Acting Exercises
Exercise is a goal-oriented activity, undertaken to enlarge and strengthen old capabilities and acquire new ones, not merely to practice, polish, or maintain current skills. These student actors will be exposed to fresh concepts, and will convert them through acting exercises to effective character development skills.
The actor explores the possibilities of character through a number of exercises, and with an open mind, prepared to accept unexpected developments. Although we do observe some formalities and conventions in teaching technique, yet every actor uses devices of his or her own making to augment the process, for actors, too, are unique. At this beginning stage, the actor is in much the same position as his audience will be, anticipating but also unsure what may emerge in the next moment, yet with this difference: the audience waits passively to have the character revealed, while the actor actively searches the character out.
Acting exercises are used in this way to help the actor discover how the character might feel or behave, not only in the context of the play — or, in this class, the monologue poem — but in any context. The actor takes in not only what is given about the character, but also whatever the character might take in through his or her own senses, memories, experiences, education, expectations, attitudes, and so forth. Little by little a character is built up which the actor can inhabit comfortably and with assurance, even responding appropriately to unexpected events. At the outset, some of this will be explicit in the text, providing both a point of departure and a framework with which all subsequent interpretation must remain consistent or traceable. The actor infers the whole iceberg from the visible tip. Thus different actors will infer different characters from the small piece or aspect of a person that appears in the text. There is seldom a moment when a human being is not wanting to do something. Wants create drama and tension, giving life to a character. Wants cause action and create conflict. Wants are the motivating energy of human life, all life, and a system of wants defines every dramatic character just as it defines every human being. The actor will best bring the character convincingly to life by knowing and living the character’s wants, large and small, as his own. The development of character requires the actor to do something, not merely to describe or demonstrate something. The purpose for which the character is developed is so the actor can act, not just be. Active, actable wants are the basis of character upon which all the fine, finishing details are attached. The actor’s power is increased when his or her want is directed to a specific person, and the vitality of that want is amplified when it depends on a specific response from that person.
These questions should be kept in mind, not only as the character is being developed but as it is being played (Table 1)
1. Who am I?
2. Where am I?
3. What do I want?
4. Why do I want it?
5. What is preventing me from getting it?
6. What am I willing to do to get what I want?
7. Whom do I want it from?
8. When do I need it?
For example, what does Browning’s Duke (“My Last Duchess”) want?
-
1. The Duke wants to talk about the picture of the Duchess.
-
2. The Duke wants to physically conceal the Duchess’ portrait when he is not present, hence the curtain.
-
3. The Duke wants to impress the count’s envoy with his wealth and taste.
The words of the text and nuances of the subtext are weighted and considered as they define the character’s wants. The next great step is for the actor to accept and take on these wants as his or her own — to feel them, to act upon them, rejoicing as they succeed and suffering as they fail.
Having drawn a general picture from the text, it will be augmented and fleshed out in other kinds of exercises. The actor begins to build from specific details, and begins to ask specific questions about the character — questions the actor must answer for her or himself. Sidney Poitier puts it this way: “I must understand what are the driving forces in the man. In order to understand that, you must find out what are his political, social, economic, and religious milieu.” [1]
Ideas about the role should not become too rigid. Although they are the basis for developing a character, the actor must remain open minded, and prepared to make adjustments and to continue to probe into subtleties of the characterization - in short, to grow.
Another aspect of realizing the character is to establish a general impression about his or her physical and vocal personality. Laurence Olivier approached the problem from this direction, feeling that the visual and physical characteristics are vital: “to create a character, I first visualize a painting: the manner, movement, gestures, [and] walk all follow.” [2] How does the character move and walk? Briskly or slowly, with harsh or gentle movements, an erect or stooped bearing? Is the character soft spoken or loud? Does he or she speak rapidly or slowly, in short bursts or in smooth, even phrasing? What pitch, inflectional patterns, and articulation will make the character more meaningful? How does this impression relate to social and personal factors such as these: (Table 2)
Class status: upper, middle, or lower
Occupation: what kind of work, attitude towards this, income, hours, location, prospects
Education: level of education, what schools, best and worst subjects, what proficiency Home: kind of dwelling and neighborhood
Single, married, divorced, widowed, orphan, with family or alone Religion: what religious affiliation or belief, how devout, ethical and philosophical views
Race, nationality, or ethnic background
Age, health, vigor, handicaps
Political interests or activities, beliefs
Hobbies, amusements, sports
Sex life, moral views and attitudes
Ambitions, goals, achievements, failures
Attitude toward life: resigned, rebellious, defeatist, etc.
Being in costume can help bring a character’s movements and mannerisms to life. Handling props such as personal items, weapons, food and tableware, walking sticks and umbrellas, all help in the same ways.
Find sensory elements in the poem. Some may be explicitly stated, of course, and others may be implied, but every character must be someplace, and that someplace must have some qualities, no matter how commonplace or barren. Imagine the setting where the poem takes place. Where is Ulysses? What is the climate? Hot, cold, wet, dry? Where are these “barren crags?” How is he dressed? When he introduces his son Telemachus, how does he relate to him? Where was Telemachus when Ulysses began to speak? Is he literally there within earshot? Ulysses is a seaman — look for the smell of the sea about him, the spray of the water in his face, the sound of the waves. Take the poem apart line by line looking for sensory elements. Does Ulysses begin speaking at mid-day, or when? As the poem proceeds to dusk and night, is this Ulysses’ metaphor of old age?
Some exercises, as above, can be effectively carried out alone: others depend on interaction with other actors or class members. Among these are picture exercises, place exercises, entrance exercises ,character trait exercises, and character’s off stage life improvisations.
Improvise the circumstances immediately before the first line of the poem; literally, where is Ulysses coming from? What is Ulysses doing before he begins speaking? What is the time of day? Is it hot, cold, indoors or outside? Always look for specifics, for detail. To whom is Ulysses speaking? Has he just been with his wife? How does he feel about his wife? Have another student play Penelope; what were they doing? Set up an improvisation on “A day in the life of Ulysses” with a single actor or two or more actors. Eating dinner with his family, what are his habits, his daily routines? What does he do alone?
Use place exercises in which students set up the location where the monologue takes place. Where is “this still hearth” by which Ulysses speaks? If it is a room, bring in objects or facsimiles that might be in that room or place. Each student can bring in some object and help set up the place — a painting, other art objects, things that make the place unique or make it commonplace, give it its own character. Have the students write a description of the place, make a drawing or a ground plan.
Picture exercises use photos or prints of period paintings that may relate to the poet, the character, the place, or in some other way to the poem, e.g., in simply giving a feeling for the times. Using a picture or image of the character, students physically recreate the picture as accurately and specifically as they can: how is the character’s head tilted? What is in the character’s hands? What is the character’s posture? Recreate facial expressions. Student observers compare the picture and the actor to make sure the actor is as true to the picture as possible. Freeze in a tableau. Recreate the dress of the character, and have students take Polaroid pictures of the actor’s recreation ( this is always fun). The intent here is to create muscularly and in as great and accurate detail as possible the pose of the picture, not necessarily the mood. The pose will create its own feeling in the actor, and when the actor leaves the pose some of that feeling will come along, too, enabling the actor to walk in comfort and assurance in the character’s shoes. Many actors use portraits of royalty or others of high social status while developing classic roles . The several actors of a tableau may emerge from their positions into an improvisation which reinforces their entry into the identity of their characters.
Picture exercises are useful not only as regards specific characters that actors intend to portray, but also as simple skill building exercises. Any interesting picture can be used as a starting point. Pictures showing people engaged in some activity are often the most productive, such as “The Stonecutters,” by Courbet, or Manet”s “Gare Saint-Lazare.”
