My Go-To Exercise for Every Rehearsal Process
As an actor, I love text-work. It’s my happy place - my one stop shop when I don’t know where to start with a character. On my YouTube channel I’ve made several videos explaining various techniques that I use. Here’s the playlist if you want to take a look:
But there’s another exercise that I like to do when I’m in rehearsals that I haven’t shared. I learnt it during my first professional job in Into The Woods at the Manchester Royal Exchange. And it’s really simple.
This technique centres around what’s actually in the text. For the actor, the script is like scripture. It’s the doctrine on which the world of the play is built. And whilst we can go on to interpret its meanings and how we bring it to life, our foundation must be built from what is in the text.
I know I sound a bit evangelical here, but stick with me.
Here’s what you do. You comb through your script and make four lists:
Things your character says about themselves
Things you character says about other characters
Things other characters say about you’re character
Facts about you’re character
The first three lists are composed of direct quotes from the script, whilst the final list can be your own paraphrasing of the facts found in the play as they pertain to your character.
Let’s look at Act one of Macbeth and the titular character as an example.
Macbeth says of himself in Scene 7:
“I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself and falls on the other.”
In the same scene, Macbeth says to his Lady
“thy undaunted mettle should compose nothing but males,”
Earlier, in Scene 5, Lady Macbeth muses:
“thou [Macbeth] wouldst be great; art not without ambition.”
These quotes show their opinions of each other. Macbeth and his wife both see him as ambitious, as does his wife. And he views Lady Macbeth as undaunted, fearless, maybe even ruthless.
As for facts about Macbeth, as he’s the main character many of the plot points apply to him, such as the fact he kills King Duncan (spoiler alert, but it was written in 1606 so you’ve had plenty of time). There are also facts that are in character names, character descriptions, stage directions or in spoken exposition, for example, that Macbeth starts the play as Thane of Glamis. Facts can also be deduced from the other lists. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth see him as ambitious; if other characters also comment on Macbeth’s ambition, as an actor you could decided that it’s a fact that Macbeth is ambitious.
And that’s it! Once you’ve made your lists you can go forth and act to your hearts content.
Macbeth unaware of how badly things are about to go. Also, he’s a lion in this production…
Okay, you might be thinking that this is a bit long winded. Especially if you’re playing a main character, you could have pages and pages of notes per category. Ask me how I know. On the other hand, if you’re playing The Messenger in Macbeth you may have literally nothing to write down! So, why do I find this exercise so helpful in my creative practice?
Firstly, writing down this information helps you take in the information. I’m a pen-and-paper girly and studies have shown that writing by hand helps you retain things better, but typing also helps if that’s your jam.
Secondly, it gives you a really clear idea of your character’s relationship with themselves and others. I can sometimes find this difficult to visualise when reading a script, so writing down everyone’s opinions of and attitudes towards each other helps me conceptualise these dynamics.
Finally, and maybe most importantly, it shows you what gaps need filling. There’s no point concocting a tragic backstory involving your character’s dead parents when it mentions in the text that they’re alive and well. By mining the text for information, you can see where your imagination can run wild whilst keeping your character choices consistent. Win win!
So, between this post and the three videos in the playlist, that’s all my personal text-work go-tos shared with the masses. Happy acting, dear reader.