Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: Digging deep for emotion

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Topic: Digging deep for emotion
Posted: 4/01/06 at 11:27pm

Hi,

I've just started rehearsals for a play in which the male & female lead characters deal with the death of their child who appears in the first act of the play. The child appears in the second act in a very touching, realiatic dream that the father has.

Any tips on how to reach the grief of the death of a child without being too lost in the emotion which I know can be a danger when dealing with such a topic. The playwright has wisely given each of the actors a good number of pages after their extremely emotional scene before their next appearance on stage. The bulk of the plotline revolves around the father(my male lead) and his reactions and guilt over the death of his son.

Any good exercises you guys know to help the actors with this? Both are expericned actors who are chomping at the bit to tackle these roles for the challenge that they offer. Especially, the challenge of what the characters go through in the play. Thanks for your help. I'm so glad this forum is back!!!!!!

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radiantshadow
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Posted: 4/04/06 at 12:11am

A good exercise I've done is "walking through your life." It is pretty simple, but requires a very conscientious director to watch over.

Before the exercise, tell your actors that they will be doing an exercise on emotional memory (my theory is that emotion is hard to make real in the abstract, but if you can connect it to your past, it is more accessible and real, though this must be very carefully done.). Tell them that they should focus on moments as you lead them through, but if there is something that is too hard, not to push it. They can leave and rejoin the exercise as they need to. Nor should they get worked up about specific years or dates; just let the memories come, process them, and move on. The goal is not to find things in common with the play, but to catalog one's experience.

Then have the actors walk around the room at their own speed. Take a moment to breathe, and then ask them to remember their first year on the planet. They can use either real memories or memories from stories or photographs. Go through year by year, providing appropriate prompts for each year. (For example, three years old, "What does it feel like to get dressed? What do you wear? How long does it take?" Seven years: "What do you eat for lunch? Who makes it? What kind of surface do you eat it on?") Continue for as long as is comfortable.

The rough rule of thumb I've heard for emotional memory is to NOT use new memories (more recent than 5 years). They may be extremely potent, but that means that they are affective to yourself as a person, not as a character. And the last thing anyone needs is a personal breakdown back- or onstage.

Also, the thing with emotional memory is that eventually even horrible memories get resolved. So some actors may need a sort of "Emotional Rolodex" to keep the feelings real throughout the run, especially if it is a rather long run.

I'll keep wracking my brains for more exercises; I know I've done them. The thing is not to focus on "creating" or "forcing" emotions, because then the emotions will have this hurdle of determination to clear. Instead, let emotions come or focus on actions and then the emotions will come.

Break a leg with the play. Loss of a child is intense; I'm very thankful that I can't even begin to fathom what that must feel like.

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POB14
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Posted: 4/04/06 at 10:30am

I'm not a big fan of emotion memory, myself. My problem with it is twofold:

1. When you go messing around in somebody's memories, things can come out that, while they probably need to come out, shouldn't come out in a rehearsal hall but in a doctor's office. Note radiantshadow's warning about a "consciencious director"; I would add "highly trained and experienced in the use of emotion memory. (I also note that my experience with EM is a more specific, targeted exercise than the "walking your life" exercise, and no, I'm definitely not describing it here!)

2. It can lead to substitution. Now, substitution can work for some actors in some shows. However, for me it never works as well as a simple application of the Magic If: what if that person, right there, were my kid, and I loved them more than life itself, and they were . . . just . . . gone one day.

I did Miller's Clara once, the second half of his pair of one-acts known as Danger: Memory! I played the father of a murdered daughter who, for reasons revealed through the show, is blocking important information about her killer. The show STARTS - literally 45 seconds into the play - with this father having a breakdown over the memory of his daughter. Now that took a helluva long windup backstage! My wife almost couldn't watch, because she's seen me REALLY break down, and the stage version was a little too close for comfort.

I couldn't have done that by thinking about my dog. (Not that I'm saying that's what radiantshadow is suggesting, at all; but that's how some people use substitution.)

POB
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B-M-D
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Posted: 4/04/06 at 1:04pm

As a director I don't mess with anyone's technique as to how they "get there" emotionally. I think it's up to each actor as to how they give you what you're looking for. If it's some method technique that plumbs the depths of their soul or whether they totally fake it doesn't matter to me as long as the audience believes it. I'm only interested in the final result NOT how they got there.

"Dying is easy, comedy is hard."

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radiantshadow
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Posted: 4/04/06 at 6:28pm

I'd second the caution POB14 brings; anyone can take themselves to pretty extreme emotional places, but the mark of a good actor is that they can go there and then put it away when they need to. I know more than just a few egotists who (try to) make everyone in the cast put up with horribly emotional crap in the name of their "art".

A better place to start might be with given circumstances (CGs). What are specific touchstones and triggers that the family may have? What reminds them of the child? What have they had to put away in order to forget? What are specific things they used to enjoy doing with the kid? You can find some of these in the script, but others will probably be most effective if they are made up. Then maybe discuss what it feels like to know that something may only be conjured in memory without trying to go there. Ask them to just think about grief--how they remember reacting, how they've seen others react--before plumbing the depths of their own psyches.

Also, I'd be sure to have plenty of hankies on hand for rehearsals, and plenty of good cheer items around--maybe cool down exercises focusing on happy memories or games folks really enjoy so people aren't going home depressed. One thing I did for a rather depressing show I was directing was to ask everyone to bring their favorite jokes or played (though you may not be able to get away with it if kids are around) double-entendre charades.

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Posted: 4/04/06 at 7:24pm

Thanks for the input. Very much appreciated. I'll keep you posted on how things are going. With the calibre of talent and experience I have in these acotrs, I don't think I'll need to do a lot of work with them. I think they'll do it for me. I just wanted to have some ideas to use should I need them.

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castMe
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Posted: 4/14/06 at 9:47am

I try to stay away from emotion entirely when directing. I know that statement sounds odd, but; we can't control our emotions in real life so how do we suddenly do it on stage? And, if the emotion direction works in today's rehearsal, how can I be sure the actor will get in the right frame of mind for the scene each and every time? I am a director, not a psycotherapist or psycologist. The other downside is: Why would I want my actors to emotionally drain themselves for a play, of all things. It's supposed to be fun! It's supposed to be pretend! Instead, I try to give measurable, physical notes to my actors or to have them play an action verb. In lieu of "be more angry" (an emotion) I will say "get in his face" or "jab your finger in his chest". Both are measurable...either they get in the actor's face or they don't. In stead of "be more sexy", I might say "flirt with him", flirt being the action verb. These directions help my actors to acheive the right "emotion value" for the scene rather than having to work themselves up in knots backstage before the big scene. I suggest a book by Judith Weston called "Directing Actors". The book is geared toward film performances, but translates easily to the stage. One of the many excellent points Ms. Weston mentions is "You're actors, not feelers". Have your actors explore the various ways people convey happiness, sorrow, sexual arousal, fear, etc. All of these emotions can be broken down into many, many different physical actions and reactions. Have fun!

Investigate. Imagine. Choose.

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theactordavid
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Posted: 5/30/06 at 3:36pm

I played the part in "Laramie Project" that included Dennis Shephard, Matthew's father, giving a gut-wrenching speech in court to one of his son's killers toward the end of act III. Although I had to control myself enough to talk and be understood, I needed to break down enough to truthfully portray that man at that moment. And I needed to portray other characters up to that point with entirely different personas. I knew I could do it, but I had fifteen performances ahead of me, so I held back during rehearsal (giving the fake sobbing scene) until the preview before opening night.

That night I opened the door and let out a good deal of what had been building up. The director (who no doubt was wondering when the heck I was going to start "acting") all but broke down himself. I had to do that fifteen more times, and each performance was different. Some I had no trouble crying and shaking, others I had to "act" a little to enhance the effect. But there was always a majority of truth to the moment.

I began each rehearsal looking at a picture of Matthew in private, talking to him, and telling him that night I would try to be truthful for him. Two and a half acts later, as I "became" his father, in the seconds leading up to my speech, I began seeing his picture in my mind's eye, I stooped my shoulders a little, began breathing shallow, and tried to look at the other actor and see not this young man who had become my friend over the rehearsals, but as a "monster" for whom I could barely contain my hatred.

Fifteen shows later, I left the theater with one thought in mind: man, I sure could use some Neil Simon about now. I guess my point is that I didn't drag my own past traumas into the theatre, and I didn't really "become" Dennis Shephard. I felt strongly enough about that scene, and the truth behind it, to be able to feel as a man who was deeply wounded and to share that anguish, while existing somewhere in between the reality of life and stage, neither myself not absent.

There are no small roles, only roles with a low line-load and minimal stage time.

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Posted: 5/31/06 at 11:49am

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POB14
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Posted: 5/31/06 at 2:55pm

Originally posted by theactordavid

I played the part in "Laramie Project" that included Dennis Shephard, Matthew's father . . .

Absolutely beautiful post, David. (And a role I would kill to play, by the way.)

POB
Old Bugger, Curmudgeon, and Antisocial B**tard

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