Rehearsal 4 - The text rides the action

Throughout history theatre has evolved. Changing, improving and growing. Each time advancing in a way that made theatre more powerful, challenging and exiting. 

Melodrama --> Naturalism --> SocialRealsim --> Political --> Experimental --> Combined

With every transition there was a need for more substance and a need to provoke further. The more theatre and the arts began to advance and shape an era of liberation, the more the job of the arts became less to entertain but more to change the world we live in and the minds of the people. This then opened a world of opportunities for average people and gave them a voice they never had before. From the end of the 1900's theatre became a force for change.


From today's lesson i have learnt how to go through my lines and identity in breaths and where you may need to take a deeper breath. Using a slash for a regular breath (/) and a double slash for a larger breath (//) This really helped me when reading lines as i was able to see clearly when to inhale. Sometimes i can forget to take a deep breath before a line and often find i am short of breath and cannot deliver the line. In the future i will use this slash technique on my script in order to guide me.

Useful tip:                            It is natural that when you breathe in you are thinking about what
Inhale = Inspire                   you are going to say next and when you exhale is when the
Exhale = Human action    action  takes place. Knowing this gives you an inspiration and
                                              spark behind what your saying.

When analysing the text and discussing intentions i learnt that theres always an intention and purpose behind what your character is saying. Analysing your text before hand can give you an idea about your characters intentions however, constructing the intentions of your character doesn't allow any room for adjustments and has no real substance when performed, because you have already preempted the moment. When you react and bounce of your fellow actor your intuitions may change as you are connecting to what they are thinking and feeling, this is when the real moment happens and creates an ever changing, interesting piece of theatre. From you actions should then come your text because your feelings and emotions (actions) fuel your speech.

Here Bella Merlin's method of breaking down your script. I like how she sections each part and writes a clear intention for each line. 

I noticed that each intention is in stages for example "alerts, halts, chills" i personally disagree with this way of writing in your intentions because i feel by doing this you have in your head your reactions and acting cant be contrasted from the mind but has to be in the moment. In a real live moment on stage, the reaction you have preempted could change. However i do think this method is good to do in order to have those intentions in the back of your mind but just don't get stuck doing the same thing as acting should be reacting and not constructed.