An Actor Prepares [for Medea]

CONGRESS IN SESSION

Medea is a role actresses wait their entire careers for. I am playing her at 23. It is quite the undertaking.

I have no equal parallel in my own life to what Medea goes through. But I have experienced the emotions - loss and love, hate and hope, anger and ardor. What makes her human is that she lives always between these contrasts and that is where I will find her.

The beauty of the way we are working on this project is that I do not need to recall sad memories to play this character truthfully. I need only to rely on the intricate text, to push it, analyze it, live in the sound of the words and the emotions will come.

We are using an approach, a system, very new to me on this production. I am like a recent convert to this way of working. It inspires and excites me and I have put all of my stock in it. But I also go through moments of doubt and frustration. I just have to trust it.

It is first and foremost about the text. Everything - character, emotions, honesty - will come from the form. Ryan Emmons, our fearless director, had me read Peter Hall’s Shakespeare’s Advice to the Players.

• "First comes the form and second comes the feeling."
• "Here is the paradox: by hiding the feeling you reveal it, by not indulging it, you express it. This is the contradiction of all great acting."
• "Shakespeare’s text is a complex score that demands to be read as a piece of music, learned like the steps of a dance, or practiced like the strokes of a duel."

Shakespeare may not have written Medea, but we are working with a finely crafted, rhetorical, verse play. Sir Peter has made me hyper-attuned to the sound of words. I dig at the script searching for antithesis, monosyllabic lines, onomatopoeia, and repeated sounds. To this I add the wisdom of Michael Chekhov (I’m currently reading his Lessons for the Professional Actor)

• "Whatever we are going to experience on the stage - even if it is terribly heavy and uneasy - the impressions that it is terribly heavy must be given, but how it is produced must be artistically light and easy always."

For me, at this moment, Medea is not a woman who kills her children. She is a woman in pain. She must sing though she only talks, dance though she only walks.

My mind is very full of ideas at the moment. It is excitingly overwhelming.

Written by Julie Congress

Acting

There are countless books on acting. Everyone has their own theories and systems. But how does the 21st Century, Indie Theatre actor tackle a role? Here's what some of the working actors we most respect had to say when we asked them the question:

How do you prepare for a role?

Daniel Talbott: "I wish I was better at answering this question but the thing I find most helpful for me to begin working on a play is to try to read it as many times as I can and ask as many questions as possible before going into rehearsal. I try to figure out as much as I can about the world of the play, the other characters in it, and the given circumstances for all of us based on what’s written. I try to be as full and inspired as possible and have ideas and choices and questions to bring to the table on the first day, and at the same time always try to make sure I haven’t made anything truly concrete yet cause I don’t think the work can really happen without everyone else in the room. You may come up with the most brilliant physical characterization in the history of theatre but if it has nothing to do with what the rest of the cast and the director and playwright and designers are trying to work on in telling the story of the play it really doesn’t matter. I read somewhere once that great acting is like walking a tightrope or plate spinning. I guess I try to know as much as I can and be in the best shape possible—spiritually, emotionally, physically—as an artist to try to start learning how to walk that specific rope or spin the particular plates that the play I’m working on requires. For me all the preparation you do on the outside is about making it possible to come to the rehearsal room excited, open, positive; with ideas, choices, and confidence to be able to be a brave and risk-taking part of the ensemble, because for me there’s no play and no theatre without the other folks in the room." http://www.risingphoenixrep.org/


Daniella Rabbani: "I start with the text which is great when you're working with a good writer and a little tricky when you're not. But judging the writing is not my job, so before anything, I trust the writer, director, other actors, and myself. Which sounds a lot easier said than done. So when I read the text, I'm looking for clues about the character and the given circumstance which informs my physical choices. Where I hold tension, weight or energy. I try to improvise in that new body in rehearsal and then get off book as soon as possible. Walk down the street speaking my lines, dream about moments that could be better, and generally obsessing." http://www.daniellarabbani.com/


Michael Criscuolo: "First, I read the play once, maybe twice, to determine the story, where my character fits into it, and to get a sense of the relationships between my character and all the others."

"Then I start going through all of my character's scenes one by one to figure out what my character wants (i.e. their intention) and how they're going to get it (i.e. their activity). Those two things are my anchors throughout rehearsals. If I run into trouble at any point, I re-examine/tighten/clarify the ol' intention-and-activity game plan, and that usually takes care of things."

"I'm also a fan of what others might call more "external" facets of acting: characterization conveyed through voice, body language, appearance, etc., and how one's intention influences those things and vice versa. Often times if I get stuck or want to figure out a new way to develop a character, I imagine how another actor might play my role. For instance, I just finished playing Lopakhin in The Ninja Cherry Orchard at The Brick Theater. This is a character who's gone from being a peasant to a wealthy merchant. I had no idea what that meant in terms of actualizing the role in a flesh-and-blood way, but I remembered that Brian Dennehy had once played this part for Peter Brook. So I started thinking about how he would do it. Well, for one thing Dennehy wouldn't put on any airs. Everything would be very straightforward with no frills, because he's a very salt-of-the-earth type of guy. And once I started thinking about Lopakhin that way, it became much easier to figure out how he would pursue his intention and react to certain other things in the play."


Adam Lerman: "Every character is different, and often the way that I approach the role tends to work alongside how the director is approaching the play. That may sound obvious, but if we're mining the text at the top of the process, then the dramaturgical work will come in first. Sometimes the director and I will talk about other actors or characters as references, but sometimes the characters come from notions in the text, or physical work, exercises, etc... Sometimes the character will remind me of someone in my own life, and I'll blend that person(s) with myself and other sources. The possibilities are endless."

"One of the challenges I battle with the most is avoiding my go-to tricks and old habits. People-watching tends to alleviate those issues, because in impersonating other bodies outside my own, I find I immediately depart from my natural muscular patterns (which can make for some uncomfortable and awkward postures and walks). And additionally, once the text has really been analyzed and the intentions are evident, the clarity of the character starts to really shine through, my obligation is to use those mental, emotional and physical tools to just honor those things." http://www.thisisadamlerman.com/

What Makes an Actor Good?

CONGRESS IN SESSION

To the General Assembly,

To grow as an artist, it is important to be perpetually questioning and reexamining one’s craft. Unfortunately, this sort of discussion seems to have little place once one graduates from their particular Institution of Learning. It is the aim of No. 11 Productions to be continually learning and growing, so please give me leave to wax [semi-]eloquently on the question: “What makes an actor good?” My list is nowhere near complete, but I hope that my compatriots at No. 11 and you, dear readers, will add to this discussion.

What Makes an Actor Good?

• Talent – You can’t rule it out, some people are innately gifted, and while good actors become better through training and experience, some degree of talent is necessary.
  
• Versatility – While the Tom Cruises and other mega-celebrities of this world can make a living playing themselves on the screen, a good actor, in my mind, should be able to play many parts. You should see the character on the stage/screen not the actor.
  
• Collaboration – As a director, I would rather cast someone I want to work with than someone who is uber-talented but brings nothing to the ensemble. The ability to work as part of a group, to bring ideas and energy to the project, and put the production over oneself is one of the most important features an actor can have.
  
• Control/Proprioception – Not only must a good actor have control over their physicality and voice, but they must always be in command of themselves on stage. Yes, we must be the character and be caught up in the world of the play, but a small part of the actor must always be watching what is going on. Proprioception, according to Wikipedia, “is the sense of the relative position of neighbouring parts of the body.” Proprioception is how we can move our feet even if we are not looking at them. It is a function of the brain that an actor must have to an extended degree. We must be in the moment onstage, but our actor-proprioception allows us to also know what is going on with the audience and with our fellow actors. Without this, an actor can become dangerously immersed in the character and lose sight of the fact that they are acting, which can be perilous for those onstage with them. No matter how immersed in a character and the given circumstances, we still have to pull our punches.
  
• Humanity – To paraphrase Stanislavsky, even if you are playing an evil character, it is the responsibility of the actor to find what is good about him. The job of an actor is not to judge their character, but to embrace them, faults and all. To find the good in a character, to understand how humans work, and to want to create life is essential to a good performance.
  
• Energy/Passion/Charisma – To create life, you need energy. Scientists say energy cannot be created or destroyed, so an actor must be able to find within him/herself that fervor that will not only catch an audience’s eyes but will invigorate and enliven everyone and everything around them. You can tell when an actor loves what they are doing and it is contagious and exciting.
  
• Dedication/Hard Work – As an actor, you will experience these rare, magical moments where something inexplicably wonderful happens and you are greater than yourself. But there is no recipe for this, and you cannot rely on it happening. What you can do is work hard, continue to train, and be constantly open to learning and growing.
  
• Good Attitude – Theatre is a highly collaborative art form. An actor must be receptive to the director, to the ensemble, and to the project. There is a reason we rehearse so much, it is to make the production and the performances stronger and stronger and the actor must be excited, not resistant, to this process.
  
• Openness – A good actor has an open mind, an open heart, and an open soul.

Written by Julie Congress