Roles 101

exercises

Self Awareness Exercises

1. Practice stream of consciousness monolog.
2. Practice monolog with all sentences beginning with "I am", "I want", "I need" or "I feel".
3. Tense your muscles slowly to full tension, then relax them slowly to full relaxation.

Dealing with Performance Anxiety

1. Speak in the language of the Spirit.
2. Rebuke the evil behind the tension.
3. Imagine yourself an cup overflowing with God's gifts.
4. Imagine a spring of living water inside you.
5. Continuously emanate encouragement.

Emoting in Monolog

1. Anger - betrayal (tempered for obvious reasons)
2. Agape love
3. Friendly love
4. Eros love (tempered for obvious reasons)
5. Familial love
6. Respect
7. Disgust

Dialog Scenarios

1. Gossip and Anger
   • A has violated the confidence of B by gossiping and fears B's anger.
   • B is angry at the betrayal of A and embarrassed by the publicity.
2. Unmatched Outlook
   • A wants the best for B
   • B feels angry toward A
3. Student Teacher
   • Teacher yelled at Student in class, is disappointed with student, apologizes later for public reprove.
   • Student respects Teacher, fell to temptation of popularity, is confused by apology.
4. Maturity Difference 1
   • Newbee Christian girl wants to move forward to kissing with new boyfriend.
   • More mature Christian boy wants to put Christ first, talk, learn more about each other, be patient.
5. Popularity Dynamics
   • Popular self confident person bothered by a hangy follower friend.
   • Follower friend wants popularity and thinks hanging around with self confident people will help.

stage directions

Direction

• Listen to the director closely. Do NOT get irritated with direction. He or she must have full control over rehursal or filming activities.
• Always stop talking immediately when the director says, "Quiet on the set."
• Always go to your initial position, physically, mentally and emotionally, when the director says, "Places".
• Stop and be quiet when the director says, "Cut".

Stage Position

• Left and right stage are identified from the performer's point-of-view (as they face the audience).
• Up and down stage are identified from the point of view of an elevated audience.
• Center stage is the center of the stage from left to right stage and from up to down stage.

good performance habits

Audibility

1. Open your mouth.
2. Breath in naturally and deeply before speaking.
3. Push with your diaphragm.
4. Practice speaking loudly and pleasantly without shouting.
5. Record yourself and play it back to see if you can clearly hear your own words.
6. If using a mic, learn to use it correctly.

Visibility

1. Face half way between the audience and the person to whom you are speaking with your body.
2. Look at the person to whom you are speaking.
3. Break these rules only when serving a specific purpose.
4. Avoid turning your back to the audience, since it is often perceived as rude.
5. Move about the stage sideways, as opposed to upstage and downstage, to create visual energy.
6. Do not move out of a follow spot unless to create a special effect.

overview of preparation

1. Set aside some time to study.
2. Know your true self.
   • Who are you when you are alone?
   • What is your relationship to others?
   • How do you feel right now?
3. Know the story.
   • Theme
   • setting
   • progression
   • message
4. Know your character's motivation in various parts of the story. Memorize the scene, moving slowly from lines to reactions. For each piece of dialog or monolog, discover what you feel that would make you react with those words in that specific situation. Find the right state of mind so that line memorization is unnecessary. The goal is to come to recognize your lines as natural responses to what others are saying and doing - what is happening in the scene.
5. Practice segments of the role. Always start by being your true self, honestly, completely accepted and unjudged by others.
6. Progressively make choices that move you into character.
7. Understand your mind.
   • Change tact radically when you are off the mark. Be experimental.
   • Repeat a part or scene once it flows to commit it more deeply in memory.
   • Spend extra time with parts that seem contrived.
   • Go overboard with preparation. The level of preparation needed to remain in character with an audience is often much greater than the inexperienced actor or actress would guess.

studying the script

Studying the Role within the Story

1. Get a script of the whole play and read it.
2. Write everything your character says about his or her self from the play.
3. Write everything other characters say about your character.
4. Write the name of the character your character is talking to during the monologue.
5. Write down everything your character says about that person.
6. Mark the moments of discovery on your script.
7. List five mannerisms that you will give your character.
8. What changes occur in your character between the beginning and end of the script.

1. Describe briefly the situation between you and the person to whom you are talking.
2. Write down where you are. Are you and the other person indoors? In the living room? The bedroom? Outdoors?
3. What is your main intention?
4. What opposes your main intention?
5. What happens the moment before you speak? What prompts you to speak?
6. Mark on your script the rhythmic beats of the sentences you speak.
7. Write out a monologue as a dialogue, making up lines for an imaginary person with whom you are talking.
8. What is your character feeling as he or she speaks, and why?
9. What do you do after you say your last line?

Ways to Discover a Character

1. Description in stage directions
2. Description by other characters
3. Character's description of himself (includes soliloquies and asides)
4. Actions and activities of the character
5. Character's relationship to the environment
6. Aspect of yourself that are seen in the character
7. Other people you know or observe who are most like your character

1. The past of the character and essential happenings in the past - character biography
2. Inner circumstances that motivate the character to action - in general and in specific situations in the play
3. Major emotional key
4. Emotional range and emotions must frequently aroused in his or her
5. Strength or weakness of emotional release and characteristic mode of expression

1. Age
2. Nationality
3. Urban, suburban_, rural
4. Sexual characteristics
5. Profession or occupation
6. Physical shape, size, muscular condition, and notable physical trait.
7. Psychological gesture, or characteristic posture of the character - alignment or misalignment
8. Nature of the character's contact with the ground
9. Body center of the character
10. Characteristic facial expression
11. Character image (whole play and individual beat): Animals, plants, objects, concepts, essences
12. Musical instruments and type or piece of music the character is most like

1. Aggressive or passive ratio of character
2. Effort pattern of character: movement pattern of grace (wide or narrow, direct or indirect, flexible or inflexible, weight (heavy or light), time (fast or slow)) for the character in generate and at each moment in the play
3. Principal physical mannerisms, typical gestures, and habitual actions
4. Habitual use of objects and types of objects character uses
5. Vocal color used in general and in specific situation: Quality, rate, pitch, intensity
6. Speech patterns of articulation, diction, accent and frequently occurring expressions
7. Rhythm of voice and movement

1. Relationships of character to each of the other characters in the play
2. Relationship of character to locale and objects in environment
3. Relationship to community to which the play is set

1. Attitude toward external circumstances (outer world)
2. Attitude of the character toward each of the other characters
3. Character's feelings and attitudes about the principal events of the play
4. Aims, values, philosophical, social, religious ethical and moral views of the character and changes that occur in these
5. Dreams and inner desires of the character
6. Intelligence level and habits and process of mental activity: will, conceptualization, imagination
7. Extent of education and subjects preferred or rejected
8. Use of psychological defense mechanisms
9. Favorite foods music, exercise, relaxation
10. Contradictions in character's nature, between what he says and what he does between what he believes and what he says, between the values or aims he holds and what he does
11. Central flaw or misunderstanding that influences the destiny of the character

1. Your point of reference toward your character
2. Point of view you wish audience to take toward your character
3. Ways in which you relate yourself to your character: your past experiences that enable you to personally understand character
4. Tell the plot in your own terms - what happens to your character from your point of view and in relation to your personal life experience