During this portfolio I will outline different techniques and theatrical methodologies, and critically evaluate the advantages I have observed in their application to a variety of play extracts. I plan to reflect on the impact this has had on my overall development as an actor, and my ability to experiment with different methods of preparation, to discover what I find most beneficial personally. The practitioners I will explore are, Uta Hagen, Cicely Berry and Konstantin Stanislavski, using extracts from plays, Serious Money, Romeo and Juliet, Henry VIII, and the song ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ from Les Misérables (Churchill, 1987; Shakespeare, 1597, 1613; Schönberg 1980).
In preparation for our lesson on Serious Money, I read the play to have an informed understanding of the overarching plot and each characters’ super objectives. Upon reflection of this, I now realise how much I had initially struggled to understand Churchill’s intentions with her writing. Fortunately we explored the technique of ‘world building’ inspired by Hagen’s ‘9 Questions’ (1973) to support our experimentation when performing the extract from this play.
For this technique we split into 4 groups and each researched one of the following categories in reference to the period the play was written and set in: financial, political, fashion, music. My group was assigned researching the political implications of 1980s UK, as demonstrated by the image.
As a result of our more informed perspective, the satirical nature of Churchill’s writing became abundantly clear. Therefore, we decided to use this as the main point of motivation for our performance: satirising the neoliberal and capitalistic approach to the economy, and particularly Margaret Thatcher’s ideology to prioritise commercialisation over society.
This contextual research, or ‘world building’ technique, helped me to explore and answer Hagen’s questions, particularly the characters’ predominant objective: making a lot of money.
With this in mind, we decided to create a more abstract performance with heightened physicality and voice to distance the characters from realism and more explicitly demonstrate Churchill’s idea that these characters lack humanity. Therefore, for my character I used an RP accent with a gruff tone and deeper voice. I combined this with robotic physicality and sharp, sudden gestures inspired by the Laban Efforts ‘dab’ and ‘slash’ to accentuate the alienation of this character. I felt the non-naturalistic character I created from this physicality suited the aim of our performance of distancing the audience from being able to relate to this character, while the use of voice allowed some level of recognition for the social group we were aiming to satirise (pretentious and pompous money-orientated people). However, on reflection I think I could have heightened my physicality and voice even further to accentuate these points, while adding in a more nuanced mannerism, such as checking a mobile phone, to reflect on our contemporary political climate and how these issues are still current. This idea was inspired by Hagen’s projection that ‘character and ethics, a point of view about the world in which you live and an education, can and must be acquired and developed’ (1973).
I also had the idea to undertone the section where we overlap advertisements with the word ‘money’ muttered repeatedly before and after projecting our individual advertisements. I felt this would add another layer to the cacophony created heightening the uncomfortable atmosphere, while immediately conveying the characters’ super objectives.
While projecting this idea vocally, we combined this with movement that mimicked a conveyer belt. This idea was inspired from my research which highlighted the growing financilisation of the economy and the prioritisation of commercialisation. I hoped the conveyer belt would further highlight the characters as impersonal and demonstrate the monotonous life of a money-orientated society, lack in substantial humanity. From feedback I feel this idea was effective as the audience suggested they received this with our intended aim.
On reflection, I found this technique of world building invaluable in the portrayal of our scene, as it not only gave us a point of focus for our performance aims but also informed our characterisation and delivery. I believe this technique is fundamental for any performance in order to fully realise a character’s aims, in or out of context, even if that means using your imagination to make up the answers to Hagen’s questions. For my personal development, I have also learnt the depth of research an actor can go into and how much more beneficial this is, especially when inspiring ideas for a more abstract style of theatre. I plan to continue using this technique as my initial form of research when working with any unfamiliar text in the future.
Another extract we looked at was Act 1 Scene 5 from Romeo and Juliet. As preparation for this I watched the 2018 Royal Shakespeare Company production directed by Erica Whyman. I then completed the ‘world building’ activity learnt in a prior lesson as a foundation for my understanding of the eponymous protagonists, their objectives, and their inter-relational journey. I found this revealed alternative readings of the extract to my original interpretation. For example, instead of Juliet’s initial motivation to interact with Romeo being purely her naïve infatuation, I explored the feminist perspective of her actions: to resist her parents’ authority and the power dynamic thrust upon her, by initiating an illicit romance. Thus, her direct flirting during this scene (contradicting the female archetype of passivity) can instead be viewed as a vehicle for a more contrived and possibly guileful form of gaining control in her submissive role in society, at least initially. Therefore, during this scene my group looked at scrutinising the more subtle implications of gesture and eye contact to demonstrate authentic intimacy vs controversy/ manipulation.
For example, on the line “Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much” I directed the actor playing Juliet to gently graze her hand over Romeo’s, looking at their hands connecting and then moving her eyeline to meet Romeo’s gaze with wide eyes. This more intimate connection then starkly contrasted her dropping his hand and turning away on the line “For saints have…”, only to delicately look back over her shoulder on the word ‘kiss’. I feel this read as perceptive control of the situation in her successful seduction, but also had the nuance which suggests the possibility of her simply being too shy and apprehensive of prolonged physical contact.
These choices felt more incisive and detailed than my group’s initial sight-reading of this section, where the actors maintained eye contact for the line “good pilgrim” with a tone of reassurance from the actor playing Juliet. In our original exploration, the actors also did not make physical contact until the kiss.
As director I could look at the scene with an external lens and felt our second interpretation of the text was more entertaining and sparked more intrigue to the characters’ intentions rather than simply fulfilling the archetype of love and first-sight.
This alternative approach to the character’s objective may not have materialised without exploring the contextual importance of gender imbalances and marital relevance during the period of conception and debut of this play, which we discovered while ‘world building’.
In this way, not only is this technique valuable for connecting with a character’s narrative, it is also important to reveal alternative readings that may influence one’s final interpretation of character arcs and intentions. This further explores Hagen’s ideology that “it is often the colleague or direct disciple of a new thinker who gets stuck in literal interpretations of the work, tending to freeze the new ideas and language into an inflexible, static condition” (1991). This suggests new patterns of interpretation must always be explored for a more nuanced character motivation, instead of relying on our original reading or the generalised interpretation of a text.
As a class we also explored a technique inspired by Berry called ‘walking the text’. For this technique we embodied the punctuation of the extract through movement. A full-stop would correspond with a physical pause, a comma; a changing of direction, a question mark; a spin, and an exclamation mark; a jump. A few times this felt uncomfortable. I felt it disrupted the flow of speech or changed the intention of a line, but I also found it allowed me to consider beats written into the text and explore moments of prolonged pause in the speech in places I may not have otherwise considered. As Berry’s encourages: “you will come up against ambivalences and feel that you have taken wrong decisions, but that does not matter because it will alert you to possibilities” (2001). On the other hand, I also discovered a disadvantage of this technique was that it dictated where thoughts changed and restricted a more original interpretation of the text, although I would still agree it is a productive point of initially looking at an unknown text.
From further reading into Berry’s methodology, I now understand her aim with the technique ‘landscapes of the mind’, which similarly adds movement in place of punctuation, is to “emphasise how thoughts are constantly on the move and being informed by different areas of the self, different areas of the character’s experience” (2001). She adds “because you are moving you are keeping the dynamic of the thought alive”. It is interesting to note the relationship Berry suggests between the physical movement and the energy of the thought. On reflection I feel this technique could be particularly pertinent to other texts I have explored, an example being The Age of Consent (Morris, 2015), where the two characters individually monologue their thoughts and experiences. I feel the constant shifts in energy within this text could be amplified by corresponding movement to the punctuation, adding further layers to the characters thoughts being conveyed. I feel it would be interesting to explore physical movement being inspired by the punctuation, and see how maintaining stillness in the passages that lack significant punctuation, may add depth to the performance and marginally adjust the character journey and how the audience perceives their thoughts. I look forward to experimenting with this technique in the future; particularly when a speech establishes a conflict between expressing ideas relating to the present moment, and thoughts which take them off into other dimensions of space and time.
In another lesson we explored applying similar methods of preparation to a song alongside a monologue. This helped me to understand the relevant application of techniques from Stanislavski’s System (Moore, 1984) and how they are transferable to any form of acting which requires elements of naturalism, not just speech.
I began collating the ‘Given Circumstances’ (Stanislavski, 1938) for both Queen Katherine’s monologue in Henry VIII Act 2 Scene 4, and Fantine’s song in Les Misérables, ‘I Dreamed a Dream’, to understand the characters’ objectives, surroundings, history and relationships. Interestingly I found both these female characters had a similar experience which led to their expressive dialogue; being abandoned by a man they loved and trusted in an androcentric society, which catalysed their current position. However, while Fantine’s emotion is driven by her nostalgic hope and despair which feeds her super objective of caring her child, Katherine uses different tactics of persuasion in attempts to achieve her objective: to maintain her marriage with Henry which resultantly gives her power and status.
Following this research, I experimented with how this directly informed different acting choices. I decided to begin Katherine’s entreaty in a kneeling position with hands clasped together and eyes lowered, to demonstrate her political and self awareness of her status and lack of power, but with a steady, forced calm tone demonstrating her regal composure and tactic to plead with Henry. On the following line “bestow your pity” I would raise my chin slightly and make eye contact to try and evoke sympathy and appeal to her prior connection with the king.
Because of this shared lack of power I would similarly start Fantine’s song kneeling, but contrasting Katherine’s hope, I would demonstrate Fantine’s despair and loss of any status by having a more limp form, propped up by one hand. My voice would be faint, almost whispered, with an uneven tone as my eyes stay shut. I feel these choices would highlight her despondency. Her purpose here would be to live in her nostalgia in attempts to withdraw from her current situation – “there was a time when men were kind” – as Stanislavski states “whatever happens on stage must be for a purpose, even if you outwardly appear to be doing nothing”. I feel this lack of movement effectively suggests the frailty of her hope and foreshadows her acceptance of how her life has changed.
Having analysed both these texts in full, I feel my acting choices were well-informed with a general understanding of how character voice and physicality would be influenced by their circumstances, as well as their language. However, on further reflection and more detailed reading on Stanislavski, I feel I could have created a more intricate image of each of these characters, not only looking at their circumstances and motivations that are written but also imagining their idiosyncratic mannerisms, and aspects of their appearance that may effect their portrayal.
Stanislavski discusses the importance of imagination in acting to develop a character beyond the realms of the laconic stage directions given by a playwright, asking “will what is given paint the character of the dramatis personae and give you all the shadings of their thoughts, feelings, impulses and acts? No, all this must be made fuller and deeper by the actor.” (1937)
I feel by comparing monologue and song, I have developed my understanding of the detail needed for acting through song, as well as speech, and how similar techniques are applicable to both. In the future I will explore creating an intricately detailed character profile, imagining different aspects that are not discussed in the script to feel fully embodied.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I feel our lessons this term have expanded the repertoire of techniques I can apply when experimenting with a new text. I believe I have gained understanding of how to unveil the multitude of interpretations a text offers, and how to explore these different interpretations in order to find the portrayal of a character that resonates with me most. In addition, these lessons have inspired further research into a variety of practitioners’ methodologies, which I am excited to explore further and broaden my understanding of different ways to experiment with new material.
Bibliography
- Churchill, C. (2002) Serious Money. London: Bloomsbury
- Berry, C. (2001). Text in action. London: Virgin.
- Boublil, A. Kretzmer, H. & Schonberg, C (1991). Les Misérables : a musical. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard.
- Hagen, U. (2008) Respect For Acting. London: Macmillan
- Hagen, U. (1991) A Challenge For The Actor. New York: Scribner’s ; Toronto.
- Moore, S. (1984). The Stanislavski System. Penguin.
- Morris, P. (2015). Age Of Consent. Bloomsbury Publishing.
- Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare(2018) Directed by Erica Whyman. The Royal Shakespeare Company. 2018
- Stanislavski, K. (2013) An Actor Prepares. London: Bloomsbury
- Stanislavski, K. Benedetti, J. and Eyre, R. (2017). An actor’s work. London ; New York: Routledge.
- Shakespeare, W. (2012) Romeo and Juliet London: The Arden Shakespeare
- Shakespeare, W. (1892). King Henry VIII.
