Motivating an actor to think for themself
Printed From: Community Theater Green Room
Category: Producing Theater
Forum Name: Directing
Forum Discription: For questions about handling shows, actors, crew, board members, children ...or do we repeat ourselves?
URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5333
Printed Date: 4/30/24 at 4:46am
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Topic: Motivating an actor to think for themself
Posted By: jjpeppers
Subject: Motivating an actor to think for themself
Date Posted: 7/09/12 at 2:13pm
I've been having an issue and would love people's feed back.
How do you go about getting actors to think for themselves? How do you get the actor to examine their role and take the part personally?
I am very privileged to work with creative people who have had - many in their own right - professional acting success. They enjoy working with me and I with them. But I find that in my rehearsals they tend to leave all the decisions up to me -- their blocking, the internal thinking (i.e. working towards an objective), rationalizing the stakes of the character's situation.
It feels like a room filled with puppets when what I'd prefer is a room full of living, breathing people.
I feel like part of the remedy is getting their imaginations involved through good questions but I find that what I'm asking tends to be rather flat or too general -- the Socratic method.
What are your thoughts? what do you do to get people jumping into their roles?
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Replies:
Posted By: Thudster
Date Posted: 7/09/12 at 2:25pm
I've been in the Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant for 7 years now, which is based on history more than the books or TV show. Our director actually has handouts about the actual families we're portraying so we understand them, and every rehearsal he has us get into our families and discuss what it was like back then, what we would have been doing, etc. I realize this is limited to historic pieces, but it works well for us -- I've had many people tell me they thought I was a real minister because of the way I portray Rev. Alden!
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"Hey look! That's my dad up there whacking himself with silverware!"
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Posted By: edh915
Date Posted: 7/10/12 at 4:03pm
I always let my cast know that the play we are embarking on is a collaborative process.
Blocking:
I give them the blocking as I see it. A director must arrive with proposed blocking intact. Anything less is just plain laziness on the part of the director. The cast are to try the blocking (always) my way first. If something doesn't feel right, they are encouraged to speak up and either offer an alternative of their own, or we'll find one together.
Thinking, Character Development, Story Arc:
We have an initial read-thru. Then we read the play again, scene by scene, and discuss what's happening. The entire cast is encouraged to give their opinions on all characters. I act as referee. The full second read-thru can sometimes take two or three nights. We discuss as many aspects of our characters as we can come up with. Very few decisions are made, but the signposts have been erected. I find that the characters don't really arrive until everyone is off book. The characters, after all, are to be found in the lines. If something's not working, the answer lies in reworking the interpretation.
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Posted By: vickifrank
Date Posted: 7/22/12 at 12:13pm
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Hand all the actors a handout on character development. Tell them its a guide they can reference or not. As long as you hand it to all of them nobody ought to be insulted. The experienced ones might ignore it. The newbees will frequently be thankful. You may be helping someone who feels lost. I know I would have been grateful: once when an actress suddenly dropped out of a community theater production of "12 Angry Women", the director who is my friend begged me to fill in--I'm guessing that I looked the part and was a live body that was aware of the director's vision. I'm not an actress, I'm a set designer. I did it, but I clearly was not in my comfort zone. I'm not an actress (at least I know it!) Heres a link to a pretty nice guide to character development. http://www.actingintuitive.com/articles/5-Es-character.htm - http://www.actingintuitive.com/articles/5-Es-character.htm
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Posted By: Thudster
Date Posted: 7/22/12 at 12:50pm
Thanks for the link to the guide!
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"Hey look! That's my dad up there whacking himself with silverware!"
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Posted By: Rorgg
Date Posted: 8/09/12 at 11:46am
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Direct them to the clip from Extras where Ian McKellen describes his acting PROCESS to be "I pretend to be the person whom I am portraying." It's so freaking simple and obvious, but if they start THERE, it's hard to go very wrong, and even if they do, there's a trail to start from.
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