Everyone has a pet peeve or two. I -- admittedly -- have dozens, but nothing makes me sigh heavier than students counting lines.
"I have twelve lines." "I have nineteen." "I only have nine."
So far, in this class, I've only had one student tell me how many lines she has, usually I'd have a majority by now.
There are a few reasons I'm bothered by the line counting, and they are very much related to each other. Firstly, while acting is a competitive field, being in a show with someone else shouldn't be competitive. It's all about working together and building an ensemble. Speaking of ensemble (and on to point number two), every moment that someone is on stage, they are very important.
It's one thing young actors always struggle with: you aren't only "in character" when you're speaking. Your character also listens, thinks, and sees! This is why, during Week 3, we did some exploring with Stage Business.
The first scene of our play has everyone on stage, but, for the most part, the conversation is limited to five characters. What are the others doing? Looking around the boat shop, listening to the conversation of the others (especially for those who respond to it), perhaps they're even talking to a fellow pirate (silently, of course). When we ran through the scene with everyone, it was MUCH better! No more bored pirates on stage unsure of why they were there.
Now to work on pet peeve #2... forgetting scripts. =]
"I have twelve lines." "I have nineteen." "I only have nine."
So far, in this class, I've only had one student tell me how many lines she has, usually I'd have a majority by now.
There are a few reasons I'm bothered by the line counting, and they are very much related to each other. Firstly, while acting is a competitive field, being in a show with someone else shouldn't be competitive. It's all about working together and building an ensemble. Speaking of ensemble (and on to point number two), every moment that someone is on stage, they are very important.
It's one thing young actors always struggle with: you aren't only "in character" when you're speaking. Your character also listens, thinks, and sees! This is why, during Week 3, we did some exploring with Stage Business.
The first scene of our play has everyone on stage, but, for the most part, the conversation is limited to five characters. What are the others doing? Looking around the boat shop, listening to the conversation of the others (especially for those who respond to it), perhaps they're even talking to a fellow pirate (silently, of course). When we ran through the scene with everyone, it was MUCH better! No more bored pirates on stage unsure of why they were there.
Now to work on pet peeve #2... forgetting scripts. =]