Today (11/7), we discussed a number of terms. Here are my notes from class:
- ACTION
- everything that happens onstage must happen for a purpose
- onstage, you must act with a purpose
- THE MAGIC IF
- what would I do if I was in this situation?
- the magic if = a lever
- "AS IF" doesn't ask you to believe something is real - you all know it isn't
- GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES
- basis for an actor & xir role - given by the playwright/designer/director/creative team
- who/what/when/where/why
- IMAGINATION
- the actor needs imagination
- before you speak, you need to know:
- who you are
- where you came from
- why you are there
- what you want
- what other people say about you
- without this, you will be acting without your imagination
- imagination is more important than knowledge (Einstein)
- CIRCLES OF TENSION
- designed to help actors relax and focus onstage
- as an actor, your attention can be scattered
- "public solitude"
- 3 different circles
- UNITS
- break a play down into smaller sections called units
- unit - wherever a new action in a role begins
- find a title that captures the essence of each unit
- for each unit, ask "what happens here?"
- OBJECTIVES
- in every unit, there is a creative objective
- purpose/goal
- you need to define an objective in each unit
- an objective is believable, and should make you want to carry it out
- every physical action has a psychological element
- when you have divided a role into units and defined the character's objective in each unit, you have a channel/pathway into the play
- EMOTION MEMORY
- broad point of view to interpret different plays
- observe and draw from past emotional experiences to display a certain emotion or feeling
- COMMUNION
- Actors sometimes don't listen to their partner in a scene; they switch off and wait for their cue
- if an actor wants to hold the audience's attention, they must concentrate on uninterrupted exchange of thoughts and dialogue of other actors
- SUPER OBJECTIVE
- as you creat your character's objectives, you can begin to get a sense of an overall goal - a line running through the play
- "i want to kill the king" or "I want to make her love me" are examples
- when you have found your superovjective, it acts like a magnet as all the other objectives fall into place
- this is the crux or the system
- Keerthi
