Preparation Pt.2: Acronyms and Adages!
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Time for more preparation, kiddies. Today we’re going to talk about keeping life simple when you’re standing in the wings, waiting to go onstage. That time where you stand there, mutter to yourself, pace back and forth—when you make that final preparation. I find it so surprising how few actors actually solidify these moments for themselves with questions like: Why am I coming in? Where was I before I decided to come in? But what’s even more surprising is to listen to the over-complicated answers many actors have to these questions. For today we’re going to stick to the rule of K.I.S.S. or Keep It Simple, Stupid. Don’t you love advice that fits into the concise little package of an acronym? They’re just so damn handy.
I’ve said before that acting isn’t real life and that none of your preparation should seem “ordinary” because audiences don’t come to see ordinary events. That being said, try to stay out of the stratosphere when it comes to your preparation. What makes drama so wonderfully moving is the fact that, while extraordinary, it’s also not out of the realm of possibility. Oedipus’s killing his father and marrying his mother, while a staggering coincidence, actually makes perfect logical sense when all of the events are finally revealed. To try to make sense of everything, I thought I’d break down all of this information into a nice little list. I love lists. No where near as handy as an acronym, but handy nonetheless.
So what are the things you should consider when going for preparation?
- Does it mean something to you? – If the answer to this question is “No” or “A little” then rethink your choice. I said in “Ridding Yourself of Speech Modifiers,” you should never make a choice that effects you only “a little.” Remember that there is a reason for every entrance you have and if the reason isn’t an important one then you have no reason to even make your entrance at all. You’ve heard it before: RAISE THE STAKES. I hesitate to use that phrase because it’s become so overused, but there really is no better way to say it. Remember that every choice you make, every decision, even your entrances, has to mean enough to you to make you come into the scene. Where you go from there is anybody’s guess, but have a reason to get in the door.
- Is this “Ordinary”? - In your search for choices that are stage-worthy let words like “ordinary” serves as warning signs. To be honest, I think we’ve covered this particular topic enough so I’ll just sum up with this: Remember when you make your decisions that these are serving to earn the attention of the audience. It doesn’t come standard and it doesn’t come cheap. You’ve got to earn it with every second you’re in their sightlines.
- Is it Believeable? – Here’s the hard part. Take your extraordinary circumstance and making sure that it’s completely within the realm of possibility. An audience will only suspend their disbelief so far and when you cross that boundary, you are on your own. When you’re asking yourself this question I want you to keep in mind the dramaturgical category called Selective Realism, which is the basis for the modern soap opera. Selective Realism is, in the simplest terms, when characters experience events that, while completely probable, would never happen with the kind of frequency displayed in the story. Amnesia and comas are both completely probable conditions, but usually not to the same person in the same week . . . twice. If your choice sounds like a particularly bad episode of Days of Our Lives, go back and try again. And here’s the trick to fixing this problem: take things away. Like I said before, you have to Keep It Simple, Stupid. It’s usually explanations that are too long that end up being unbelievable.
- Is the answer scripted? – Go back through and make sure that the decision you’re making hasn’t already been made for you. Is it mentioned somewhere in the script that you’re coming in because you got shot and are looking for a doctor? I know this sounds really self-explanatory, but you’d probably be surprised. Actors have a surprising ability to overlook the really obvious stuff and miss the forest for the trees. Adages and acronyms. What a day!
I think we’ll leave it at that for now, that’s a good start into the world of preparation. Remember to be on the look out for the next installments of the Preparation Series. And, if you haven’t all ready, check out Part One of the series: “Emotional Memories.” Until next time, as always, remember to Sin Boldly!
Playing In Your Costumes!
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The best part of the rehearsal process is that moment when you finally get your costume, the first dress rehearsal. It’s a wonderful moment because it’s like getting to explore a brand new skin for yourself. You get to deal with a new exoskeleton for your character, something they’ve never had before. It can screw you up onstage, but if you take your time, and open your awareness to it, it can inform so much of your performance.
When I get a new costume I spend a lot of time wandering around backstage, seeing if the movements I’ve concocted are going to work in my costume. Then I find what new movements my costume can show me. I love this moment of the process because there’s so much discovery happening all at once, rather than those bolts of lightning you stumble upon from time to time in rehearsals. These costume discoveries happen all at once.
We’ve discussed before that your emotions inform your body and your body informs your emotions. That is, contort your body a certain way and you can illicit a certain emotion, or vice versa. This is quite like that, in that the minute you begin to play around inside your costume you can find new dimensions to the emotions you’ve been bringing to the scenes. Perhaps you find something you’ve never experienced before, or evidence that can validate what you’ve been doing all along. It’s a wonderful time to play and experiment.
So when you get your new costume, even if you’re only getting bits and pieces to rehearse with, spend as much time as you can in them. From the very beginning, make friends with the costumer (this, by the way, is always advisable) and ask very politely when is the earliest you can have things like rehearsal shoes or jackets, vests or hats. When you get them, make sure you ask yourself as many questions as you can about these items. Are your shoes comfortable? How would your character hold their hat or their jacket when these items are off? How would they wear their pants? With suspenders or not? All of these things can tell you a lot, not only about who the character is, but how they move and why. As I said before, it’s a wonderful time of discovery!
So until next time, have some fun playing around in your costumes and see what other external factors can influence how you move and how you feel on stage. And remember, costumed or not, SIN BOLDLY!
P.S. I’ll be writing an article on making friends with the costumers. Trust me. You’ll want to. They’re great people to be on the good side of.
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