Your job as an actor is to engage the audience in the story onstage and keep them engaged. Although we don’t have the time and money to teach you all acting, I’ve gathered some tips I think will help you. And these are life skills. They say acting majors are very marketable in any field because they have learned skills that enhance their focus and productivity.
research
Know your character's life. Down to the last detail. You all did this exercise during our Acting Master Class. Go back and look at your notes. Revisit your thoughts on your character. Do they have brothers and sisters? Where do they live? Do they play a sport? A musical instrument? Do they like movies? Like to read? What are their parents like? Do they have a favorite tee shirt or sweater? Be very specific. The more you discover about your character's circumstances, the better you are able to answer the question: "If I were this character, how would I feel and behave and how would I react?"
Here’s a fun activity! Choose a theme song for your character. Is it classical, pop, rock? Does it have lyrics, or is it instrumental? Is it fast, or slow? After you've chosen a piece of music, put it on your iPod and play it just before a performance.
Here’s another one. Vividly recall an event from your character's past. Watch it play out in front of you like a movie scene. Be specific. Now, move from third person to first person. Put yourself in the scene. Become your character. This exercise will help you to "own" your character. Their experiences become your experiences. It's quite a workout for the imagination.
Think of these details when you are on stage and finding it difficult to stay in character.
Listen
Sometimes inexperienced or poorly trained actors spend rehearsals staring blankly at fellow performers, waiting patiently to make their next move. Instead, listen attentively and respond in character at all times. This will not only generate a better performance, it will also help you understand the action of the play because you now know the context of the dialogue. Pay attention to what other actors are saying and you’ll get cues or “memory triggers” of similar situations. For instance, “give when you are asked to give” might remind you of a time you gave generously to another. React to those memories and the emotions they evoke. Just be careful not to “wander off” down memory lane. Take a deep breath and keep listening. Breathing really helps push distractions away, allowing you to stay focus.
Commit
No Excuses! Sanford Meisner, the great acting teacher, believed that an actor has to be involved in something real onstage for the audience to be really engaged. The actor becomes the character by committing to the action and acting on his impulses. Meisner often reminded his students to make up fantasies that will stimulate how to feel like the character. For example, if your character enters a scene in a rage, think of a situation that would put you in a rage. This is only used as preparation to start the scene. Once you’re in the scene, let go of this preparation and react moment-to-moment. Breathe and stay focused.
exercise
Acting is behavior. Observe other people’s behavior. The better you become at reading someone else's behavior, the more keenly you will react to others. Watch a complete stranger for few minutes. Study his or her behavior. Are they sitting, standing, walking? Who do you think they are? How are they feeling? What are they doing? Reading a book, waiting for someone, having a conversation? But don’t let them notice you. It will ruin the exercise.
Concentration is important. When playing a scene, you must reject your own thoughts to focus on your character’s thoughts and feelings.
Here is an exercise you can do at home to help you learn to focus.
Choose a spot somewhere and get comfortable. Now, imagine that there's a circle or sphere around you, about 10 feet in diameter. Your task for the next five minutes is to concentrate only on the objects within that imaginary circle. How do they feel, or smell? How heavy are they? What color?
Next, enlarge your circle. This time it's the whole room. Do another five minutes. Keep going. Go outside and make your circle as large as a house. Do another five minutes.
If your attention moves outside the circle, gently move it back. This will train you to stay focused on what is happening on stage.
HAVE FUN!
Acting is fun, but it is hard work. It also should be very gratifying because you will have created something really special. You are an artist! Remember, if we all put forth our best effort, the audience will understand the story and our performance will be a success! Don’t forget to breathe!
