from the april 2003 issue
Do
You Know Where You're Coming From?
by Carmel G. Hearn
Article Listing:
How to Take it From the Page to the Stage
What to do When the Unexpected Happens on Stage
Do You Know Where You're Coming From?
What Your Kids Get From Drama Ministry
What to do When Your Drama Team Doesn't Care Anymore!10 Things to do Before Your Performance
Extraordinary Lessons from Peculiar People
Tech Talk: Costumes
Jeni Fabian's costume book recommendations
"Where are
you coming from?"
"Stage left…?"
"That's where you're making your entrance,
but where are you coming from?"
"From the green room…?"
"No, I mean where is your character
coming from?"
I remember the conversation
like it was yesterday. I was standing alone, center-stage, with my hand
shielding my eyes from the stage lights, trying to make out the silhouette
of my college drama professor, who was seated in the fourth row of the
otherwise empty house.
"Didn't you say to make my entrance from
stage left?"
"I gave that direction to you, the actor.
But your character didn't come here from
the wings. Where is she coming from?"
"Oh…" The light began to dawn.
"I guess she just left Billy."
"What were they doing?"
"They were singing a love song..."
"Where?"
"Down by the lake…"
"What is she feeling?"
"Happy…"
"Why?"
"Because she and Billy are in love."
"All right. Now go back and make the entrance again."
I had just been taught one of the most valuable lessons
I would ever learn in the craft of acting. Know where you're coming from.
In the moment before your entrance (or just before the lights come up
if you are already on stage), picture what your character would be doing.
Then bring the emotion or feeling on stage as you make your entrance.
But that's not all I learned that night. At the end of the scene, the
professor had me redo my exit two or three times as well.
"Where are you going?"
"Off stage?"
"You know what I mean."
I'm not sure where she's going. She's not back on stage until the second
act."
"She's never 'on stage.' She's in the garden, down by the lake or
anywhere the action takes place in this production. But she is never on
stage."
"OK. I'm not back on stage until the second act. I don't know where
she is between now and then. The script didn't say anything about what
she's doing or where she
is supposed to be.“
“Well, where do you think she's going? She's got to go somewhere. “
“Probably back to work? She's spent most of the day with Billy instead
of getting her chores done. “
“So, how would you play that exit?”
“Maybe pause, then sigh—sort of a happy/sad sigh—then run off stage?”
“Going where?”
“Back to the lodge, I guess.”
“Do that. Show me that.”
Audiences are smart. If you wait until your first line to start “acting”
then that's all they will see —acting, that is. But if you want to be
realistic, bring your character on stage with you. Before you say a word,
make them notice how you carry yourself, and what you convey through body
language and facial expressions. They will want to know what your character
is doing and thinking. By the time you deliver your first line, they will
be, as the old expression goes, “hooked.” And, equally important, remember
that the scene is never over until the exit or blackout is complete. Carry
that emotion with you off stage. Imagine that you are really going where
your character is going. You're asking the audience to use their imaginations…now
use yours!
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