PHOTOFEST From l to r: Polly Bergen, Ralph Bellamy, Kitty Carlisle, and Hy Gardner were regular panelists on the classic game show To Tell the Truth. How to tell the truth An acting game that teaches lying for the stage

BY BRUCE MILLER

Harold Clurman, the great director It’s ironic, then, that beginning ac- realm, there is also the natural who and theatre critic, once referred to good tors, even the ones known to tell a seems as real as we could possibly acting as “lies like truth.” He even successful lie or two in life, often fall want, with no less energy. And the au- named a book of essays on theatre and into the trap of “acting” onstage. Act- dience is always able to single out this acting by this title. When asked about ing in this context refers to behaving kind of actor, even while praising the his acting process, Spencer Tracy said onstage in a performed manner, one work of others, who are really putting he “just looked the other actors straight that immediately tells us that the actor it on thick. in the eyes and told the truth.” It’s inter- is performing rather than doing. Quite The idea here is that it’s possible to esting to note that of all the great actors often the actor moves and speaks in a train our students to keep it real even of the thirties, it is Tracy whose style manner that, as Simon Cowell would while meeting the performance de- never changed in movies as he grew say, “if we were being completely mands of a large space or the energy older, because it never had to. honest,” we would never confuse with levels required by an upbeat 1930s The words of Clurman and Tracy real-life behavior. And yet, at the high musical. This training begins with an capture the spirit of what good acting school level, this mode of perfor- awareness of the difference between is all about. Acting is indeed about ly- mance is sometimes considered the performing and behaving in a realistic ing truthfully. After all, the actor is giv- benchmark of good acting. If the actor manner; or, the difference between ly- en fictional lines to say, fictional situa- shows energy and charisma, many ing badly, and lying like truth. If we tions to play out, and fictional places high school directors, parents, and can get our students to recognize that to enact these lies; but when done peers are willing to accept as believ- difference, they will come to appreci- well, the audience believes the actor able work that would never pass on ate it. And if they come to appreciate completely. Just like successful liars in the professional stage or even on the it, they will make it a goal in their own life, the successful actor is so believ- college level. Yet it is also true that work. As teachers we must point out able that her lies do indeed become even in this venue, where overacting the difference and begin to find ways “lies like truth.” is sometimes an accepted coin of the to get them to “lie like truth.”

TEACHING THEATRE Here then is a game that is all about tioning in Europe. A friend and I were how many letters may be read in a lying like truth, that can easily be rafting in extremely rough waters when particular session; in a forty- to fifty- played in the classroom. If you are in the current overtook us and began minute class you are likely to get your forties or older, or you watch the pushing us toward a mountainous reef through two or three. game show cable channel, you may of sharp coral rock. We had to swim Each round will require three con- already be very familiar with To Tell constantly against the overwhelming testants, a host, and four questioners, if the Truth, which had a long prime- current in order to avoid being flung to you use the show’s model. You can time run on network television in the our deaths. After more than an hour of also solicit questions from the class, or 1950s and 60s. It is a perfect game to fighting the waves and current, we if there is a lull, ask questions yourself. develop the skills required for deliver- were at the point of exhaustion and (Be careful not to usurp the game from ing lines and performing a role believ- ready to meet our fate. We held onto the students, if you do so.) In my ex- ably. our rafts and prepared to use them as perience, using a panel of questioners our only protection against the razor- for each round is the better way to go. Preparing to play like coral. When we looked up toward This way, four students are specifically For those who may not have seen the the rock face above us, our prayers invested in getting to the truth, and are original show, To Tell the Truth had a seemed answered. High on the cliff more likely to apply themselves. Those basic gimmick: a row of regular panel- stood a large winged angel silhouetted not playing in a particular round will ists would decide which of three con- against the sun. He was waving his observe and try to figure out which testants was telling the truth about arms, signaling us to drift around to methods for questioning (and lying) himself. The host would read aloud an the far side of the reef. Having no other work best. They will also try to figure “affidavit,” a story about one of the choice, we followed his instruction. We out who the liars are. three players. The contestants would soon discovered that the waves and Once you have decided which sto- then appear, introduce themselves with current were less severe on this side, ries you want to use, select the impost- the same name, and answer questions and we survived the waves that flung ers to work beside the truth-teller. If from the panelists, who would then us onto the mountain of coral. Mo- the story is gender-specific, you will vote for the person each panelist be- ments later a group of locals climbed need to select groups with that in lieved was telling the truth. The game down to pull us from the rocks that had mind. If the story requires physical would end when the host asked, “Will impaled us. When we asked what had derring-do, you will need to cast the the real Bruce Miller (or whoever) become of the angel, our rescuers imposters who look like they could do please stand up?” and the contestant laughed. They told us we had been the required tasks. Or, you may want with the most votes would win. blessed with a miracle. “No one,” they to cast against type. Ultimately, your Obviously, the game will need to be said in Spanish, “ever survives the reef job as producer is to make for a good modified for classroom use. First of all, once caught as you were.” We later show, and a good show is one in you as the teacher will act as the pro- found out that the beach from which which the questioners and audience ducer and will solicit stories from the we swam was known locally as La Pla- are not sure who the real person is—or students to serve as affidavits. This can ya del Muerto—the Beach of Death. If it better yet, when they are sure and turn be done as homework or an in-class hadn’t been for the angel, we never out to be dead wrong. assignment. Either way, you should would have thought to try the far side. After you have divided your class ask your students to write a first-per- Sincerely, into groups, each team of contestants son affidavit. This story will need to be Bruce Miller will need time to do their research and clear in the writer’s mind so that he or prepare. Again, this can be done as she can coach the imposter with solid Note that the affidavit ought to be homework, or you can give students details and be ready to answer their an account of something that actually class time. It will be up to the truth- questions without having to say “I happened (as is the case here), even if teller to fill in as much information as don’t know” or “I don’t remember” too there are elements that might seem ex- he or she can muster, but the impost- often. The story may be funny or seri- traordinary. ers will need to ask lots of questions to ous, but it must be clearly written and When the affidavits have been make sure that they have the informa- leave enough information out so that turned in, it will be your job to decide tion at their fingertips. Encourage them finding questions to ask will not prove which ones will make for the best to question each other in the manner to be an overwhelming challenge for rounds of the game. You may want to and with the questions that the panel- the student-panelists. ask for some rewriting or do some ed- ists might ask them. Like a candidate For example, here is an affidavit in iting yourself. If you solicit the rewrites preparing for a debate, the contestant the style of the original show: from your students, you will need to groups should role-play together, so do so in a way that does not reveal they are totally warmed up and pre- I, Bruce Miller, was once saved from who has been selected. The length of pared for the actual game in class. Rec- drowning by an angel. This divine in- your class and the amount of time you ommend that they take notes and do tervention occurred while I was vaca- allow for each round will determine some memorization.

TEACHING THEATRE Of course, the imposters may whom was Bruce Miller swimming? want to be selected, because each vote choose the strategy of lying when they Why were they there? When did this he gets is essentially a loss for the don’t know an answer, or simply lie happen? Is Miller religious? What de- team. Therefore, he and his fellow because they want to. But a string of tails can be shared about the angel? conspirators must find an intensity lev- lies is always more difficult to maintain And so on. el that makes them all indistinguish- and keep consistent. The truth, on the When all panelists have asked their able. Even the liars must not work too other hand, can simply be reported, questions, the host will say, “Now it’s hard to convince—or overact. even if it is someone else’s truth. time to vote.” The host will call on As I said earlier, the contestants need Winging it by making up answers out each panelist in turn, and ask them to prepare very well. They will need to of laziness (rather than creativity) does who they voted for and why. When know the answers to all the questions not reinforce the basic idea that it is an the panelists have completed voting, likely to be asked, and the more details actor’s responsibility to tell the best the host will say, “Will the real so-and- they know, the more convincing they story possible. so please stand up?” Since the host will be. Of course, these details will A little time should also be spent on cannot use a single name here, he or need to be slipped in naturally as part the big revelation moment when the she should substitute a phrase that of their story. If the contestants pile on host asks the big question, “Will the captures the essence of the affidavit. the detail as though they are trying to real Bruce Miller please stand up?” In (With my affidavit, for example, the be impressive, they will fail. But the the original show, that moment was host might say, “Will the real person well-placed, naturally understated detail always one with dramatic tension and saved by an angel please stand up?”) is likely to draw the votes. laughs. The contestants can add con- The question will be followed by the Their ability to lie believably hinges siderably to the climax of the game, as prepared moment of revelation. on how specific the truth-teller can be well as enjoy the opportunity for some At that point the game can be con- during preparation. Some of the actual suspenseful but realistic acting. sidered to be over, and you can begin storytellers may advance this kind of When the teams have completed a discussion on the game’s effective- detail on their own, but others will their preparation and rehearsal, they ness, what worked, what didn’t, and need to be drawn out. The teams pre- are ready to play the game. Ideally, why or why not. Though no money paring together will have to work hard the playing area should be set up as an will be awarded in the class game, a to figure out what is likely to be asked actual game show stage might look, good grade for effectively fooling the and what makes a good answer. which will help even the more giddy panel and class can certainly be substi- Getting the contestants to explore students to take the game seriously. tuted for cash. their “character” seriously will provide You could try seating the panelists and You should encourage and remind an excellent analogy for the kind of contestants on two upstage diagonals all players to take the game seriously work they need to do when working facing each other and the audience, as they would a part in a play. Side- on a script. In a sense, they are mak- with the host in the middle or off to commenting or grandstanding can di- ing choices when they respond to the the side. lute the intensity of the game, and the questions. What if I told you that the In practice, the game can run much parallels between acting and the game Bruce Miller’s raft was made of canvas, like the original show would. The con- will be lost. not plastic? What if I told you that it testants will enter, and the host will had a rope that ran all around the pe- ask, “What is your name, please?” Each What students can learn rimeter that enabled him to hold on of the contestants will give their own Anyone who has ever been duped by even as the waves propelled him onto name rather than that of the truth-tell- a good liar knows that to tell a good the rocks? That it was this rope that let er. The host will read the affidavit, ob- lie, one must pretend to be telling the him hold on for dear life as he awaited jectively but with expression—meaning truth. That is how liars suck us in. The his rescuers? What if I told you that the host will need to rehearse the best actors will also lie like truth, con- Miller had hundreds of razor sharp cuts reading in advance as part of the host’s vincing us that the lines they say, the all over his body caused by the sharp acting work. actions they take, and the emotions coral rubbing against his skin? You get Next, the contestants should go to they conjure are absolutely real, and the idea. The contestants’ process of their seats, and the first panelist begins not just imitations. preparing their answers is not unlike his or her questioning. Your or the In this game, each team of contes- taking the information they get from a host should allow each panelist only a tants must be able to convince their script and building a believable charac- set amount of time, or only a set num- audience that they are telling the truth ter from there. ber of questions, to be determined be- as they respond to the panelists’ ques- The panelists will be looking for de- forehand. In the sample affidavit tions. The liars must be as convincing tails that only the real person can pro- above, notice all the basic information as the one who tells the truth—per- vide, and they will be looking for a that the document has left out. Where haps more so. The real Bruce Miller in delivery that sounds real versus a de- does the story take place? What city? the example above need not work as livery that does not. If the contestants What was the body of water? With hard as the liars. After all, he does not can sound truthful and give those spe-

TEACHING THEATRE cial details that seemingly only a truth- the truth. Strategic reactions to what testants off-guard with their questions. teller would know, then they will have others say can be as effective as giving Doing so increases the conflict in the the game licked. There is an analogy the right answers, but these reactions game, in the same way that a character here, of course, to acting. That special must be every bit as believable as the in a play feeds the conflict and moves moment or action that is so truthful, so things the contestants might say when the plot forward as he pursues his ob- seemingly spontaneous is often one that solicited. jective. seals a performance in a audience’s It is the same when acting on the For the beginning actor, the game mind and heart. The liars in To Tell the stage. Those who simply count lines serves many purposes: character re- Truth will hopefully hit on such a mo- forget that every moment spent on search and building, acting as a team, ment or two as they prepare, and as a stage, with or without dialogue, re- listening as an actor, and focusing on result, learn a great deal about “lying quires that the actor is present and re- one’s objective are all major aspects of like truth” from the game experience. It acting at every moment. Action and acting reinforced by this role-playing. will be up to you as the teacher to help silence tell compelling stories as much Hopefully, your students will recognize them make the connections. words do. that the sort of acting they need to do Another analogous note on the Effective panelists, on the other in actual performances—whether it’s a game compared to acting onstage: hand, will play their roles with equal realistic play or the wildest commedia some beginning actors only act when seriousness. They have an objective: to dell’arte—must be honest and believ- they are delivering lines. This is a discover who is telling the truth. Listen- able. It needs to seem just like truth. neon sign pointing to bad acting. In ing carefully is a skill that the good ac- life, we are behaving at all times, and tor absolutely needs to possess, and Bruce Miller is director of acting pro- it should be the same way in the game only by listening closely, and analyzing grams at the University of Miami. He is or onstage. The way the contestants comparatively and objectively, will they the author of The Actor as Storyteller listen to each other and to the panel, be able to determine the single player and Head-First Acting, and a regular even when they are not being ad- who is obligated to tell the truth. contributor to Dramatics magazine and dressed, can give off vital information The panelists are also responsible Teaching Theatre. You can reach him about whether they are lying or telling for challenging and keeping the con- at [email protected].

TEACHING THEATRE Originally published in Dramatics magazine. More info: Schooltheatre.org