Chapter 4 – “Demands on Acting” “Feel angry” or “feel sad”…
Chapter 4 – “Demands on Acting” “Feel angry” or “feel sad” are not actable directions. Actors need specifics—concrete activities—in order to convey realistic feelings. Here is an exercise that allows you to practice developing a feeling through specifics: Choose one of the following scenarios: Your brother accidently puts a dent in your truck. You learn that you are being evicted from your rental apartment. You discover that your boyfriend/girlfriend is now seeing someone else. You find out that you have won a $2000.00 college scholarship. List 2 concrete actions you could do in this given circumstance. Now, tell WHY you chose this action and HOW you would do it. Imagine yourself dealing with that chosen scenario. As Stanislavski suggested, play the “magic if” game. If you were in that situation, how would you react. EXAMPLE ANSWER: 1. Sample Scenerio: Your cat just scratched your favorite chair. 2. I would move close to my cat and talk loudly to it, in an accusatory voice – to scold it and let it know that I was not pleased. Hopefully, this would prevent the cat from scratching furniture in the future. I’d pick up a spray bottle of water and march over to the cat. Then, spray it in the face, while saying, “Bad cat. Bad,” in a firm voice with serious facial expressions. 3. If I were in this situation, I would pick up the cat, and firmly place it outside the house. Outside, before going in, I would look at the cat and tell it, “You are bad. That was bad!” Then, I would march into the house and slam the door.