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The
Trump
Cards My college roommate used to scream I remember sitting one afternoon with him in our apartment’s living room as he watched a videotaped performance of one of his shows, and when it was over, all he could say was, “Wow. I’m really loud.” What my friend had just discovered the hard way was one of the nasty habits a lot of us have when performing. All of us have little unconscious tendencies that can creep into our performances if we’re not careful (that’s one of the reasons we have directors), but there are a couple of very common habits that a lot of actors use frequently to their own detriment. It’s not that theses techniques have no place on stage—on the contrary, they can be extremely effective if used correctly—but they should be viewed as very select weapons, only to be brandished if the situation absolutely demands it. Ladies and gentlemen, I offer you the “trump cards” of any actor’s hand: 1) The Raised Voice—Okay, so it feels good. After all, how often in life do you get to yell like a maniac with no lasting consequences? The fact that it feels so “therapeutic”, though, is the main reason that it becomes so overused: actors assume that if it feels good, it must sound good. Unfortunately, raising your voice may be cutting your performance off at the knees, for a number of reasons: • A lot of people have a powerful aversion to the sound of yelling—it just plain rattles them, regardless of the reason or context. You should ask yourself if you really need to isolate that portion of the audience in order to communicate your character’s point. • Yelling almost always indicates insecurity or loss of control. Rational people seldom feel the need to raise their voice to win an argument—the very fact that one or more people are yelling indicates that the situation has (at least for them) left the realm of rational discussion. For this reason, be aware that yelling on stage may actually weaken your character in the eyes of the audience. It might feel like you’re exuding power and command, when in fact you look like a petulant child. • It’s a little lazy. Humans are wonderfully complicated, and there are a million shades of gray in the way we interact with each other. Yelling is a quick and easy way to communicate that your character is upset, but ‘quick and easy’ isn’t always the best road to travel. Posture, mannerisms, facial expression, cadence of speech—all of these can speak volumes without the need to resort to yelling, and can be infinitely more interesting to watch. 2) Meaningful Pauses—also called “movie moments”, because it’s easier to get away with them on film. But, alas, stage dialogue is not film dialogue. It’s simply more interesting to watch Mel Gibson frowning in deep reflection, because the zoom lens guarantees that we see nothing else. Stage doesn’t allow for that brand of intimacy, regardless of how ‘dramatic’ it feels to the actor. Pace is an all-important concept in theatre: under most circumstances, one actor’s line should literally be beginning just as the prior character’s line is ending. It feels odd because we don’t speak like that in real life, but real life conversation rarely translates into interesting drama. Dialogue simply can’t afford to become sluggish, and actors are often the worst at knowing when the ‘dramatic pauses’ are actually dramatic to the audience. More often than not, they come across as self-serving and melodramatic. If you find your actors (or yourself) using either of the above in performances, it may be time to explore some creative alternatives. These habits are kind of like weeds: one or two are hardly noticeable, but if you let them slide, the next thing you know, they’ll be popping up everywhere. Better to “nip ‘em in the bud” while you can!
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