Deborah Carlson, an acting class based on the work of Patsy Rodenburg: Word of Mouth @ A/C Studios
Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.
~Aristotle
I've started working with Deborah Carlson Word of Mouth @ A/C Studios:
Technique Will Hold You ... "joans voicess" Closes
Deborah Carlson is one of the few New York City actors that teaches an approach grounded in the work of Patsy Rodenburg.
While not anti-method, this approach foregrounds the importance of the text and trains one in a physical technique of breathe and voice/body.
Rather than try to abstractly discuss this type of approach to acting, I'm simply going to record my class notes, in the hopes that this will accelerate my grounding in this technique.
Most of my focus so far has been on monologues, how to rehearse them, how to perform them. Here are some answers to questions I had about monologues:
What the heck IS a monologue, exactly?
Remember the structure of Classical Thought (a monologue), I open up a subject or debate (to be or not to be…….), I debate it (whether this ….whether that), I come to a conclusion or not. The piece starts with ‘you don’t get it, I cling to Karen……(I open up the debate), So you can say he’s trying to explain something to his friend, that is the beginning of the forest but then he goes tree by tree. It’s IS enough to “make a list” because he’s making a list, he’s figuring it out. It’s fine to look at a text as a whole and say “He’s trying to wake up his friend”, or The Action/ Verb, but that’s the “result” of the piece, it does NOT help you ACT! The reason you can’t find the ONE thing is because it isn’t ONE thing. He is making his point one word or line at a time. If you start the piece with ‘I’m going to wake him up” you might as well just say, ‘some people blow up their homes and some people take up piano…..I’m taking piano’ and leave. It’s a “journey” and you mean what you say as you say it tree by tree. Not before (here’s the whole forest). I know all the other training out there says find the verb, find the emotion, all before you begin! Yes find it so you can understand the play and say when it’s over, he’s waking up his friend, but that’s a summation or the end of the forest. If you start with that generalization there is no need to speak. It’s just like this e-mail. You’re frustrated, you’re asking, you’re hoping for guidance you’re figuring it out as you go just like he is. Just like ALL monologues or I should say all plays.
There is no such thing as a brilliant audition when you only have ten minuets! I know the book will say push important words and make bold choices but if you were auditioning for me or the CD’s that I think know what there doing, the only thing we’d be looking for is does he understand what he saying and does it seem to be coming out of him or is he just pushing and performing because he’s lost.
Acting is not a skill that you ever feel THIS is the way to do it. Just like a dancer you work to make your technique strong and then the music starts and you sing, dance or act. If you’re working well you don’t remember how you did it because you’re IN what you’re saying, into your partner and not listening to yourself. Try not to feel that you have to control it so much. It is not intellectual it is physical. When you take a walk you may know that you’ll end up at the library but you don’t know what may happen on the way. That’s acting!
How do you approach/daily rehearse a monologue?
- Read and read and read until you understand it -- what are the thoughts behind the phases? Mark them.
- Mouth each line on breath (i.e., speak the monologue without giving voice to it). ("Speech Work With The Text" from The Actor Speaks, p. 183)
- Build up the line on Voice breathing one word at a time ("Breathing The Text" from The Actor Speaks, p. 170)
- Speak the line.
- Intone the line. and then speak it again. Notice the rhythm of the piece (from The Actor Speaks)..
- Do the Journey Of The Walk ( from The Actor Speaks, p. 197) .
- Just do the monologue as if in an audition.
Further Reading About Acting, Theatre & Film . . .
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