The Neutral Actor
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Today we’re going to discuss the notion of neutrality in an actor. Many times, actors find themselves needing to react to everything that’s happening on stage. They’ve been told so many times that they should never turn themselves off while another actor is talking that they’ve taken it to mean that they must always be reacting. Let’s very quickly just say that this notion isn’t true. You should always be listening to the other actors on stage as if this were the first time you’re hearing what they say, but you must also be aware that neutrality isn’t a weak choice. When directors tell you not to “turn off” while you’re not speaking, what they mean is “don’t zone out.” Many actors, however, take this to mean that they must overreact physically to make up for their lack of vocalizing. Make a conscious choice right now that you don’t have to react physically to everything happening onstage.
Let’s begin by discussing what neutrality is and is not. As an actor, physical neutrality is not a lack of movement, or energy, or purpose. Neutrality is not the lack of anything; it’s the potential for something. Let’s look at it from a physics stand point: Newton’s first law of motion states that a body at rest will remain at rest, or a body in motion will remain in motion, unless acted upon by an outside force. This is the law of inertia. But a body at rest is not lacking in energy, it is lacking in force; a resting body possesses Potential Energy. A body in motion also has energy, though it lacks the force to stop itself, or change direction; a moving body has Kinetic Energy. So what does this return to high school science have to do with acting? Well, when your body is neutral onstage, it means that it is in a state of Potential Energy. It lacks force, not energy. If that science metaphor doesn’t do anything for you, how about an animal metaphor? Watch how cats move when they are hunting. They are utterly still, utterly relaxed, but they seem to vibrate with energy. They waste no effort or tension until they spring forward into movement. It is a beautiful display of concise action. Your body, both on and off stage, should strive to be more like that.
So physically we see that neutrality is not “doing nothing” it is the process of waiting to do something; the potential for movement or reaction. But what about vocal neutrality? This is a stickier subject for the actor as there is never a time at which you will speak a line on stage that isn’t a) important or b) meaningful to you in someway. With that in mind it’s fairly safe to say that there will never come a time at which your character is truly neutral about the line their saying. Neutral people tend to say nothing at all. Even if you’re saying “I don’t care,” there’s something behind it. This isn’t to say that there isn’t a script floating out there containing a character who just truly doesn’t give a damn, but it is definitely in the minority of those scripts you will find.
So while vocal neutrality is probably not the strongest choice you can make, I encourage you to play with physical neutrality both on and off stage. In a future series of article we’re going to discuss the effort that it takes to give a performance and how much of that effort an actor truly needs. In the mean time, play with neutrality and see what it can do for you. If it works, if it doesn’t work, drop me an email or a comment. I’d love to hear about your experiences. And in the mean time remember, Sin Boldly!
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