SOLUTIONS TO PRACTICAL PROBLEMS IN APPLYING METHOD PRINCIPLES # 1

While teaching The Method to adult students in Pretoria, South Africa, over the past twenty-two years, certain challenges with regard to the successful application of the practical work to scenes (relaxation, sensory recall and the honest and free expression thereof) had to be dealt with on a regular basis.

1.  Students needed a framework within which to place the use of skills (relaxation and sensory recall) being taught and they

2.    clearly experienced a lack of understanding with regard to how to correctly apply the acting skills being learned to practical scene work

Not actually having received full instruction myself while I studied, which resulted in confusion, incorrect working methods and application of techniques, I had to come up with solutions to these fundamental challenges quickly and effectively … basically flying by the seat of my pants!

1. Firstly, while what is being taught has remained sacrosanct, certain aspects of how it is being taught – in terms of supplying a foundation of knowledge on which to base the use of acting skills – has changed radically with regard to how I was instructed back in the day …due to what I've added to the syllabus.
2. Secondly, it had become clear that additional information needed to be added to my syllabus. Text analysis, a strong focus on practical scene analysis, a study of the theory of drama and acting, stage craft, blocking for stage and voice development have all been successfully employed in an attempt to solve problems.
3. Students have to write and pass three written assignments a year in order to prove that they understand the theory of application and correct working methods when making decisions about work choices as well as why things are being done the Method Way.

The development, not of a new way of teaching The Method, but of a package of knowledge and information on which to base the use of practical acting skills with insight and understanding, has resulted from my trial-and-error attempts at problem-solving over the years.

My goal is to document and make available guidelines which will assist Method students and other actors in gaining an understanding of how to apply their practical acting skills through providing a framework based on competency in analysis, voice and stage craft and a knowledge of acting theory, since such guidelines were not, as a rule, discussed by Method teachers at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute New York during my period of study there (1981 – 1984).

I did a B.A. Drama degree at the University of Pretoria before going to Canada and the United States. As a result of my brush with academics, I understood the importance of analysis. Most student actors, however, think that you receive a text, you learn your lines by rote, someone tells you where to stand or sit or walk, you somehow say your lines absolutely brilliantly at the drop of a hat while executing your movements meaningfully at the same time because you’re naturally damn good … and, VOILA! you’re an actor!!

This sadly desperate belief suffered from by so many who wish to “act” would’ve been funny if it wasn’t so tragically ignorant … but there you have it. Nothing to be done! It usually comes as quite a shock to my first year students to discover that strong language, comprehension and analytical skills are absolutely essential to the art of acting and directing. So, one of the most important subjects I’ve added to my curriculum is Text Analysis. My students need to study and research three plays and their authors every year and pass an oral exam within a workshop setting on each drama or fail the course. An actor who is incapable of, or simply doesn’t do analysis, will have no idea where to begin in making the right decisions for the play and the character, based on the text, or how to eventually pick the right Method work to create that character in a way that is real and truthful and reflects the author’s intent. 

I’ve been wondering how often the complaints made by directors / fellow actors and other critics in the professional acting world, that so-called Method actors only act themselves, churning out the big emotions, can be laid at the door of the inability or unwillingness to do proper text analysis in order to play the character. As a result, these actors end up showing the audience how many big, real, honest emotions (thanks to sense memory) they can string together. We see the actor acting. We don’t see the character being. This means that the actor is failing dismally at his or her job.

Text and scene analysis is therefore a fundamental and integral part of the training I give my Method students in order to assist them to make the correct work choices in order to play the dramatist’s message and the character.

STEP # 1

HOW DO YOU BREAK DOWN A PART?

1.           Do a thorough analysis of the play using external sources also and not your personal understanding only, which may be way off the mark: study theme, plot, conflict, author's intent.

2.           Do a thorough analysis of the character, including the life of the character before the beginning of the play, based on the facts contained in the script. Write a Who am I? as the character, not as yourself!

 

3.           Ascertain the over-all objectives of the character: What do I want?

4.           Answer Questions A – J for each scene based on the text  including:

What do I want in this specific scene? The main objective/intent in each scene, according to which you make your Method work choices for real response and behavior by the character.

What is in my way? Ascertain the obstacle, if there is one.

What do I do to get what I want? The action, which is usually given to you by the dramatist as part of the text and is worked out specifically in order for the character to achieve (or lose out on) his or her Intent.

      5.          Do a Breakdown of Beats: A beat starts when an immediate objective sets in, and is complete when the objective has been realized or finally lost. A beat can also start when a new motivation sets in or when an emotional or mood shift occurs – when there is a change. A new intent and specific actions may come into play with a new beat. This helps you to achieve light and shade in your performance.

6.           Take a careful look at all the Conditioning Forces and make real for yourself the time, period in history, place, and objects that surround you.

 

7.           Study Relationships:

              7.1.    The character's relationship to the play

              7.2.    The character's relationship to other characters in the play

              7.3.    The character's relationship to objects in the play

HOW DO YOU INCORPORATE AND USE THE METHOD 

WHEN  PORTRAYING A ROLE?

Once you have broken down the part in this way, finding Justifications and Motivations for all the character’s actions and responses and working out intents and specific actions for each scene, you start searching for appropriate Method work: personalisations, substitutions, personal objects, overall sensations, emotional or effective memory work, animal or portrait work; the ways of building a character, etc. You test your chosen Method tasks by yourself and in rehearsal to make sure that it works in terms of the play, the character’s intent(s) and who the character is. You want to make sure that the end results of your tasks are logical and suitable for the character and that you are playing the intent of the author. You make Method choices that fit in with the play and the character in order to make the role and actions you are portraying real, truthful and original.

Questions A – J will be discussed in my next article, so watch this space!

Read the previous post here - PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED IN APPLYING METHOD PRINCIPLES...

Stephanie van Niekerk 

Director -  Method Actors’ Training Centre