My subjective objectives
Every acting teacher will tell you, your character needs an objective! This was the theme of my week; both in regard to my upcoming role on stage and in my personal life.
It started on a personal level, as I listened to one of my go-to podcasts, Spiritually Hungry. Whilst I was getting my mileage in on the treadmill, I was taking in the valuable reminders from Monica & Michael Berg. Wherever there is struggle, there is an opportunity holding out its hand and inviting you to go beyond the realms of your familiar day-to-day mode and stretch the possibilities of your own being. Michael says that the number one question we should ask ourselves each morning is:
“What is my battle today? How am I going to proactively choose to battle my selfishness and my ego?”
Just like in our own lives, we’re always battling something (even if we’re not giving it our full fight). Our low self-esteem, our fear of not being good enough, our fear of being judged, fear of talking too much or not being heard or of feeling humiliated. Whatever it is, it’s what makes us dynamic. We’re all flawed in a beautiful comedy of errors. I think perhaps the extent to which we’re courageous enough to face those flaws and work in overcoming them is what determines the speed at which we grow.
Speaking of growth, I learned a whole ton this week in our rehearsals with fellow Actor, Dancer, Movement Director, Choreographer, Coach and most importantly friend and real life Betty Spaghetty (if this ever gets made into a series, cast), Marina Fraser. Namely, how the more effortless something looks, the more effort it takes. Now ain’t that the truth! I also learned about a new term to my ears, “pedestrian” which, in the context of dance, means to approach movement in an ordinary unembellished way, rather than with the grace or artistry of a poetic dancer. Needless to say, I’d say our piece is 3.9/10 on the pedestrian end of the scale (I wonder if that’s a thing) but my abs are certainly getting a workout with this one.
This week has presented me with a number of breakthroughs around my character’s objective for our upcoming theatre piece Reverie. When I was looking to sound out the inspiration from rehearsals against logic and reason, I revisited the first few chapters of The Power of the Actor by Ivana Chubbuck.
“An actor who merely feels tends to turn his performance inward and does not energise or inspire himself or an audience, where watching someone do anything and everything to override pain in an attempt to accomplish a goal or an OBJECTIVE puts an audience on the edge of the seats, because the outcome becomes alive and unpredictable… It is not enough for an actor to be honest. It’s the actor’s job to make the kind of choices that motivate exciting results… More than two thousand years ago, Aristotle defined the struggle of the individual to win as the essence of all drama.”
This has felt especially true this week. Firstly, “it’s not enough for an actor to honest”. Oof, this was like pressing a reset button. I have been crafting hard with various Meisner workshops at being utterly honest but what a great reminder, that that’s only part of it. I feel I had honestly connected to the text of our play but we were still searching for answers as to what my character’s OVERALL OBJECTIVE was (and whom exactly is she speaking with through what is essentially a monologue?) Stéphanie, our director, carried out an exercise between us where I was just delivering my lines to her, as a friend and she would interrupt me and ask questions, since the rhythm of conversation can be this way (it also helps to break any habits or patterns around “performing” parts of the piece that may have crept in during the line learning).
In order to protect the creative process, I shalln’t share here what character objective we’re working with (although come and see it on 30th March and see if you can gauge it for yourself!), however what I will say is that when I decided upon an objective that felt true, one that I feel was supported by the text and what she says/doesn’t say, the performance felt undoubtedly more grounded and I felt an urgency that I hadn’t felt before.
Another reason this objective felt right, is because it also engaged an inner conflict. With this objective, I feel that it has brought my inner conflict, interpersonal conflict and in our case, external conflict into the foreground. Suddenly, it felt more alive than ever.
So one step: ground your character by realising what they need and want in life more than anything.
Step two: do everything you can within the given circumstances to make it happen and achieve that goal because then, “the outcome becomes alive and unpredictable”.
When I discovered a connection between acting and self-development I think my passion for acting stole my entire heart. I feel lucky to have found my own objective and I believe that you all can too. Funnily enough many of the conversations I have with Writing for Performance and Creative Writing students at Cambridge Uni are around the subject of objectives. We talk about their characters of course, and what their characters want, and we talk about their objectives as artists and storytellers. Writing a feature film or series or a play takes a lot of time and energy, “what will make this worthwhile for you?”, I ask them. "Where is the drive behind telling your story is coming from?” and together we search for clues. I’ve found that this line of enquiry can lead us to the precious wellspring of their interests and inspiration and not only provide clarity on the direction they’re heading (so they can confidently forge forward at full force) but defining and refining our why can add fuel to their inner flame.
Lots more to say on this and I’m sure this conversation will pop up in various ways as I continue to overcome my own obstacles and strengthen my own objectives.
It’s really meant a lot to me that you’ve been willing to subscribe, reading and comment on my letters. I have been taking care with my posts each week and despite being flat-out busy with character prep, rehearsals and mentoring amongst work work, the fact that I’m excited to sit down at my desk and type this out, being as true as possible to my voice and journey, has made it very clear that this is something I enjoy and is gifting me with great rewards. Hearing from you is a big one, I love your comments and I reply to them ritually with a freshly coffee or herbal tea in hand. And I’m not going to lie, every time I receive an email to notify me of a new subscriber, it’s a goddamn good feeling that makes me day.
No comment is ever a silly comment.
With lots of love,
Louise
I can only relate this to my own experience as a therapist.
When my client is telling me a part of their story I look for signs as to how they are embodying it. Or not.
I imagine it is the same with acting. Of course the story is not actually yours, but then that is your skill (your art); to feel your way into that character and then embody it.
Monologues present unique challenges as the want/super objective isn't always as clear so I'm glad we got clarity about the narrator's "super objective". Interestingly enough, I recently directed a short duologue and used a lot of Meisner repetitions to create a sense of intimacy and connection between the characters. However, I didn't spend enough time working on the characters' objectives or specifically how they are at odds with each other. As as a result, and although the characters were genuinely connecting, something was missing from but I couldn't put my finger on it. I was told by someone in the audience that they were a little too inwardly, now I understand why. It's because I should have ensured I spent as much time on working on their objectives and make sure they fight to reach them to create conflict. We had discussed their objectives of course but I had not spent enough time working on how they embody their goals and fight for it. Great post, Louise!