Blind character, not-so-blind actor
Printed From: Community Theater Green Room
Category: Producing Theater
Forum Name: Acting
Forum Discription: Q&A about auditions, character development and other aspects of the craft
URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5490
Printed Date: 11/21/24 at 4:44pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 8.05 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Blind character, not-so-blind actor
Posted By: jenkins
Subject: Blind character, not-so-blind actor
Date Posted: 6/04/13 at 8:27am
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Anyone btdt with a sighted actor playing a blind person? Appreciate any advice you can give.
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Replies:
Posted By: Majicwrench
Date Posted: 6/04/13 at 4:13pm
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I had an actress play a blind gypsy a few years ago. I just tied a scarf over her eyes during rehearsal. She hated it BTW, but learned a lot.
Keith
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Posted By: jenkins
Date Posted: 6/04/13 at 5:33pm
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So how did you block her - "3 steps right" etc?
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Posted By: Majicwrench
Date Posted: 6/05/13 at 11:35am
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Heck, she had a stick, and other actors to help her. And when she got too frustrated she would pull that scarf up. Like I said, she thought it would be an interesting challenge, but ended up really disliking the scarf. She learned a LOT from it though, and did a wonderful job with the part.
Keith
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Posted By: edh915
Date Posted: 6/06/13 at 5:45pm
Two things:
First - Blind people have a tendency to hold their heads just a little higher than sighted people. It's like they're honing in on their surroundings through extra concentration with their other senses. Also, they're very quick to smile. They are absolutely guileless when it comes to facial expressions.
Second - (And this will really, really help the other actors, too.) As you probably already know: much of acting is reacting, and the eyes (as the poets tell us) are the windows of the soul. Under ordinary circumstances, to really connect on stage with your other characters, it's best to always look them in the eye. So taking this as your starting point, whenever your "blind" actor is talking directly to a "sighted" character, have the blind actor look at the person's ear - not face, or shoulders, or chest - just the ear, either right or left, it doesn't matter. The blind person will then not have the other actor's face to read from, and the sighted person will get into the habit of not "connecting" on that level as well.
It sounds a little stupid, and almost a little too simple, but the ear thing really works. I played the lead in "Butterflies Are Free" several years ago, and I had audience members coming up after the show who were surprised that I could actually see.
The only downside: at one point in the play I had my back to my "mother" and we were arguing, and she spun me around to yell to my face. And one time during a performance, as she spun me, my eyes accidentally locked with hers; and the shock of me looking (however briefly) directly into her eyes, and vice versa, caused us both to go up in our lines. Thankfully, since we were fighting, the awkward pause was easily absorbed into the scene, unnoticed by the audience until we recovered.
Break a leg.
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Posted By: jenkins
Date Posted: 6/06/13 at 9:01pm
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Thank you so much! This is really helpful. I've told her to count her steps in blocking and I'm going to blindfold her next week when she's off book.
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Posted By: vickifrank
Date Posted: 6/26/13 at 12:29pm
Originally posted by jenkins
Anyone btdt with a sighted actor playing a blind person? Appreciate any advice you can give. |
Remember that if you are blind, your main risk is tripping or colliding with objects, so you take smaller steps.
Also you react more to other sense stimuli, make sure the actor turns toward sounds...and of course doesn't turn toward light.
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