These first few meets are always a little hazy because both actors have to
1. figure out how the other works
2. figure out how to marry the two separate work-ethics
3. carry out the 'work plan'
Plus, its not necessarily guaranteed to work out perfectly the first time. So there's a lot of trial and error before the 'acting' work even begins.
This is where we are now.
We started out with just a clean read through. It was interesting to see how our styles of acting (just voice acting in this instance, we were both seated) jump together to make the characters. I can already feel the previous character work I did (the many pages of the character bio online) worm into my conscious.
I'm going to go off on a tangent here and talk about conscious/subconscious.
This concept of acting in the conscious/subconscious is somewhat new to me. Well, new enough that I hadn't put a name to it. So now, as I work through the beginnings of a script again and start to mil about in my own way, I'm finding that yes, actually, it does work to start thinking of the character consciously, and I can already feel myself wanting to learn about this man so I can go 'off the book' character-wise and lines.
Now I'm back on summarizing.
After we did a first read-through, we chatted about the play in general. Very general stuff like overall outline, previous action, ideas of characters so far, and cutting of the script. We went back to the script and read through it one more time. It was like night and day. The lines made more sense even after the short talk about the generalities of the story. I'm thinking that not all the rehearsals will make these leaps, but it sure would be nice.
Excellent points! Research is not "busy work" to take the actor away from creating on the stage. Instead, research is the fuel that sparks and validates the actor's dramatic action and activity.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of subconscious, remember it can be a blessing and a curse. As Stanislavski stated, "Our subconscious is inaccessible to our consciousness. We cannot enter into that realm. If for any reason we do penetrate into it, then the subconscious becomes conscious and dies" which results in a predicament. "Our subconscious gives us inspiration; yet we apparently can use this subconscious only through our consciousness, which kills it."
So as you stated, exploring your character consciously will awaken your subconscious which leads to vibrate, truthful acting. Consistent rehearsals are also necessary. Remember, for each minute of show time you see onstage, there should at least be one hour of rehearsal time. Hence, for a 10 minute scene, you would need at least 10 hours of rehearsal time. This 10 hours does not include time spent completing research and memorizing lines.
Excellent start and commentary. Continue forth.
t.n.i.