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.
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.
That's very interesting that you look for signs as to how they are embodying it. Does that also mean you're looking for signs as to where/how they also might be hiding something from you?
Kind of. The tone of voice or where someone is looking often tell me whether the person really believes the story they are telling me. But often they are not consciously hiding something from me, they are hiding it unconsciously from themselves.
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!
Thank you for sharing such a well articulated reflection, Stéph! I will forever be grateful for Meisner and the depth of emotion, personal truth and degree of empathy it has helped me to reach but I, too, learned that this was only one (very rewarding) step along the journey. I spent about 6 years just in the repetition phase and then progressed to layering in objectives within the scenes. I remember being part of a two person scene where one person had a difficult (but achievable) objective/activity to accomplish within the timeframe and the other person was instructed to repeat as if still in the repetition exercise (so without an independent activity). As soon as an objective was introduced to the repetition, it completely changed the dynamics for both people and heightened the stakes and conflict. When I've been in scenes with two or more characters and each of the characters want/need something from the other person, suddenly a game dynamic is introduced and can raise the stakes even further as there is the threat of losing or not getting what you need. Powerful play!
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.
That's very interesting that you look for signs as to how they are embodying it. Does that also mean you're looking for signs as to where/how they also might be hiding something from you?
Kind of. The tone of voice or where someone is looking often tell me whether the person really believes the story they are telling me. But often they are not consciously hiding something from me, they are hiding it unconsciously from themselves.
So interesting. This is definitely inspo for another conversation at some point. Would love to learn more about the other tell-tale behavioural signs.
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!
Thank you for sharing such a well articulated reflection, Stéph! I will forever be grateful for Meisner and the depth of emotion, personal truth and degree of empathy it has helped me to reach but I, too, learned that this was only one (very rewarding) step along the journey. I spent about 6 years just in the repetition phase and then progressed to layering in objectives within the scenes. I remember being part of a two person scene where one person had a difficult (but achievable) objective/activity to accomplish within the timeframe and the other person was instructed to repeat as if still in the repetition exercise (so without an independent activity). As soon as an objective was introduced to the repetition, it completely changed the dynamics for both people and heightened the stakes and conflict. When I've been in scenes with two or more characters and each of the characters want/need something from the other person, suddenly a game dynamic is introduced and can raise the stakes even further as there is the threat of losing or not getting what you need. Powerful play!