Acting Class on CREATING A CHARACTER

exercises with Tapestry Playback group in Singapore

Let's tak a broad look at character "types."
1. How do different people walk?

Strolling around the room in a giant circle, walk normally and pay attention to how your body feels as you walk.
Next begin to walk with your chest leading you foward. Immediately your shoulders go back, you stand up taller, you feel proud. What kind of character would walk with their chest first?
Try changing to shoulders first...it's a completely different feel!
How does your body and attitude change when you walk hips first?
Chin?
how about the top of your head...?
Turn around and walk the other way.
Feet first...
Can you walk knees first? Kinda goofy, but you may be able to use it as some kind of character...
How about your Stomach first? Who do you feel like?

Okay...enough of this. Let's move on.

2. Age...What does it feel like to be a...

Newborn? Give it a try. You sleep alot. No mobility....Completely dependent.

Now 2 months old you can roll over.
4 months, hey look! You can now sit up!
5,6,7,8 maybe crawling by now...getting into some trouble investigating your world...9, 10,
11 months your now pulling up to standing, definitely showing personality and has some vocabulary...mostly "no!".... Now it's your
2nd birthday. You can blow out the candles...sort of. You play alongside other children, but not with them....

Now you're 3 years oldand it's your first day of nursery school. You're both excited and scared....

4,5,6 You're now trudging home from your first day of P1. This backpack is TOO heavy for a kid your size. You felt a little lost in the big school with so many students and big kids, and fierce teachers, but you still feel good 'cause you're a big kid now. P2, P3,...

P4 it's recess....

P5,6, Sec1. The teacher is asking you to line up to walk to class. Follow her to class as you interact with your classmates. Set up the chairs for your classroom....Sec 2, 3,...Poly...Uni alot the same of insecurities and acting cool, and school and peer pressures...

Let's jump to 25. You're on the MRT on your way to town to meet someone at LIDO for a blind date. When you get there, you find them, meet, make your way into the seats of the theatre....

You're 35 and you're on a date with your spouse. The person on the other side of you takes your hand by accident....

Now 55 you are still at the movies but need to pee. Make your way out of the theatre rows to the toilet. Remember 55 is not OLD. You don't want to be old. You still want people who see you to think you're attractive. Maybe even sexy. You're a little embarassed to have to leave the theatre in the middle of the movie and are self conscious, but you've got your dignity....

65 now, you're on your way to visit a friend in the hospital. What are you thinking about when you go?

Visiting a hospital feelings change over the years.
In your 20's: This place smells bad.
30's: I can't stay long, I've got too much to do...How long do I have to stay that will seem like enough time to my friend?
40's: I wonder how long until my parents' health will start failing?
50's: Sure lucky it's not me. What do I need to do to take better care of myself? 60's: I spend too much time in these places.
70's: I wonder how he's gonna pay the bills.

Okay, as you leave your friend, you're 75 and going for a healthy stroll in the park. Again, 75 is not decrepid. Resist the temptation to characature yourself as falling apart and barely able to walk...You are frustrated however that your body doesn't move as easily as it used to. The joints are stiff. You have some arthritis. A few especially uncomfortable spots.

Finally you're in your 80's. Turn the chair around and use it as your walker. Do you need hip replacement surgery? Knee replacement? How does it feel to have to go so slow? Frustrating? How do you feel about yourself as you get to where you're going and have a seat...slowly? Hmmm.

The group shares their reactions to the exercises.

3. Establishing character. What kinds of traits can make it clear?

We all made lists of at least 4 characters with an adjective describing them.
Take turns going outside the room, assigned one from list. Take as long as you like outside deciding some specifics about who you are and how you act. Think through the order of what you want to do to make it CLEAR to your audience who you are and what you want. Players enter room as this character and let the group guess who they are

An irritated bride
A stupid boss
A flirtatious woman
A middle aged woman jogging in the park with a cramp (HARD!)
An insane doctor
A happy go lucky hawker
A grumpy old man
A lost tourist

Hurrahhh!
A good first go at this hard exercise. We'll practice this some more next time.

4. Using Memories of emotions in your acting.

We're not going to get into theories and Methods and Stanislavski. But you'll have more in your tool kit for acting if you spend a bit of time recalling events in your life when you had strong emotions and making mental notes of how that felt. Let's list some strong emotions... I'll pick one:

A strong infatuation for someone. Put yourself in the middle of that experience. Remember. Now, spend a couple of minutes writing about how you feel and what you're thinking. Write "in the moment" and "first person" not describing it, but experiencing it.

A few minutes later we read these to each other. WONDERFUL!!!

5. HOMEWORK: Journaling a few more of these emotional memories
Look up the list of emotions and blog yours (you can do it anonymously) in my original blog: January 1, 2000