FUNDAMENTALS OF ACTING
In this first year we will be studying the Stanislavski System as our Acting Technique method as we look at the Anton Chekov production of 3 sisters.
Constantin Stanislavski was a Russian theatre actor and director who devised a system of acting referred to as the Stanislavski System.
What is the system?
At this point if I was asked to summarize what this system is about, my answer is; it is about achieving the characters objective, and the drama comes from that pursuit and overcoming the obstacles that come along the way. Not acting, but Being.
Don't act, be
Paul our acting tutor gave us an example of a simple exercise that contained an objective and obstacle.
A cup was placed across the room, and the objective was to get the cup. So the scene was to walk over and get the cup. Paul asked us not to 'act', but to simply get the cup.
The first volunteer stood up and immediately started to act. Reason being, as they stood up instead of walking straight over to the cup, they walked to the opposite end of the stage, and then began to walk over to the cup. The objective was to get the cup, not to walk over to the other side of the stage and then get the cup.
The next volunteer did better as they walked straight over to the cup and picked it up, without a theatrical detour.
As the third next volunteer made their way to the cup, Paul quickly went and grabbed the cup before them. This was the 'Obstacle' they faced. Then the drama ensued as the one person tried to get the cup as the other prevented them from doing so. At this point there was no character history in mind, weather conditions, or physical attributes, just the simple objective and obstacle of getting the cup.
Acting or Being
Through this exercise we were introduced to the concept of ‘Being’ instead of ‘acting’. Not ‘acting’ walking over to get the cup, but actually just going to get the cup.
Another example we were given was the example of a character that is wearing a corset. If the character is wearing a corset they don't have to ‘act’ like they are wearing a corset, they ‘Are’ wearing a corset.
Adapting our thoughts from ‘Acting’ out the scene, to playing the Objectives in the scene, and the Given circumstances.
The Stanislavski system is not about teaching people How to Act, but a system of training that helps the actor to let go of ‘acting’ and embrace the ‘being’ within performance.
“It’s not by pushing, it’s by Letting go’.
4W"S
Stanislavski's system contains 4 fundamental questions the actor must ask about their character
WHO am I?
WHERE am I?
WHAT am I?
WHY am I?
These questions hold vital answers to how the actor will go about obtaining their characters objectives.
Objective and Obstacles
What is an Objective? It is what the character wants throughout the performance. This could vary from emotion wants to physical wants such as, 'I want to be loved' or ' I want to sit down'.
The Obstacle is whatever stands in the way of the character obtaining their want. This obstacle could be another character, the characters thoughts, or physical circumstances. The obstacle is what produces 'Character'.
OBJECTIVES AND OBSTACLES
The purpose of OBJECTIVES is to get the actor from playing
him or herself. The audience didn’t come to see the actor being themself or the
actors’ ego; they came to see a story being told and the characters involved.
Playing the characters Objectives allows the ‘actor’ to take a back seat.
Supreme Objective, Super Objective and Sub Objective
Supreme Objective
What does the character want overall?
What is the characters SUPREME objective in life? What is
their major want in life?
Using ‘Macbeth’ as an example, I have decided that his
Supreme Objective is
‘To be loved by Lady Macbeth’
So everything he does throughout the course of the play he
does all with the end goal of getting Lady Macbeth to love him.
Super Objective
The Super objective is the characters objective at that
point in time of that scene. Macbeth’s super objective could be to,
‘Kill Duncan’
So whatever he does in that scene will have to ultimately
lead him to the point where he has deciding to kill Duncan. Even if throughout
the scene he is playing the young children.
Supreme Objectives and
Super objectives can Conflict. They can conflict morally, emotionally,
mentally, and physically.
Example is that Macbeth wants ‘LOVE’, but in order to obtain
that love he desires he is willing to ‘KILL’ for it. His objective is not to
kill Duncan, but Duncan represents his obstacle of obtaining his Supreme
objective. And because he is so compelled by his Supreme Objective of obtaining
love, his super objective of killing is justifiable and necessary to him.
Compelling Objective
The character has to have a Compelling Objective. This will
give the actor to the desire to want to achieve the characters objectives, and
also make interesting drama for the watching audience. If the characters
reasons for doing what they are doing are not strong, then neither will be the
performance.
Decision
As an actor a lot of our performance will be determined by
the decisions we make in regard to choosing
objectives. You have to give your character an objective that is strong
enough and compelling enough for you to want to achieve, so you can get over
the obstacles that will come throughout the performance.
For instance if a characters Supreme objective was to lose
weight just for the sake of losing weight, then the character would probably
fall at the first obstacle of walking past McDonalds. Plus it’s not very
interesting for the audience.
But if their Supreme objective was to lose weight to fit
into a particularly sexy dress, to attend a party where their ex partner was
going to be and they wanted to seduce them, to get them to cheat on their
current partner in order to exact revenge. That gives a whole new weight and
importance behind them wanting to lose weight, and also gets the audience more
involved with the process.
The individual Decisions the actor makes about their
characters objectives are what make each character portrayal different and
unique.
Sub Objective
Is determined by the characters physical circumstances at
that point in time. Such as battling weather conditions, getting changed into
pyjamas, or making a cup of tea.
When the super objective is overshadowed by the sub
objective this is know as “Pathetic Fallacy”.
OBSTACLES
Obstacles are the challenges the characters come up against
in the pursuit of obtaining their objectives. And the conflict with the
obstacles is what creates drama.
Macbeth’s Obstacle to becoming king was that there was
already a king.
Obstacles can also change and sculpt characters behaviour.
For example if the character you’re playing is an honest person, and their main
objective is to take care of their family. But they have just lost their job,
and their only option is crime. They would have to compromise their honesty in
order to obtain the Supreme objective of taking care of their family. That is
how obstacles can define and develop character.
If the character doesn’t want the Supreme Objective enough,
they won’t or shouldn’t overcome the
Obstacles that they face.
GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES
This is the characters circumstance in that moment. As
well as the characters physical circumstance (sub objective) what is their emotional
and mental circumstance?
Questions to help identify characters given
circumstances are:
1.
What is their emotional state?
Are they in an emotional state of Anger, Joy or Regret?
2.
Why is it like that?
Is it due to something that has happened, or the fear of
something that could happen?
How does this make the character move, stand, sit etc? Does
it affect the way they dress, how tidy they are? Does it affect the way they
feel towards certain characters or people in general?
The 3 Sisters
A play by Anton Chekov, that looks at the life of 3 sisters at the start of the 19th century.
As I read through this play what stood out to me is the feeling of being ‘Trapped’.
It seemed to me that every character was trapped in some way, and through the subtext I could hear every character silently screaming out for help.
“In creating the environment for a character you have to get into the characters world that is given in the text.” – Is what my tutor Paul Garnault explained to us, which made perfect sense to me.
THE SCRIPT
The text in the script gives definite descriptions of the world of the character. For instance information about the characters age, occupation, living circumstance, health, family situation, etc. The script can also contain information regarding circumstances that may indirectly affect the character. Like in Tennessee Williams ‘Baby Doll’, the characters and text reference the hot Southern American weather, which could affect certain characters temperament. The script may also contain information about the world of the character such as the year, the financial and economic climate, the social and community environment, any religious or political influence. To complete the task of creating the world of the character you need to fill in the gaps that the text does not fill in. This can be done through Imagination.
IMAGINATION
I was taken through an exercise that was designed to help us create the world our characters live in through our Imagination.
There is no such thing as actuality on the stage. Art is a product of the imagination, as the work of a dramatist should be. The aim of the actor should be to use his technique to turn the play into a theatrical reality. In this process imagination plays by far the greatest part. (AAP 54)
It’s our imagination that turns a plain dimly lit stage in Birmingham, into a cold cobbled Victorian Street in London, or into a dusty barn on a hot July evening in Southern America. Through our Imagination we have to create the world that our characters live in, so we can focus on being the character.
I went through an exercise where I lying in the Alexander position with eyes closed, while Paul talked us through an imaginative exercise.
The Alexander Position
This is a position used in the Alexander technique that is designed to
- Decrease muscle tension and strain
- Decrease stress and anxiety
- Decrease pain and discomfort
- Improve sensory awareness and levels of energy
- An overall quality of calm and presence
- Improve breathing coordination
- Gentle lengthening of the entire spinal column
This position is known as Constructive or Active Rest
Relaxation is very important when participating in an exercise that is designed to access the imagination, and engage emotions. The body should feel free of built up tension, allowing the body to feel uninhibited and the mind also.
‘Muscular tautness interferes with inner emotional experience’ (AAP 96). Stanislavski comments on the importance of relaxation.
Once relaxed and with closed eyes, a story was narrated allowing our minds to create an Imaginary world. The narration included directions such as, ‘You’re lying on a beach’, and ‘you’re hovering over a City’, ‘you’re following a person along the street’, ‘You’re entering a house’, an item is given to you’.
I found going through this exercise was effective in creating a whole world through my imagination. I could see the beach, the house, the texture of the pavement, and feel the weight of the item that was given to me. Through my imagination I could see, hear and feel a whole world that didn’t exist. And I understood that this is what the job of an actor is also, to create a world for the audience to see, hear, and feel. Imagination is key for the actor in creating those parts of their characters life that are not given in the script. Before an audience can believe it, the actor has to believe it for him or herself.
HOT SEATING is a drama exercise that is aimed to assist the actor in creating the personal world of their character where they have to draw from their imagination to answer questions about the character that might not be indicated in the script.
"Making a decision is vital in order to clarify the environment" - Unknown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1iwwwJzkn8
Realism instead of Naturalism
For this module I am exploring how the Stanislavski technique can produce Realism in the actors performance. And will be applying what I discover in the building of my character ‘Vershinin’ the play ‘3 Sisters’.
Realism is when the acting is focused on the emotions that the characters are feeling, and pushing through those emotions. My preferred style of acting is Naturalism, where the focus is less on the emotions of the characters and more on acting naturally or “being yourself” in the given scenario and playing the objectives.
The issue I have previously had in “playing the emotion” in a performance is that I feel often many actors are displaying the emotion in the way they assume the audience to recognize that particular emotion. And at times comes across quite false. Not everyone clinches their fist when angry, or moves frantically when excited. Playing the emotion itself can often be separate to the character that is supposed to be experiencing the emotion. I know a particular person who is by nature extremely timid, and so when experiencing an emotions which you would assume would be accompanied by a lot of expression. Due to their timidity that would just not happen. But would that make for interesting theatre? On screen you can get away with a little glance, smirk, smile or grimace because the camera will be able to pick that up, not so on stage. So would it be more suited for the stage that emotions the characters are going through be more visible so the audience member on row Q seat 17b will be able to connect with the character and the story? Maybe.
Realist acting physicalizes the emotions. For example a Naturalistic actor could deliver the line, “I’m just so sad” displaying very little emotion, relying on the words, scenario, and circumstance to effectively communicate the characters plight. A Realistic actor would ‘physicalize the line’ using facial expressions, vocal inflections, and body language. Realism is significantly more expressive physically than Naturalism.
INSERT VID OF “IM JUST SO SAD”
My objection to realistic acting is that it can look “over the top”, and even “unrealistic”. Paul stated, “it’s only over the top if you don’t believe it”. After brief examination of this statement I came to agree with it. If I say a line and believe in what I am saying, I can push the emotion of the line, and feel authentic. But how do I believe something that I know is not true. How do I playing ‘Vershinin’, believe that I have a wife and 2 children, knowing that I ‘Leon’, do not have a wife and 2 children?
To be continued...
“Push that emotion”
In this video Paul is directing Eve who is playing Olga in the opening scene of “The 3 Sisters”. Paul encourages Eve to focus on the emotion that she is feeling at the start of the piece and to push through the rest of her dialogue with that emotion still high. This produced different emotions, as the dialogue differed, and painted a clear picture of how Olga felt, which the audience was able to connect with.
Paul comments,“the difference between naturalism and realism is that you really do feel the emotion, keep pursuing the objective until it comes through”. If the characters are feeling and experiencing emotion, so will the audience. Catharsis, drawing an emotional response is part of the purpose of theatre.
INSERT VID EVE LAUREN JADE
DEVELOPING VERSHININ
Tonight Matthew I'm going to be 'Vershinin'
What do you want?
I believe motivation is everything, everything a person does and how they do it is driven by their motivation. In acting terms I call this the characters Objective.
What does VERSHININ want? What is his Supreme Objective?
To figure that out I need to find out what the script says about Vershinin
I start by reading the script to get any information about Vershinin
From the script I can see that he is 43, a Baron, on his second marriage with 2 children, unhappily married, at one time know as a romantic,confident with speaking and articulate and educated to some degree. This is what I've got from the 18 pages of text. Either from what he himself says or what is said about him in the text.
A key line that jumps out to me is
"if I were to start life afresh, then I would not marry...Definitely not!
Not just the line itself but the manor that the line is said. Vershinin shares this information with a room full of people who he doesn’t know well or at all. This very bold statement, tells me that he is very aware of what he would like to change in his life. His relationship. Later in the play Vershinin has an intimate encounter with middle sister ‘Masha’, who herself is also married.
All this information that is found in the script gives me a very good idea of what matters to Vershinin, and what his focus is. Unhappily married middle aged man, looking for fulfillment in another married woman.
At this point I would say that Vershinin’s,
Supreme Objective is: To be happy with a woman
Super Objective is: To get close intimately to Masha
Sub objective is: To entertain the ladies, and guest within the house
Having chosen my objectives for Vershinin, (remembering that there are no right and wrong choices, just better choices. What matters is that I have made a choice and can move forward with that choice, which I can always change in future if I find that those choices don’t work for me)
I can look at his lines having the chosen objectives in mind. This will determine how the lines are delivered, depending on what Vershinin is trying to do with the line.
For example, Vershinin’s line.
“when they called me the love sick major I was still a young man, and in love. Not so now.”
This line changes as I add the objectives. The ‘Not so now’ line can be played that Vershinin is saying that he is no longer a young man. Having chosen the objective ‘to get intimate with Masha’, in rehearsal as I delivered this line I directed it toward Masha. I calmly made my way close to her, and with the line I emphasized that ‘I’m no longer in love’, hoping to solicit a response from her. An Obstacle that developed naturally was the unwanted attention from the other 2 sisters. As they did their best to keep Vershinin’s attention on themselves, and away from Vershinin’s first choice Masha.
This is how the objectives will direct not only the delivery of the lines but also the focus and movement of the characters.
Imagination
During Vershinin’s introduction to the piece he often refers to having seen the 3 sisters before when they were younger. And then later recalls there names. So I can commit to the delivery of this line I am going to imagine the scenario where Vershinin meet the 3 sisters in the past. In the piece ‘Irene’ says that they left Moscow 11 years ago, which is the last possible time that Vershinin could of seen the sisters. Vershinin would of been about 32 years of age, Olga 17, Masha 14, and Irena 9. Previously I had in mind maybe Vershinin and Masha could of had something “between them” in the past. But as Masha would of only been 14 at the time and Vershinin 32 I decided to negate that notion. Another of Vershinin’s lines also says that he remembers ‘3 little girls’. So now I have an idea of the age the sisters were when Vershinin last saw them. I can imagine them meeting very briefly on annual celebrations, and establish some memory of them. Now as I deliver the lines I can draw upon some visuals of the 3 sister when Vershinin last saw them, as he attempts to jog his memory, trying to place their names with their faces.
Another section of dialogue where I have used imagination is the when Vershinin describes where he used to live in Moscow, and the journey he would walk. I have imagined what the area looked like, the cobbled streets and the gloomy bridge.
Character physicality
For this exercise I was asked to select 1 item that I believed identified with my character. The item I chose was a watch as it looked stylish, valuable, clean. And also I could see in the text that ‘Vershinin’ could have an issue regarding how he has spent his time, or even how he has spent his life.
What is physically different from the character and naturalistic me?
Using the watch and the words, and ideas derived from the watch I created a walk for ‘Vershinin’. As I did this I tried to embody the words stylish, valuable and clean in the walk . I noticed a significant difference in pace, and tension, that was not like my natural walk.
I wore the watch during rehearsal as an anchor to remind me of Vershinin’s physicality. ‘Swarve’ was the particular word that I had in mind as I walked around the space. Instantly Vershinin felt comfortable in the sitting room as he knew he was wanted there by the sisters. I stood tall, proud, free of tension, relaxed and enjoying every moment of the attention.
Although being a military officer, this was not needed to be seen in Vershinin’s physicality.
At this point my my character development process I have,
- Chosen Vershinin’s Objectives
- Created background history that has a direct impact on Vershinin's character
- Distinguished how Vershinin’s physicality is different from my own.
Boal, born 1931 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil was and is still is known as an influential theatre director, writer and politician and the founder Theatre of the Oppressed. Boal used theatre as a tool in fighting the social injustices faced in 1960‘s Brazil, particularly on political and economical issues. He staged performances where they would depict a certain type of oppression that he was accustomed to seeing at that time such as poverty, or class and racial discrimination. He’d then ask the audience for suggestions on how the outcome of the piece could be changed, ‘how to overcome the oppression.’ Initially this involved asking audience members for alternative endings or suggestions on how the character could deal with the oppression. The actors would then replay the scenes incorporating the ideas and suggestions. “Then, after an angry woman was so dissatisfied with how his actors interpreted her suggestions that she came on stage and showed them what she meant.” 1
“A scene is shown, usually containing some kind of oppression, for example Act On Info would show a scene during an anti-bullying drama or smoking prevention workshop showing someone being bullied or pressured by their peers. We would show this scene twice. During the replay, with younger pupils, we ask them to put up their hands when they see behaviour that they do not like, or if they see something they would not like to happen to them and the facilitator would shout stop. With older pupils they can shout stop themselves. The actors freeze at this point, we describe it like pressing pause on a DVD. We use these freezes to take a deeper look at what is going on in the scene, the facial expressions, body language and emotions of the characters in the scene. The facilitator would then ask for suggestions as to how the pupils would change the characters behaviour, and invite the pupils to take the role of the characters to see how effective their suggestions are. Different suggestions can be tried out by different pupils showing how they could change the situation to create a different outcome. This way of working breaks down barriers between the pupils and the situation – it puts them in the action. It is a great tool to enable pupils to try out different courses of actions in a safe environment that they can then apply to their own lives.” 6
“UKWON (UK Work Organisation Network) has developed several techniques to assess and enhance the ‘communicative competence’ of organisations. Forum theatre, in which ‘fictional’ dilemmas are used to explore situations in participants’ own workplaces, is a particularly powerful tool for stimulating reflection and action.” 7
Through Forum Theatre CCDC have been addressing difficult issues such as Domestic abuse. In a country such as India where the ‘cast system’ of grading people, and sexism are still very much part of the culture. CCDC have used theatre as a means to highlight this hidden, and overlooked issue, and offer solutions of how it can be changed. Potentially bettering the lives of those in the community suffering with abuse. Giving a voice to those who would previously suffer in silence. 