Monday, April 20, 2009

Short but Very Sweet . . .


In class today, I was observing a scene in which one of the actors was sitting off by herself - seemingly uninterested in what her fellow actor was saying. No reaction - zip, zilch. I stopped the scene and asked her what she was doing. "Well," she replied, "I'm ignoring her." Aha!. Thought it - didn't say it. Might have said "Eureka", if it'd occurred to me. But . . .

This was a case of the actor playing her objective - which was "To Ignore", without playing the obstacle which was "She Keeps on Talking!" The rule is simple. You can't ignore that to which you don't at first pay attention. And if the other party keeps going on, you find moments where you continue the pattern of "attention/ignore."

Remember. It's all about what you have to overcome in order to achieve your goal. Conflict is the essence of drama.

11 comments:

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  2. Yes it depends on the character. But how interesting is that character to watch? Is that not the goal of an actor dstien97? To create something inthralling for an audience to watch? To make them FEEL?

    Sure you can sit there ignoring your fellow actor, stone cold and responseless, unfeeling, like a lemming on the subway, or you can let the words leak in, penetrating your ignorance (which is what happens in real life).

    Yes every person in a play is different, but every actor wants to be interesting, and real. There are 6.5 billion ways to ignore someone, but what is the trueist, most vulnerable, readable way to an audience? If its a scene study...then damnitt, play the most interesting way. If its a play, chances are the stakes are the highest, so ignore and play as such.

    Wrong? No. I have never ignored someone in life without first listening, being affected, choosing to ignore, and then frustrated with the validity or stupidity of that person. Yes context is important. - Say victim was in a car accident and has mental problems; yes they will ignore, but we (audience, director, observer) should be able to read "mental problems" based on the actors performance.

    Sorry Dstien97 - Schoney's right on this one. An actor who emotes nothing is an extra. Conflict is the essence.

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  7. Wow..really burned you didn't I? Four postings? Ha!

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  8. Oh yeah, and I got your email pal.

    Lets take this outside.

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  11. My email was in reply to yours, Dave, which I found most generous.

    (beat beat beat)

    I hereby repeat my invitation for a beer.

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