When John Woolman stood up, I was straining to see Michael Worthington,” said an audience member after seeing A Clear Leading. “Then I remembered this was a one-person play.”
That is one of the highest compliments I have ever received. By using my body to create some very different characters, I had created a new world for that audience member. Though I had snapped from Worthington into Woolman, Worthington stayed in the room.
I don’t want to steer you away from interior character development like subtext or motivations. I certainly use those. But even if you don’t plan to perform a one-person play, you can use your body to create believable characters in believable worlds.
Looking at the body as the actor’s instrument, let’s start with our feet. So much of what our entire body communicates is controlled by how we stand. Ask yourself if your character’s toes point toward or away from each other. Are your feet far apart or close together? In the sketch Move or Stay?, when Frank stands, he could set his feet shoulder width apart with his toes pointing straight ahead to help communicate that he is solid in his resolve not to move.
Let’s move on up the body to the center of gravity. This is the place that we would balance if our bodies were seesaws. Find your own center of gravity and ask if it’s right for your character. By feeling your weight fall down into your thighs and letting your shoulders droop slightly, you can communicate sadness. By holding yourself more upright and sticking out your chest just a bit you can communicate confidence. In Quiet Angels, Roger could vary his center of gravity to communicate how good he feels about himself as the monologue progresses. Starting with shoulders back and chest out, as the reality of his unhappiness settles in on him, he might deflate, becoming more vulnerable.
Nothing is more communicative than our head. Even the angle at which we hold our head can tell an audience much. In He Is, reader number two could communicate different things by the way she chooses to hold her head when she says, “And woman.” By dropping her head slightly, she can communicate anger or irritation that reader number one forgot half of the population. By holding her head back she can declare defiantly that her sex is equal to his.
The head also, of course, contains our face. Paul Ekman on BBC Online said, “Recent work has shown that making a face – deliberately contracting the muscles that form the universal expressions – generates involuntary changes in the body and the brain, many of the changes that characterize the emotions.” This is valuable news for actors! Again, you don’t want to skimp on internal preparations like those I mentioned above, but if you’re working to communicate an emotion with your face, it will help your entire body (and your audience) feel that emotion.
You can communicate quite a lot just by standing still. You can communicate even more about your character and your surroundings by adding movement. If your setting is in a hot climate, one of the ways you can communicate that is by slowing your pace. Speeding up your pace can communicate a great deal as well. In Move or Stay? Tyler should think about quicker movements that highlight the “fast” life he’s peddling.
It is important to remember that your body does not stop communicating when your character stops talking. I performed in The Jeweler’s Shop by Karol Wojyla, who is now known as Pope John Paul II. The play was staged with the entire cast sitting on risers up center (closer to the back wall), watching the action of those doing their scene down center (closer to the audience). Our bodies provided a backdrop no stage designer could match. But it was essential that we did not – for even a moment – turn our attention away from the scene at hand. In pieces like He Is and Quiet Angels, with everyone on stage at once, if you stop focusing on the action so will your audience.
Have fun experimenting with your whole body as your instrument. You will be surprised by the variety of characters that leap out of you.
