Applying Emotional Colors and Tactics to This Content-Less Scene--Content and Meaning Quickly Emerge

Part Two: EMOTIONS

Emotion (noun): the affective aspect of consciousness: a state of feeling: a conscious mental reaction subjectively experienced usually directed towards something and typically accompanied by physiological and behavioral changes in the body. Etymology: from Middle French, emouvoir "to stir up" and Latin, e-movere "to-move."

There is a popular saying in the acting field, “50% of acting is reacting.” This statement holds a great deal of truth when you consider that human behavior is motivated not only by our thoughts, but by our feelings about those thoughts. If we had no feelings we would be mere automatons. Our emotions are what connect us with humanity, provide the social glue to our relationships, and mark our behaviors with truth or untruth. EMOTIONS can reflect personality, displayed by the way we react to situations, the feelings we express with our words and actions, and how these feelings are reflected in our stature, gestures, behaviors, and tactics. A person’s manner of moving through space, interacting with others, speaking, gesturing, and even thinking is all colored by emotion. Therefore an actor must not only investigate the character’s emotions in all areas of the performance, but the actor must also consider how he carries emotions that will then color his performance of the character. Since the actor is the canvas for his art, and the actor is a living system who has developed a lifetime of habitual and responsive thoughts, emotions, and actions himself, he must be aware of these levels present within himself, as well as in the character he portrays.

This chapter will address emotions by discussing emotional colors, emotional tactics, and an introduction on embodying emotions. The Manifestation chapter will then provide detailed instruction on embodiment, as well as clearing embodied emotions by attaining a neutral state. As you read on and learn more about how emotions affect acting, consider this, if your words and actions were devoid of emotion, how interesting would your performance be? If two actors were simply standing, facing each other, saying the same lines, like the "Give it to me" and "No" sequence from the end of the Thought chapter, over and over in a scene without blocking action, would you notice differences in the actors' individual line delivery? The essence of those differences is emotion. A famous study by UCLA Psychology Professor, Albert Mehrabian, discovered that when a person is expressing thoughts on feelings and attitudes, the actual words a person spoke had only 7% out of 100% impact on their audience, the rest of the impact was on nonverbal communication (body language 55% and tone of voice 38%). Another study from the British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology found that all nonverbal cues had 4.3 x that

1 of verbal cues (or an 81%/19% split). Emotions, which are conveyed through tone of voice and body language, are more important to expression than words – for our words and actions are colored by emotions.

Emotional Colors and Emotional Tactics Emotional colors are the variations of emotions and feelings exhibited by a character. Call them moods, feelings, emotions, personality or states of being, they all ultimately influence the behavior of a person, often as an unconscious action. Have you ever heard of someone being referred to as having a colorful personality? The emotional colors displayed by the character an actor portrays are the results of the actor's work and preparation, much like in life the emotional colors of a person's personality are the results of a lifetime of an individual's own character building. Emotional tactics are when a person intentionally chooses to approach or react to a situation in a specific emotional state. Consider times when you might have coached yourself as you approached someone about a difficult subject or controlled your emotional reaction to a surprising situation. You were most likely using emotional tactics, for you were consciously selecting your emotional actions and reactions to better suit the situation. Young children perfect emotional tactics, for they learn early on before they are able to speak that their emotions create reactions from adults. They quickly manifest this recognition into intentional tactics to achieve what they need or want from adults. As children grow into youth and later adults, this ability simply becomes more refined, so refined many of us don't realize we are doing it any more.

A person can regularly experience both the conscious emotional tactics, as well as the unconscious emotional colors of personality and mood. Since actors first approach their work with a deconstructive process, starting with the evidence the script provides of the character's behavior, they first build their character's emotional actions from a conscious state. The actor will intentionally apply most of the emotional work in the form of physical character building and scoring emotional tactics throughout the script. Once the actor has made these initial decisions, during rehearsals and in performances, she may find herself going in and out of conscious and unconscious emotional actions and reactions. At this point she is going between emotional colors and emotional tactics. She has fully integrated her intentional preparation work with spontaneous interactions with her given circumstances in performance, which is an ideal combination. Later in the Manifestation chapter you will learn more about how to embody emotional states and apply these embodiment techniques to acting and scene study. At this point in the process, we will focus only on the simple act of making intentional emotional tactic choices in the script.

2 Intentional Emotional Scoring Vs Spontaneous Reactions Some acting books and classes might simply focus on the actions a character makes, stressing the objectives and stating something like, “Emotions will result from the strong pursuance of the objective.” Although emotions will result from the actions and interactions within scenes, many more emotional colors result from applying conscious and skillful dynamic emotional tactics that are clearly aligned with the character's thoughts and actions. Many actors in the field have been known to say, "I don't intentionally apply emotions to my work, I focus on the actions." What many people don't realize when they make these statements is that action is filled with emotion, and that emotion is active. Emotion is often so misunderstood that actors and directors interpret emotion for large emotive moments on stage. Going back to the basic etymology of the word emotion, e-movere "to-move" implies action, and a movement starting from within and radiating out. A more detailed definition of emotion reveals even more references to action and movement, a conscious mental reaction subjectively experienced usually directed towards something and typically accompanied by physiological and behavioral changes in the body. It is important for an actor to recognize that these behavioral changes include such subtle actions as breath, postural angles, muscular shifts, and gesture. The actor is expressing these behavioral actions along with his actions on stage, however he may not even realize that they are indeed the foundations of emotion and expression. This actor, although he states he is not applying emotion to his acting, actually is exhibiting layers of emotion, however without a full knowledge of all aspects of what he is truly expressing.

You are going to be much more in control of you craft if you recognize that your acting can be hindered if you are unaware of how emotion and expression is exhibited by the whole self. If ou are not mindful of your personal habits, have a limited emotional vocabulary, allow a bad day to affect a performance, or place too much reliance on emotional inspiration or reacting off the output of other actors, you will practice the acting profession oblivious of an extremely large percentage of your impact on your audience, your character, and other actors. Since our emotions and feelings constitute much of our personalities and behaviors, it is important for you to not only learn what you are doing, but how you are doing the action. The acting teacher Michael Chekhov refers to this how as the Quality, "the Action (and Will) expresses "what" happens, whereas the Quality (and Feelings) shows "how" it happens." You must learn to become aware of this emotional quality in your acting work and how you can use it as an intentional acting tool (emotional tactic), as an integrative behavioral element (emotional color) and recognize how it rises up from your own personal behavior either in support of the role or contradicting the role you are playing.

3 Emotionally Daring Monologue I am working as the Emotion Coach for a community performance project where the script is created by stories extracted from community members and culled by a playwright into a series of monologues, scenes, and songs with a unifying theme. Some of the actors in the performance are people who contributed stories to the production, and I am working with one such actor, helping her prepare her monologue for performance.

The actor is a thoughtful and sensitive writer who contributed an analytically poetic coming-out story of her new identity, having been someone else years before, and now stands before the audience, proudly staking her claim as transformed anew. We have already talked about the monologue and identified the emotional colors and tactics shifting throughout. However, as she rehearses the piece, I see her physically retreating up stage, behind furniture, and even stepping back and sinking down in her posture in all the moments that we have identified as her being proud, courageous, feisty, and brazen. After reminding her a few times to address these conscious emotional tactics, and seeing her fall back in fear and sink down into sadness in each of these moments, I consider the possibility that her own fears and sadness of her personal past, being the writer of this monologue, might be preventing her from living the present active choices of the piece.

I ask her to stop and I point out these defaulting moments of fear and sadness. Tears well up in her eyes as she recognizes that she was thinking in those moments, "what will people think of me?" She is well aware that she is taking a bold step with her story and her performance, and her own fear of daring to proclaim this to the public is keeping her from fulfilling the truly bold statement she wants to deliver as the performer.

I suggest that she consciously override these moments with strong aggressive emotional tactics and I help her embody them so that her posture will not do one thing, and her thoughts another. We run the monologue a few times, and I call out to her, like a coach, in the moments we identified for her to step into her power. At first she has some minor impulses to shrink back, but after a few drills where she essentially reconditions her response and is cheered on by my coached reminder of her own choices, she manages to match what the actor desires in her performance, with what the individual person can eventually provide through a process of raising awareness, skill building, and practice.

This actor was able to eventually embody this monologue with sensitivity and courage during each performance, and captured the empathy of many audience members.

4 Attaching Emotions to Action Words How often have you heard someone say, “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.” Or “I don’t like the way you act when you say that.” These examples are common sayings stemming from our natural whole-self-reading of human behavior, and observing inconsistencies between words and expression. Consider how implied feelings can attach to such simple statements like a reminder, “Don’t forget to pick me up after work,” a flattering statement, “That looks great on you,” or a dismissive statement, “You don’t need to pay me back.” When someone comments on how you said something, they are not alluding to only your word choice, but could also be referring to the emotional tone carried with your words. The chapter on Thoughts addressed how to identify action words to accurately lead an actor towards a desired result, and now it is important to realize that these action words can be colored with emotion. There are many ways you can remind, flatter, and dismiss. Consider attaching these emotional tactics: remind condescendingly, to flatter jealously, and to dismiss angrily. By applying an emotion to the action of speaking you can dramatically change the tone, delivery, and reception of that action. Let’s look at some other choices for the same actions: to remind tenderly, to flatter coquettishly, and to dismiss sadly. What a vast difference in the possible delivery, as well as reaction to, these interpersonal actions. Sanford Meisner describes the actors use of emotions with text as a canoe on a river, "The text is like a canoe, and the river on which it sits is the emotion. The text floats on the river. If the water of the river is turbulent, the words will come out like a canoe on a rough river. It all depends on the flow of the river which is your emotion. The text takes on the character of your emotion." (Meisner, 115)

Interpersonal communication includes a process whereby each person internally decodes information received externally. These decoded thoughts immediately attach to emotions, and these emotions are conveyed in a person’s behaviors and vocal tones. Humans are highly complex beings not only due to multiple levels of thoughts, but also due to the complexity of emotional states. We not only have thousands of complex emotions to experience for ourselves and express to others, but we can also have feelings about these emotions. Consider times when a person gets frustrated after crying in the midst of expressing angry feelings, or feels guilty after laughing at something, or is ashamed about an angry reaction to a comment. These feelings about feelings add to our own emotional complexity. Recognition of this intricate interpersonal exchange inherent in human behavior is essential to understanding the interpersonal exchanges between characters in a script. You must understand the powerful range and depth of expression possible when consciously considering emotional tactics attached to words and actions, as well as the emotional colors in a character’s personality. Such knowledge and application can contribute a world of difference in actions and interactions. How

5 could anyone think that an actor should only concentrate on what they are trying to do, without looking at the incredible array of levels in the work possible by consciously learning how to do the action as well?

Try This: Read these three sentences out loud applying the text implied action and the emotional tactic listed with the sentence. Notice how your posture, gestures, voice, and emotions might change with each delivery.

“Don’t forget to pick me up after work.” (Remind condescendingly) “Don’t forget to pick me up after work.” (Remind tenderly) “Don’t forget to pick me up after work.” (Remind lustfully)

“That looks great on you.” (Flatter jealously) “That looks great on you.” (Flatter coquettishly) “That looks great on you.” (Flatter joyfully)

“You don’t need to pay me back.” (Dismiss sadly) “You don’t need to pay me back.” (Dismiss angrily) “You don’t need to pay me back.” (Dismiss adoringly)

Building Your Emotional Vocabulary There are plenty of actors out in the professional world who fine-tuned this craft of emotional coloring and tactics by years of experience and good training. However, there are many actors who are mystified by the process or may feel pigeon-holed in their acting work because they have not learned the ability to infuse their acting with dynamic emotional choices. For the latter, this book breaks down the emotional coloring craft into tangible elements that anyone can apply to acting work. With regular practice and application of these techniques, over time this skill can become habitual.

It is important to build a vocabulary of emotionally colored words, which will eventually manifest into a wide range of expressive behavior. The larger your emotional vocabulary, the more expressive variety possible in your acting. If you search through a dictionary for words that

6 express feelings, you will easily come across over 2,000 words. With so many options available for emotion scoring, you will want to narrow these choices down, and select strong, distinctive words that will guide active embodiment. It is recommended to organize them into general categories, supported by the basic emotions, to make them quickly available in the moment and reflect the building blocks of emotion theory.

Basic Emotions As with the human needs theorists and their categories of basics, emotions are also categorized under primary or basic emotions. Psychologists and emotion researchers support the theory that emotions can be categorized down to a small number of basic emotions. Their theories also conclude that all other emotions, beyond the identified primary emotions, are mixes of these basics. However, the number of basic emotions identified within each theory varies greatly, from as few as two basic emotions to as many as ten. Some of the words used for these primary emotions across the different theories include: Acceptance, Anger, Anticipation, Aversion, Disgust, Sexual-Love, Fear, Joy, Pleasure, Sadness, Shame, Surprise, Tender-Love, and Wonder.

We will use the Alba Emoting basic emotions to categorize emotionally colored words. Not only will Alba Emoting assist the actor in this categorizing process, but Alba Emoting provides a method for the actor to connect these words with a reliable scientifically proven technique for embodiment of these emotional states. Later in the Manifestation Chapter you will learn some of the Alba Emoting techniques to make these connections. By narrowing down the emotion words to basic categories, and then learning how to connect your whole self with these emotions, you will come that much closer to making true organic connections in your acting.

Emotion Categories The basic emotions in Alba Emoting are: Anger, Sexual-Love, Fear, Joy, Sadness, and Tender- Love. What follows, are lists of emotionally-colored words categorized by these six primary emotions. The words listed in each category can be considered (1) low, mid, or high levels of the basic emotion under which the word is listed or (2) an emotion that is a mix of basic emotions and is listed under the more dominant basic emotion. For example, emotions such as (1)insistent, (2)nostalgic, (3)shy, and (4)brooding can be considered low levels of basic emotions (1)Anger, (2)Sexual-Love, (3)Fear, and (4)Sadness. Additionally, such words as (1)greedy, (2)gracious, and (3)mischievous can be considered mixes of two or more basic emotions and are simply listed under the more dominant emotion for that feeling, (1)Anger/Sadness, (2)Tender- Love/Sadness, (3)Joy/Anger/Fear. At this point, you don’t need to be concerned with which words denote emotions that are certain levels of a primary emotion, and which are mixes.

7 Simply understand that if you see a word in a category that doesn’t feel to you as if it is an angry word or sexually charged word, that word is most likely listed there to identify the more dominant emotion out of possibly three different basic emotions comprising a complicated mix.

The list that follows is a rich collection of emotional words, although not comprehensive. The words in each category that capture high or extreme levels of the basic emotion are in bold, for later reference when we discuss intensity levels and the arc of the scene.

ANGER Exasperated Malicious Acerbic Envious Outraged Adamant Fanatical Peevish Aggravated Ferocious Pompous Aggressive Fervent Predatory Ambitious Feverish Pretentious Annoyed Fierce Proud Arrogant Frustrated Raging Assured Fuming Relentless Belligerent Furious Resentful Bitter Greedy Rigid Bold Grumpy Ruthless Brave Hateful Sarcastic Brazen Haughty Sardonic Cantankerous Heartless Savage Chivalrous Hostile Seething Conceited Indignant Sour Confident Impatient Spiteful Contempt Inquisitive Stubborn Courageous Insistent Vain Cruel Irate Valliant Curious Irritated Vehement Daring Jealous Vengeful Demanding Keenly Vexed Detest Livid Vicious Distain Loathsome Willful Malevolent Wrathful

SEXUAL-LOVE Enraptured Lewd Admire Enthralled Lustful Amorous Enticed Mesmerized Aroused Entranced Nonchalant Bewitched Fascinated Nostalgic Breathless Flirtatious Obsessive Captivated Infatuated Passive Casual Inspired Passionate Coquettish Invigorated Seductive Coy Lascivious Sensual Enamored Sexual

8 Voracious Wanton Wicked

FEAR Doubtful Reluctant Aghast Dread Repulsed Alarmed Dumbfounded Reserved Aloof Edgy Restless Amazed Fidgety Revolted Anxious Flabbergasted Sheepish Appalled Flustered Shocked Apprehensive Frantic Shy Astonished Frazzled Skeptical Astounded Frenetic Spooked Baffled Frigid Squeamish Bashful Hesitant Stressed Bewildered Horrified Stunned Confounded Hysterical Submissive Confused Insecure Surprised Cowardly Insulted Suspicious Crazed Intimidated Tense Dazzled Jumpy Terrified Demure Loathsome Timid Deranged Meek Uncertain Disbelief Modest Uneasy Disapproving Nauseated Wary Disgust Nervous Wild Distrusting Numb Worried Distracted Offended Distraught Overwrought Docile Panicked

JOY Elated Jubilant Amused Enthusiastic Lighthearted Blissful Euphoric Merry Boisterous Excited Mirthful Buoyant Exhilarated Mischievous Charmed Festive Optimistic Cheerful Frivolous Playful Confident Gay Rapturous Delighted Grateful Rejoicing Delirious Happy Reveling Devilish Intoxicated Sly Eager Jolly Spirited Ecstatic Jovial Thankful Effervescent Vivacious

SADNESS Ashamed Crushed Anguished Brooding Defeated Apathetic Cheerless Dejected

9 Depressed Guilty Powerless Desolate Heartsick Regretful Despair Heavyhearted Remorseful Desperate Helpless Shameful Despondent Hopeless Solemn Devastated Humbled Somber Discouraged Humiliated Subdued Disillusioned Indifferent Sullen Dismayed Inconsolable Sulking Disappointed Lonely Sorrowful Doleful Lovelorn Tearful Downcast Melancholy Tormented Downhearted Morose Tortured Embarrassed Mortified Uneasy Forlorn Mournful Weary Fretful Overwhelmed Wistful Gloomy Pensive Woeful Glum Pessimistic Yearn Grave

TENDER-LOVE Devoted Loyal Adoring Doting Narcissistic Affectionate Dreamy Mellow Amiable Empathetic Patriotic Appreciative Favoring Pity Approving Fondly Relieved Benevolent Friendly Romantic Calm Genial Satisfied Caring Good-hearted Sensitive Cherish Gracious Sentimental Compassionate Gratified Serene Concerned Heartfelt Sincere Content Hospitable Sympathetic Cool Kind Warm Cordial Loving Warm-hearted

Try This: Using a DVD, watch the beginning scene of a movie with the sound turned off. While tracking the body language and facial expressions of a character, see if you can score her/his emotional colors using the words from the lists provided previously. Then, watch the scene again with the sound turned back on again and see if listening to the sound of the voice and hearing the words changes your choices, or confirms your choices. Can you tell the difference if the actor is making conscious emotional tactics or if the actor is reacting to the given circumstances with emotional colors? If so, how can you tell?

10 The TEAM Approach: EMOTION – updated February, 2011 - Laura Bond

Mother and Daughter Scene Two young student actors in my acting class are working on the mother/daughter scene in Wendy Wasserstein's play Third. The students have prepared emotional tactics for the scene and as I watch them run an in-class rehearsal, the scene comes off as a one-noted argument over disagreements on the characters' differing opinions. Their scene has very little give and take with this purely argumentative approach. There are few moments of discoveries and very little dramatic arc to the scene. It comes across as one big angry fight, with very few emotional colors and not a lot of information about the characters' relationship or what is at stake in the scene. I ask to see their score of emotion tactics, and I notice that most of their tactics are chosen from words under the general category of Anger.

We sit and have a short discussion about all the possible ways in which people can have disagreements over subjects. We also talk about a technique for consciously choosing opposites, or less obvious emotional tactics, can create much more interesting and dynamic interactions in a scene. I encourage the actors to score their scene again, purposely looking for opposite ways to handle their conflicting viewpoints, like at times instead of being outraged, try doubtful, amused, or uneasy.

The two actors then pore through the lists of emotion tactics and engage in discussion of their options. Soon they are on their feet and rehearsing the scene again. When I stop by to see how the scene is coming along -- the scene is absolutely riveting. The actors have found so many new levels to this mother/daughter relationship simply by rescoring the emotional tactics. Now there seems to be so much more at stake in this disagreement. Their relationship now appears to have a sense of history, as one character finds something funny or ironic in what the other says--like it had been said many times before. In another moment they make loving choices of tenderness and caring, showing a glimpse that one hopes to end this disagreement and make amends. The student actors recognize the change as well, and find that they even enjoy acting the scene so much more. They are far more in tune with each other throughout the scene and care more about the outcome.

Emotional Colors and Character Personality Selecting emotional colors is an excellent basis for building a character's personality and source of behavior. Consider some of the ways that we first attempt to describe people when we want someone to get the sense of a person. After the initial, "This is what he looks like" descriptor, we often launch into emotional descriptions of their states of being, "He's...goofy, a serious type, intense, a little scattered at times, a riot, very friendly, loose cannon, or sweet." It is also

11 The TEAM Approach: EMOTION – updated February, 2011 - Laura Bond important to recognize that we tend to have a public persona that we wear almost like a mask when we are out amongst people we don't know as well, and we reveal greater truths about what we are really thinking, essentially lowering the mask, when we are amongst those that we know better or trust. Considering this common human behavior, when constructing a character's personality and the behavior associated with these choices, emotional colors should be considered as part of this process.

Exercise for Emotional Layers in Character After examining your character's story throughout the script, see if you can identify the following: 1. A primary, basic emotion (Anger, Tender Love, Fear, Sexual Love, Sadness, or Joy) that you feel is most dominant as a truthful through-line in your character during the entire story. This would be who you think your character honestly is, to the core, when she is with her most trusted acquaintances and does not feel threatened by others.

2. A secondary, basic emotion that you feel is your character's social mask. This is what your character prefers to exhibit in public, to those he does not know, and the preferred personae he wants others to see in more formal settings.

3. A third, basic emotion that you sense might be your character's shadow self. This is the rare emotion that rises up quickly, unannounced and uncontrollable, perhaps when your character feels threatened, tired, or insecure.

After identifying these three basic emotions, and understanding how and when they would be used, you can (1) use them in later chapters for ACTIONS and MANIFESTATION for embodying characterization and actions and (2) use them now to guide you as you select emotion tactics for scoring your scene. When selecting emotion tactics, consciously select emotion tactics that are grouped in the categories of the basic emotions you selected for your character. This way you know you will be making emotional tactic selections that are in line with the research and preparations you intellectually prepared for your character development.

EXERCISE: Applying Emotional Tactics to Text For purposes of exercising your ability to connect emotional tactics to text, say each of the lines in the scene below with the different emotions listed for each line. With the four columns provided below you have four different readings of the Open Scene. With a scene partner read

12 The TEAM Approach: EMOTION – updated February, 2011 - Laura Bond version #1 out loud, applying the emotional colors as you go down column #1. Then progress with #2, #3, and #4. Notice how the intensity of the scene changes as you move across the columns of emotional tactics. Does one column of emotional tactics seem to raise the scene’s intensity more than any other column? Keep in mind that this is an exercise that provides plenty of practice with large emotional swings from line to line. It would be highly unusual to have a scene where there is a different emotional tactic for every single line of a scene.

DIALOGUE EMOTIONAL TACTICS #1 #2 #3 #4 A: Hi. Lustful Depressed Alarmed Bitter B: Hello. Annoyed Compassion Aroused Festive A: Great outfit. Dazzled Sarcastic Bashful Baffled B: Thanks. Coy Aloof Fascinated Confused A: Where did you get it? Envious Cool Gracious Insistent B: It’s my own. Playful Doubtful Coquettish Adamant A: Your own? Shocked Amused Disbelief Playful B: Yes. Mine. Curious Despondent Peevish Obsessive A: Wow! Downcast Haughty Delighted Raging B: Thanks. Cheerless Detest Apprehensive Distraught A: I mean it. Nervous Sly Benevolent Vexed B: Well – again, thanks. Embarrassed Aggravated Lighthearted Cowardly A: So? I was wondering… Affectionate Buoyant Excited Insistent B: Wondering? Apprehensive Irritated Keenly Distrusting A: If you could… Doting Amused Aggressive Flirtatious B: Really? Uneasy Impatient Invigorated Thankful A: Do you mind? Appreciative Astounded Fervent Gracious B: No. Mortified Disgust Lascivious Charmed A: No? …. Or No? Bewildered Wicked Anxious Lonely B: No. Rigid Delirious Breathless Fondly A: All right then. Forlorn Ferocious Entranced Affectionate B: Ok. Distain Hateful Confident Enraptured

After reading the variations of the open scene, colored with emotional tactics, discuss what was different with each scene reading when you simply changed the emotional tactic for each line.

13 The TEAM Approach: EMOTION – updated February, 2011 - Laura Bond

Without even planning a scenario or given circumstances, did a character relationship seem to appear simply by applying these emotional tactics? Emotional variations in the delivery of lines can imply character relationship subtext, provide evidence of the thoughts and motivations of a character, and support a greater depth to the story unfolding through the dialogue. The combinations are infinite, and so then is your acting range!

Stories Emerge from Emotional Scores I hand the Applying Emotional Tactics to Text exercise to my Acting II class and break them into teams of two. One actor plays character A and one plays B. Each actor is to select a column of emotional tactics they want to apply to the open scene, and they are instructed to keep playing the scene over and over again following these basic instructions, "Take your time, be sure to watch the delivery of the actor across from you, notice how you want to react impulsively. REACT. This will be the emotionally colored, honest reaction to what you are receiving from your scene partner. Then look down on the paper and pick up your emotional tactic and line, and play the line with the emotional tactic in response. This will help you see how your character could also choose a controlled, conscious emotional tactic, or cover up the previous honest reaction. Progress through the scene in this manner, and take your time."

The teams spread out around the acting space and apply this exercise. They make discoveries as they find their way through these emotional tactics and colors. The room buzzes with excitement as exhilarated and varied levels of emotions emerge in this open, content-less scene. I walk around the room watching actual scenes emerge with dynamic interactions, intense relationships, keen observations of the other, truthful reactions, and strong tactical maneuvers. After a while I stop the exercise and ask, "So - even though this is a scene without an obvious story, did anyone find that stories and individual objectives emerged?" Most of the students' hands quickly raise and we engage in an exciting dialogue of shared discoveries. The students recognize that by applying emotional colors and tactics to this content-less scene--content and meaning quickly emerge.

Try This: Take a set of index cards and write one line of text on each index card. These lines can be pulled randomly from any script, or they can be simple common sayings. Working with a partner, your partner selects a random emotional tactic for you from the lists provided in this chapter. Shuffle the index cards up and pick a random index card. Say the line on the index card to your partner while applying the emotional tactic. Discard that index card and switch roles, with you selecting the emotion and your partner now selecting a new line from the shuffled index cards. Keep going back and forth until you have performed all the lines on the index cards. Does any kind of meaning or scene

14 The TEAM Approach: EMOTION – updated February, 2011 - Laura Bond

emerge from this random selection of lines and emotions? Do you find your thoughts automatically searching for meanings, attempting to connect the dots between these random emotional statements, thereby creating your own story by your own human need to create a whole from individual parts?

Breaking a Scene Into Beats Before we get down to the process of making and applying emotional tactics and behavioral choices, we need to take one more step in the script analysis process in order to set up the shifting point for each choice. You must know the shifting areas, or beats, within the script, wherein to apply these active choices. In the Thought chapter we discussed the objectives that lead the actor in a specific direction. Once the actor heads in that direction with his character, he must also understand how to navigate the twists and turns in the character’s journey. This navigation process is where the actor applies tactics.

Would you go down the road in a manual transmission car, not knowing how or when to shift into different gears? Would you want to listen to a music band if they only ever played the same chorus over and over again, with no new verses, a bridge or even shifting from chord to chord to reflect movement and change? How difficult would it be to read a book that was written like one long continuous paragraph, failing to identify new thoughts and shifts in subject matter? For the same reasons you wouldn’t want to experience these events if they did not identify shifting points and signpost these changes, neither would you want to witness, nor present, a performance that doesn’t project the shifting points in the script. These conscious shifting points in acting are called beats.

Beat shifts are motivated by the character's thoughts, emotions, and actions. We will address them now in this chapter to help you understand how these beat shifts will affect your emotion tactics and then later, in the Action Chapter, how they affect your action tactics. Keep in mind that emotions are present in our thoughts and actions. So when we refer to such things as change of actions and change of subject, remember that emotions and feelings are present in these activities.

Beats A script can be broken down into scenes, and those scenes can be broken into beats. A beat is the smallest unit in a script where a beginning middle and end to a subject or action is implied. Some acting techniques use Beat Objectives to title their beats, reminding the actor that this is

15 The TEAM Approach: EMOTION – updated February, 2011 - Laura Bond indeed a unit of action that requires an objective or desired outcome. Other acting techniques title a beat with tactics that use verbs that identify the action of that beat. The TEAM Approach uses Emotion tactics and Action tactics to title beats to remind the actor that emotions and physical actions create expressive behavior that contribute to the overall success, or victory of the objective.

Using either approach of “beating a script” and assigning actions to each beat is often called scoring, for it resembles the process of breaking down music into measures. However, a beat in a theatrical script cannot be measured by beats per minute or beats per measure, like in music. The beats in a script are measured by identifying shifts in subject matter tactics or minor actions.

A new beat is signified by one of the following: 1. Your character introducing a new subject 2. Your character attempting a new emotion tactic 3. Your character attempting a new action tactic

Character Perspective Initiates Beat Shifts When an actor breaks a scene into beats it is always from the perspective of her own character. Stanislavski defines the acting perspective as "the calculated, harmonious inter-relationship and distribution of the parts in a whole play or role." (Stanislavski: Building a Character, 175) He goes on to clarify, "there can be no acting, no movement, no gesture, thoughts, speech, no word, feeling, etc., etc., without its appropriate perspective." A beat shift occurs when your character must deal with the new subject matter, introduced by herself or someone else, or when she initiates a new action tactic or emotion tactic. If she shifts to the new topic or tactic, it is a new beat. However, even if someone else shifts to a new subject and your character still acts upon her original topic, ignoring or overriding the other subject introduced, she maintains the same beat. Consider the times in your life when you are having a conversation with someone who might interrupt you to initiate a new subject. In this case you may be intent on finishing your thought, and so you continue with your subject, and do not shift into the other person's proposal. You guide your shifts in conversations by either introducing the change yourself, or willingly going along with someone else's influence. If you always consider that your character IS the protagonist of her story, and the driving force of her story, you will easily keep this rule in mind, that all beat shifts occur for your character by your character's own will.

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Imagine your character is a businesswoman caught up in persuading a client to go out on a date rather than attending to the client's need to make a business deal. Your character flatters the client and tries to keep the subject on the client's social life. Meanwhile, the client interjects, trying to change the subject, gearing the conversation towards anything but dating and their social lives. Your character ignores these interjections, remaining dedicated to her own objective and tactic of flattering until she realizes her current choices is not working. This is an example of how your character’s beat would not change, though the actor playing the client could have several beat changes. However, if the subject has not changed, but your character tries a new tactic to accomplish her objective, like to ridicule rather than to flatter, while still dealing with the same subject matter, then the beat changes because your character is using a new tactic.

Try This: Scripts are made up primarily of dialogue, essentially a conversation between two or more people. Our day-to-day conversations with others have noticeable beats as well, particularly if they are led by strong intentions or objectives. Consider a good conversation you had recently. What made it a good conversation? Try tracking through the conversation, not word-by-word, but subject-by-subject. As you do this, see if you can recall who shifted the subjects and how they shifted. By doing this you have just completed the first level of a Beat Score for your conversation. Shifting in and out of beats when in conversation is common human behavior. Subconsciously you were probably aware of it the entire time, but now you approached it consciously, the way an actor must when scoring a script.

Emotion Coaching 75 Performers with Doubles I am the Emoting Coach for 75 actors in a community theatre project directed by nationally recognized community performance director, Dr. Richard Geer. Richard and I are both practitioners of the Alba Emoting technique for embodying emotion, and he has asked me to work with his company of community performers and help them connect with the emotional colors and tactics in this dynamic performance piece.

Most of the performers in this play, ranging in ages from 4 to 80, have never acted before and are not aware of a process for scoring a script for emotions, nor how to embody those choices in their performance. This will be the first time I have explored methods for coaching emotional embodiment techniques to such a large group of performers in a very short amount of time.

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My responsibility is to attend the table talk for each scene and develop a quick plan for helping the actors embody the intellectual choices they are making. I listen to their read-through and discussions of what is going on in the scene while I quietly score the scene with basic emotions. At the end of each discussion, Richard asks me to share my scoring discoveries, and then once we feel these emotional patterns are in line with the director's vision, I engage the actors in a few exercises that teach them the core embodiment techniques for each basic emotion.

Richard also double casts all the roles in his projects with a Cast A, and Cast B designation. This way all the community members engaged in this performance project can still attend to their life responsibilities when needed, knowing that their double can stand in for them. Working with the doubles in each scene proved to be a delightful reminder of the dualistic nature of emotional embodiment. Each actor brings his/her life-learned emotional patterns in playing the character, and additionally his/her interpretation of the situation being played. Even though the basic emotions scored in each scene were the same from one scene to the next, each double played the scene with their own unique embodiments and interpretations springing from individual personalities.

I found myself attending final performances many times, as did other audience members, eager to see how cast A members may play a scene differently than cast B members. An exciting observation, indeed!

Beats Are the Building Blocks to the Scene Objective When examining beat shifts in a script it is important to remember that each of these beats is a mini objective or tactic that contributes as a building block to the Scene Objective. The Scene Objectives all contribute as building blocks to the Main Objective, and the Main Objective steers us in the far future towards the character’s Super Objective. Consider how a manufacturing company may use an assembly line process, where each section of the factory only produces one part of the final product. All areas on the assembly line have the ultimate intention to produce the same whole, however each piece of the production process must deal with their own specific and immediate needs and designs. When acting a role, every choice you make as the character is intended as an action to help you gain more and more ground towards a larger objective.

Beat Shifts and Obstacles It may appear at times that the behaviors your character is exhibiting are not obviously leading you to the next objective. In this case you must ask yourself if your character is presently met with an obstacle. For example, the businesswoman mentioned previously wants to ask her client

18 The TEAM Approach: EMOTION – updated February, 2011 - Laura Bond out on a date, but she finds the client very defensive. She may use the tactic to ridicule at one point, thinking it would break down the client's defenses. Or she may change the subject towards a description of the product she sells, in an attempt to relieve some tension of the “date question” and ease her way into the date question through product conversation. Both may appear as if they are not serving her objective, “to get my client to go on a date with me” but in her logic, they are dealing with the obstacle of defensiveness. The businesswomen may attempt these tactics for a while until she realizes that they are making the client even more defensive, and so she tries a new emotional tactic to be coquettish. She soon learns this was a better tactic and she is more obviously back on the climb towards her primary Scene Objective.

Any obstacles met in the scene must be overcome, using various emotion or action tactics, until the character is successful. Therefore, beat shifts in a scene can be any change your character makes as an attempt to overcome obstacles. With any beat shift, emotional shifts will occur, for emotions are automatically connected to the action or topic shifts in beat changes. The actor’s job here is to make sense of the logic used by the character overcoming these obstacles, and identify the beat shifting points that accommodate these choices.

EXERCISE: IDENTIFYING BEATS IN AN OPEN SCENE Below is the same open scene you explored previously. Open scenes are created for actors to exercise their acting choices, and are written in such a way so the scenes can happen anywhere, anytime, with any combination of situations, given circumstances, objectives, and do not have identified characters. Read the scene below and work out the following:

(1) Create a Scene Objective for A ______(2) See if you can identify the beat shifts for character A

A: Hi. B: Hello. A: Great outfit. B: Thanks. A: Where did you get it? B: It’s my own. A: Your own? B: Yes. Mine. A: Wow!

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B: Thanks. A: I mean it. B: Well – again, thanks. A: So? I was wondering… B: Wondering? A: If you could… B: Really? A: Do you mind? B: No. A: No? …. Or No? B: No. A: All right then. B: Ok.

Objectives Influence Beat Shifts Depending on the objective you choose for A, the scene could vary greatly in its flow, delivery, and beat breakdown. For example: if you choose the objective for A to get him “to give me back the jacket he stole,” the lines between “Hi” through “Your own?” could all be one beat if A’s first tactic is to confront B. However, if the objective for A is “to ask B out on a date”, the first beat could easily just be “Hi” and “Hello” – to acknowledge contact first, and then the next beat could be to flatter, as A compliments B on the outfit. Do you think the beat shifts in the scene would be different if (1) A’s objective was to get B’s autograph (B is a famous clothing designer) or (2) if A’s objective is to get B to lend him his jacket (so A can enter a formal, tuxedo-required restaurant)? Can you see how the beats might shift depending on the objective of the character?

Perspective Motivates Tactics Scoring a beat sheet can vary from actor to actor and character to character, all depending on the character's perspective or objectives and then tactical choices. This is why it is important to remember that beat shifts are not just occurring due to the character making only subject changes, but can be due to emotion and action tactic changes. Soon we will get into more detail about how to use emotion tactics and later in the Action chapter, how to use action tactics in the beats. For now, understand that your beat identification will vary from someone else’s and that personal perspective guides the beat shift and the tactics in the beat, which is why it is important to articulate the reason for the beat shift.

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Stanislavski explains the TEAM aspects of perspective - Our practice in the theatre leads us to a broader terminology. We use the description: 1. The perspective of the thought conveyed. 2. The perspective in conveying complex feelings. 3. The perspective, used to add color, vivid illustration to a story or speech. (He later explains this to be action) - Stanislavski, Building a Character, 175

Beat Shift Subtext As was mentioned previously, it is important to know why you are selecting a beat shift, and more specifically, why your character is shifting gears. When you are first learning how to break a script into beats and make tactic choices with each of these beats, understanding the character's reason for shifting the beat, or Beat Shift Subtext, provides you with a clear connection to the character's true feelings about this shift. The Shift Subtext is a form of mini inner monologue, the character's true thoughts, or what Stanislavski referred to as utilizing your "inner attention." It is essentially what the character is saying to himself privately, in his head, as he reacts and interacts with others. It is the secret inner voice of reasoning, desire, motivation, and contemplation. It is what is not said, but what is felt and reflected in the character’s behavior. Shift Subtext scoring is applying a short personal message, written in the language of the character's true thoughts, as if the character is talking to himself about what he is really thinking and discovering in the moment of shifting gears in a scene.

Here is how it works. Using your character’s perspective, write a short phrase or sentence that captures the character’s thinking as she shifts focus for the coming beat. This Shift Subtext identifies the reasoning for the beat shift while also revealing your character’s feelings about this shift. The Shift Subtext will then provide a pathway to (1) steer you in the direction of emotional tactics and actions, and (2) keep your character analysis personal, always in the first person, assisting you in making active connections with your character.

Consider how we do this all the time in real life. How often are you in conversation with someone and have your own private commentary going on in your head? During this conversation you might be dwelling on the subject you really want to bring up with the person, all while you are engaging in “small talk.” You might be fixated on something you are honestly trying to get out of the person, but can’t quite come right out and say what you honestly want. If you realize that

21 The TEAM Approach: EMOTION – updated February, 2011 - Laura Bond this internal monologue could just as easily be going on with your character as well – the Shift Subtext will start to make complete sense as you use it to motivate beat shifts as well as actions and reactions within the scene.

Referring to the examples made in the Open Scene previously, character A’s Shift Subtext could be “You’re the one who stole my jacket!” or “Please notice me!” or “You are such an amazing designer!” or “Come on, it’s just a jacket!” Can you tell which beats and objectives these Shift Subtext examples could be tied to in the previous discussion of Objectives and Beats in the Open Scene?

Shift Subtexts Help Actor with Simple Dialogue I am directing Tennessee Williams' This Property is Condemned. The play depicts two teenagers meeting on a section of railroad track. The young boy has skipped school to fly his kite, but encounters a peculiar girl whom he has heard stories about from friends at school. The actor playing Tom is feeling very challenged with Tom's extremely simple lines, that are react to the girl's many stories of her life, and explanations for why she is now living in a condemned house. Without clear strong choices made by the actor playing Tom, this play could easily portray this character as simply a passive listener to this talkative girl.

Tom's lines are often very short comments like, "Oh," "uh-huh," "Yeah?," "Naw?," or "What?" As a matter of fact, in this short 10 minute play, Tom says, "Naw" and "What?" six times each, and "Yeah" eleven times. The rest of his lines are mostly short questions like, "Who was...?" or "How do you...? or "What happened...?" The few times Tom actually expresses an opinion, or personal wish, provide us with important clues to what he really wants in the scene. Actually, the character of Tom provides one of those rare occasions in scripts where the character actually states his objective, perhaps due to the character's young age, and capability of speaking his truth. Tom comes right out and states that his friend, Frank, said that she took him inside the condemned house and danced for him with her clothes off, and Tom proceeds to ask if she would now do that for him. The actor playing Tom decides that Tom's scene objective is to "get her to agree to dance naked for him."

The actor decides to use Subtext Statements as a way to connect with these rather banal lines. He goes through the text and meticulously writes out his true thoughts for each of these lines, particularly the lines that cause him to react and shift the action whenever possible. Soon his "Yeah" and "Naw" lines are motivated by subtext thoughts like, "Well, you just busted my bubble!," "I can't walk these stupid train tracks as well as you!," "I feel bad for her.," and "If the house is empty, we can get it on in there." The many questioning lines about people and events in her stories now have greater motivation as well, like "Who

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cares about the railroad men! Aren't you interested in me?" "Alright, enough about Alva already!" and "I never heard of that. Is it something kinky?"

We then ask a fellow actor from another play in our Tennessee Williams play festival to call out his subtext statements during a rehearsal of the scene. At first it is a funny process to hear the true thoughts of this young character pursuing his sexual desires , however once we accept hearing these truths called out by an actor on the side-lines, we soon start to enjoy how the actor playing Tom immediately embodies the emotions and behaviors connected to these thoughts. After going through the scene twice using this method, he soon easily imbues the simple lines with layers of meaning, feeling, and reactions. The scene eventually becomes a charming exchange between the two characters, and the actor no longer struggles with the simplistic lines.

EXERCISE: Attaching Emotions to Beat Shift Subtext Below are examples of Shift Subtext Statements that could be used for character A in this Open Scene. Can you identify the scene objective for character A, by using the Shifting Statements as a guide?

Read the scene aloud - first by reading the Shift Subtext out-loud and seeing how it colors your delivery of the lines and your behavior of character A. How does your partner, character B respond to this delivery? Then, keeping the Subtext as a silent thought in your mind, apply different emotional tactics to the delivery of your lines starting with choice #1 and then reading it again with choice #2 in the Emotional Tactic column. How does the delivery of the scene change? How does character B's reactions change with these different deliveries? Then, test out some of your own choices for characters A and B. Notice that while using the same Subtext for each beat, you can still have tremendous variations in delivery possibly by simply applying a new emotional tactic. Try the scene again - and now write your own Shift Subtext Statements for character A and B. There are endless possibilities here.

Lines Shifting Statement for Character A Emotional Tactics for A A: Hi. “I haven’t seen you in a while!” (1) Festive B: Hello. (2) Downcast A: Great outfit. “That jacket would fit me perfectly” (1) Envious B: Thanks. (2) Sly A: Where did you get it? “Is this a rental?” (1) Insistent B: It’s my own. (2) Coquettish A: Your own? “Perfect for lending to me!” (1) Playful

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B: Yes. Mine. (2) Fondly A: Wow! B: Thanks. A: I mean it. B: Well – again, thanks. A: So? I was wondering… “Let’s get this awkward request over with” (1) Nervous B: Wondering? (2) Amused A: If you could… B: Really? “Don’t make me beg in front of my date!” (1) Fervent A: Do you mind? (2) Buoyant B: No. “You don’t really mean – No.” (1) Affectionate A: No? …. Or No? (2) Bewildered B: No. “What a selfish bastard!” (1) Distain A: All right then. (2) Depressed B: Ok.

Referring back to the Open Scene between characters A & B, create two different objectives for character B. Then break the Open Scene into beats and assign Subtext Statements to each of the beats based on your character’s objectives. How do the beats vary for character B? Do the beat selections vary for B with different objectives? How do your Subtext Statements vary from beat to beat and with each different objective? Are your Subtext Statements exposing your character’s emotions or intended actions for the beat?

Shift Subtext Statement Checklist

 Is the subtext written in a short phrase or sentence?

 Is the subtext encased in quotes to clarify it is from your character’s perspective?

 Does the content of the subtext capture the essence of the changing subject, emotional tactic or action tactic?

 Does the tone of the subtext express strong, honest feelings about the situation?

 Is the thought or feeling expressed in the subtext in line with the goals of your character's objective?

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Try This: Pick up any scene from a script and selecting a character to play, break the scene into beats. Read the scene out loud to yourself or with a scene partner, and spontaneously speak your subtext as soon as you recognize that your character is shifting a beat, even if you are speaking over the lines of your scene partner. Be as spontaneous as you can, where you are simply blurting out the first thoughts that come to your mind, not matter how strange or raw they may sound at first. Do this many times, and with various scenes and characters. With practice you will eventually find that you can instinctively feel where the beats shift and, instead of voicing the subtext you will find yourself thinking, reacting to it, and applying it to your behavior.

The Arc of the Scene

The final step in making emotional choices for a scene is recognizing the arc of the scene and how these choices support the arc. The arc is a bend in the scene, or a curve of building tension. The arc of a scene is where the tension builds in a scene until it reaches a climactic point, or the place of highest tension, and then subsides, releasing some of the tension. A scene is often written with this kind of built-in tension in the text. Although there is a great deal of freedom for the actor to make choices for emotional tactics and emotional colors in a scene, it is important to recognize the arc of a scene and allow the tension to build, climax, and then subside, even if subsiding just for a second before the next scene shift occurs. Actors can aid in this scene arc by making choices that allow for growth in the conflict of the scene. Stanislavski referred to this recognition of play dynamics and the finest actor's ability to carefully select choices that supports this build and then bring us to a climax as restraint and finish. (Stanislavski, Building a Character, 79) Too often, beginning actors will start a scene making the biggest, most aggressive choices, thinking it will make them look good in their acting. However, they have accomplished the opposite. They appear foolish, for they came into the scene and shot directly to the top of the arc with great intensity, leaving very little growth for the scene, and preventing the audience from making the journey with their character. They barreled in like a bull in a china shop and smashed all possible subtleties with their first choice. The word dynamic, when referring to quality acting, does not just mean to be big, boisterous, loud, bullying, and screaming. It can also mean being intriguing, unique, inventive, mysterious, extraordinary, and creative. Save the big stuff for the climax.

The greatest influences on the levels of conflict in a scene are emotional tactics, as well as action tactics, which will be explained later in the Action chapter. As you construct your choices in the

25 The TEAM Approach: EMOTION – updated February, 2011 - Laura Bond scene, select the less aggressive and lower level emotional tactics for the beginning of the scene. Use your restraint. Unless the script demands a strong entrance and clearly steers you towards the more intense choices in the beginning, hold back and select more subtle, intriguing choices to help build interest and mystery. Then, allow the beats that lead you towards the climax of the scene to build with more aggressive tactics and high extremes in emotional colors for the big finish. Finally, allow your character to come back down, even briefly, at the end of the scene to some point of resolve. Unless the script requires you to storm out or break into tears or peals of laughter, allow your character and the audience to soak in what happened by experiencing a release of tension right along with your character. The release can simply mean that you have dropped down a level in intensity, and does not necessarily mean that you are serene, complacent, or subdued. The actor’s craft comes in strongly here as she makes choices that tell the character’s story with many levels, builds, fights, falls, vulnerabilities, and resting points.

Guidelines for Choosing Emotion Tactics  Select a singular word that reflects a feeling, emotion, or state of being.  Select words that appear to stem from basic emotions.  Fully understand the meaning of the word used and how it would affect your character’s state of emotional being.  Steer clear of words that are too intellectual, keeping you from full embodiment.  Keep in mind basic emotions that reflect your character's core personality traits, preferred social mask, and darker shadow self.  Use the Shifting Statement to guide your emotional tactic choices.  Allow as many emotional colors and emotional tactics in a beat as necessary for actions, reactions, and impulses to occur as needed  Consider the arc of the scene when selecting emotional tactics throughout the scene.  Consider opposites, or antithetical thinking, when selecting emotion words so you don't select obvious or trite choices.

EXERCISE: A Full Beat Sheet Below you will find a scene from The Importance of Being Ernest. Either work with the scene provided, or insert a scene from another play into the grid provided and follow the instructions that continue as you exercise your ability to employ emotional tactics along with basic needs, objectives, victory statements, and Shift Subtext Statements. A second column for Emotional

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Colors is provided in case you rehearse this scene with a scene partner and can then document any Emotional Colors (or impulsive emotional reactions) that arise out of the scene in addition to the planned Emotional Tactics.

Identify the arc of the scene by placing a double line before and after the climactic beat, the beat with the greatest amount of conflict and tension. Then, as you select emotional tactics, be sure your choices address the arc of the scene, this build in tension to the climax, and the release afterwards.

Character’s Basic Need:______

Character’s Scene Objective: ______

Victory Statement: ______

Beat Script Text Shift Subtext Emotional Emotional # Statement Tactics Colors

ALGERNON. My dear fellow, the way you flirt with Gwendolen is perfectly disgraceful. It is almost as bad as the way Gwendolen flirts with you.

JACK. I am in love with Gwendolen. I have come up to town expressly to propose to her.

ALGERNON. I thought you had come up for pleasure? . . . I call that business.

JACK. How utterly unromantic you are!

ALGERNON. I really don't see anything romantic in proposing. It is very romantic to be in love. But there is nothing romantic about a definite proposal. Why, one may be accepted. One usually is, I believe. Then the excitement is all over. The very essence of romance is uncertainty. If ever I get married, I'll certainly try to forget the fact.

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JACK. I have no doubt about that, dear Algy. The Divorce Court was specially invented for people whose memories are so curiously constituted.

ALGERNON. Oh! There is no use speculating on that subject. Divorces are made in Heaven - [JACK puts out his hand to take a sandwich. ALGERNON at once interferes.] Please don't touch the cucumber sandwiches. They are ordered specially for Aunt Augusta. [Takes one and eats it.]

JACK. Well, you have been eating them all the time.

ALGERNON. That is quite a different matter. She is my aunt. [Takes plate from below.] Have some bread and butter. The bread and butter is for Gwendolen. Gwendolen is devoted to bread and butter.

JACK. [Advancing to table and helping himself.] And very good bread and butter it is too.

ALGERNON. Well, my dear fellow, you need not eat as if you were going to eat it all. You behave as if you were married to her already. You are not married to her already, and I don't think you ever will be.

JACK. Why on earth do you say that?

ALGERNON. Well, in the first place girls never marry the men they flirt with. Girls don't think it right.

JACK. Oh, that is nonsense!

ALGERNON. It isn't. It is a great truth. It accounts for the extraordinary number of bachelors that one sees all over the place. In the second place, I don't give my consent.

JACK. Your consent!

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ALGERNON. My dear fellow, Gwendolen is my first cousin. And before I allow you to marry her,

you will have to clear up the whole question of Cecily. [Rings bell.]

JACK. Cecily! What on earth do you mean? What do you mean, Algy, by Cecily! I don't know any one of the name of Cecily.

[Enter LANE.]

ALGERNON. Bring me that cigarette case Mr. Worthing left in the smoking-room the last time he dined here.

[LANE goes out.]

JACK. Do you mean to say you have had my cigarette case all this time? I wish to goodness you had let me know. I have been writing frantic letters to Scotland Yard about it. I was very nearly offering a large reward.

ALGERNON. Well, I wish you would offer one. I happen to be more than usually hard up.

JACK. There is no good offering a large reward now that the thing is found.

[Enter LANE with the cigarette case on a salver. ALGERNON takes it at once. LANE goes out.]

ALGERNON. I think that is rather mean of you, Ernest, I must say. [Opens case and examines it.] However, it makes no matter, for, now that I look at the inscription inside, I find that the thing isn't yours after all.

JACK. Of course it's mine. [Moving to him.] You have seen me with it a hundred times, and you have no right whatsoever to read what is written inside. It is a very ungentlemanly thing

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to read a private cigarette case.

ALGERNON. Oh! It is absurd to have a hard and fast rule about what one should read and what one shouldn't. More than half of modern culture depends on what one shouldn't read.

JACK. I am quite aware of the fact, and I don't propose to discuss modern culture. It isn't the sort of thing one should talk of in private. I simply want my cigarette case back.

ALGERNON. Yes; but this isn't your cigarette case. This cigarette case is a present from some one of the name of Cecily, and you said you didn't know any one of that name.

JACK. Well, if you want to know, Cecily happens to be my aunt.

ALGERNON. Your aunt!

JACK. Yes. Charming old lady she is, too. Lives at Tunbridge Wells. Just give it back to me, Algy.

ALGERNON. [Retreating to back of sofa.] But why does she call herself little Cecily if she is your aunt and lives at Tunbridge Wells? [Reading.] 'From little Cecily with her fondest love.'

JACK. [Moving to sofa and kneeling upon it.] My dear fellow, what on earth is there in that? Some aunts are tall, some aunts are not tall. That is a matter that surely an aunt may be allowed to decide for herself. You seem to think that every aunt should be exactly like your aunt! That is absurd! For Heaven's sake give me back my cigarette case. [Follows ALGERNON round the room.]

ALGERNON. Yes. But why does your aunt call you her uncle? 'From little Cecily, with her fondest love to her dear Uncle Jack.' There is no objection, I admit, to an aunt being a small aunt,

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but why an aunt, no matter what her size may be, should call her own nephew her uncle, I can't quite make out. Besides, your name isn't Jack at all; it is Ernest.

JACK. It isn't Ernest; it's Jack.

ALGERNON. You have always told me it was Ernest. I have introduced you to every one as Ernest. You answer to the name of Ernest. You look as if your name was Ernest. You are the most earnest-looking person I ever saw in my life. It is perfectly absurd your saying that your name isn't Ernest. It's on your cards. Here is one of them. [Taking it from case.] 'Mr. Ernest Worthing, B. 4, The Albany.' I'll keep this as a proof that your name is Ernest if ever you attempt to deny it to me, or to Gwendolen, or to any one else. [Puts the card in his pocket.]

JACK. Well, my name is Ernest in town and Jack in the country, and the cigarette case was given to me in the country.

ALGERNON. Yes, but that does not account for the fact that your small Aunt Cecily, who lives at Tunbridge Wells, calls you her dear uncle. Come, old boy, you had much better have the thing out at once.

JACK. My dear Algy, you talk exactly as if you were a dentist. It is very vulgar to talk like a dentist when one isn't a dentist. It produces a false impression,

ALGERNON. Well, that is exactly what dentists always do. Now, go on! Tell me the whole thing.

I may mention that I have always suspected you of being a confirmed and secret Bunburyist; and I am quite sure of it now.

JACK. Bunburyist? What on earth do

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you mean by a Bunburyist?

ALGERNON. I'll reveal to you the meaning of that incomparable expression as soon as you are kind enough to inform me why you are Ernest in town and Jack in the country.

Rehearse the Scene with Side Coaching Once your beat sheet is complete for the scene, move beyond merely reading the scene out loud. Get up and stage the scene, putting into action how the emotional tactics affect your behavior. Hand copies of your beat sheet to two other people, or side coaches. Each side coach will focus on one actor in the scene and call out the actor’s choices of emotional tactics, while the actors are acting out the scene. This works as an immediate reminder for the actor to make these choices actively in the moment. If need be, coaches can remind the actors of their objectives as well. Too often actors will make intellectual choices on paper, but not fully apply them in the scene. By having a side coach remind you of your choices as you are acting, you not only use those choices more effectively, but also feel how they are working right in the moment. Side coaches should keep calling out the choices in a beat until they are convinced the actor is actually applying the choices.

Side Coaches for the Tennessee Williams Play Festival While directing a Tennessee Williams one-act play festival, I decided to use side coaches in the rehearsal process for six short plays. The festival provided the perfect opportunity for the student actors to experience what it is like to utilize side coaches as a technique for bringing their scene scores into immediate action. Each short play had small casts of two or three characters, and side coaches could be actors from one of the other short plays.

In the play, Hello from Bertha, we had an actor who has trained in the Alba Emoting technique playing the lead role of Bertha, an aging and deathly ill prostitute who would not leave her room at the brothel, much to her fellow housemates' frustration. Two other prostitutes keep entering Bertha's room and try to convince her to leave, so they can make her room more profitable to the brothel.

The actor made the decision that Bertha was dying of syphilis, and after researching the symptoms of the disease and applying a physical approach to the role, incorporating the specific pains and behaviors of people in states of

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delirium, she was ready to add the layer of emotional tactics. The actor realized that with the character confined to a bed through most of the play, most of the tactics would be emotional. She also realized that the play was written with extremely quick shifts in emotional tone, climaxing to a point in the play where the character escapes into her delirious nostalgic memories of her long lost beau, Charlie.

In order to embody these emotional colors and tactics she scored her script using the Alba Emoting basic emotions. This was a wise decision for her as the actor, as well as for the depiction of this role considering (1) the emotional shifts happened very quickly with this character, so she could use the Alba Emoting technique as a quick and reliable embodiment method, and (2) it was important to recognize that a character is such an extreme stage of decline and desperation would probably express much of her emotional life in these primary emotional states. She also chose another student who studied Alba Emoting to be her side coach, so he would fully understand what he was calling out to her from the side- lines and be able to call continued corrective coaching if he noticed she was not fully embodying the emotional choice.

The side coaching of the basic emotions worked perfectly for this role. Her coach crouched down near the bed she was lying in and quietly, yet insistently, called out each emotion quickly as she shifted from one extreme to the next. As the actor approached the climax of the scene, her coach not only called out the basic emotions in her beats, but also coached her to go to higher levels of the emotion in order to reach and punctuate the arc of the play. It only took a couple rehearsals with this side coaching process for this actor to retain these dynamic shifts throughout this exhausting play. Eventually her side coach simply watched and took notes, and the two would confer after each run through so he could share any places she was forgetting to apply specific choices, and she would additionally make any changes in her scoring she felt might be better choices for the next rehearsal.

This process was mesmerizing to witness, and the final performance this actor produced had audiences riveted all the way to the end of this tour-de-force role!

Try This: Take a scene from any play or movie script that interests you and complete the entire Full Beat Sheet Exercise for the scene, as outlined previously. Perform the scene with a scene partner and add side coaches to remind you of your choices. Then change your choices, and perform the scene all over again with side coaches reminding you of the new choices. Discuss which choices seemed to work the best and why. This is good practice to do on a regular basis. With regular practice, this process can become more

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habitual and you will eventually become well practiced at making dynamic choices and applying them directly to scenes.

Conclusion of Emotions in a Scene Can you now see how important it is to recognize that your body is an emotionally expressive canvas, containing layers building from yourself, your character, the text, and the given circumstances around you in the performance? Can you also recognize how emotional tactics, emotional colors, and shift subtext statements assist you in consciously navigating and building the dramatic action of a play? Learning emotional awareness methods will help you provide greater nuance to your acting, create clearer beat shifts, provide conscious control, and develop a greater understanding of your own personal expression.

This chapter introduces the basic tools of scoring and preparing for rehearsing scenes with an emotional gateway. Later exercises will show you how to embody the emotions, and help you align both the actor and the character together in one-cohesively expressive instrument. By studying and refining this skill of emotional expression, you can make this approach look like your own personal knowing, instinct or talent. Remember, applying emotions to your acting work does not necessarily mean you are simply an actor expressing your craft "full of sound and fury," but that you have reached a mature and refined understanding of how to express the many intricate levels of your character's feelings, reactions and actions. Stanislavski says that in the end, at the final culmination of the actors work, "Artistic emotion is weighed not in pounds but in ounces." (Stanislavski, Building a Character, 181)

In Summary, EMOTIONS are the character's (and many times the actor's): affective aspect of consciousness, feelings, conscious mental reactions subjectively experienced and usually directed towards something and typically accompanied by physiological and behavioral changes in the body. This includes: emotional tactics, emotional colors, and reactions to subtext.

For further reading on the emotions in acting work and on the Alba Emoting technique:

1. Creating a Role, by Constantine Stanislavski 2. Sanford Meisner on Acting, by Sanford Meisner & Dennis Longwell 3. The Alba of Emotions, by Dr. Susana Bloch