beneficial and has significantly helped me to develop as an actor. I now strive for a greater level of detail when both performing and preparing a text. I now have a greater understanding as to why I as an actor should take the time to research and understand as much about my character, their circumstances and the world that they are living in as possible, as this brings a greater sense of truth to my performance and helps making well-informed choices far easier. Although I faced challenges when experimenting with particular aspects of the process for the first time, I now have a strong understanding of what each part of the process helps to achieve and how to apply them affectively. Additionally, this term has also forced me to confront and learn how to handle a range of different texts, some of which were unfamiliar to me. This has not only provided me with more experience, but has also helped me to understand that the same research process can be applied to any text. I am confident enough with the concept of the process and how it can assist me that I now feel able to begin applying this to as many other areas of my practice as possible, and seeing what choices and moments of change that that will unfold. I look forward to using this on my next acting project and seeing how my skills as a performer have developed from using this.
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