Tag Archives: Acting

Finding the story

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storyfind

When you are trying to get your song ready for a performance or audition it is really important that you find the story that you are wanting to tell. Sometimes that is laid out for you and sometimes it takes a little more work. Here are some steps that will help you if you are a little lost. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is find your story once your song is taken out of context. So lets say you are singing in a cabaret (or audition room) a song that is no longer in context of its show and see how we might find it.

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Getting Started when it seems Impossible

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GettingStarted

You know those days where you have a thousand things to do but you just can’t seem to get started on any of them? They are the most frustrating and confidence breaking days and it just seems like there is nowhere to turn. You know that feeling when you have no idea where to start… and it all just seems far, far, far too difficult… and impossible… and scary…. and really just too much… and it seems a much better idea to give up, curl into a ball and watch Netflix with a blanket over your head? Well I know those days. Let me share some of the things that help me get started when it all seems too much.

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Community Theatre in the World of Performance

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commtheatre

Now, depending on where you are in the world there are a multitude of options for the “non-professional” actor. This is not to say the individuals involved are not necessarily very capable and worthy performers in their own right of course but I’m talking unpaid productions here. For some, this may be a stepping-stone or starting point. For others it may be an outlet for something they would not otherwise pursue. For others yet it is a playing ground to meet like-minded people and explore a world outside their own socially or for the fun and love of the craft. Let’s have a talk then shall we about Am-Dram, Amateur Theatre or as it is most known and preferred to be titled in Australia, “Community Theatre.” Continue reading →

How to really Know and Memorise your Script

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script

These are my tricks for memorising and really knowing your script. Obviously there are going to be your rehearsals with the cast and director but there is a lot of work for you to do too in your own time. Getting around a script can be tricky – especially if you have a large amount of lines. This is a summary of my method for some of the lead roles I have played but I think it can be applied to most scripted characters. Give it a try and find what works for you!

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From The Ground Up – Creating Characters

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CharacterProfiling

Have you ever felt you are creating a character from literally nothing? Sometimes, especially in a musical theatre chorus, it can feel impossible to find who it is you are portraying – especially if you are left to your own devices to create it or are given a subset of actions that don’t seem to make sense. Here is a little method for creating something from the ground up to help you bring the best you can to every role.

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Getting into Character

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GettingCharacter

You may have done the best research on the planet, but if you can’t connect to your character, getting into and certainly staying in character becomes extremely, extremely difficult – Especially when your character needs to be alive and true in a room full of people that in essence aren’t there. Your character’s reality needs to be so true that their bubble of existence makes sense in their (your) head regardless of how it has been translated onto a stage. So what do you do if you can’t get inside their head to start with?

There are a few things I like to do to really connect myself to a character. If you are finding it hard to connect to yours feel free to give them a try!

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Character Building likened to Facebook – Finding that Profile from your Script

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facebookscript

This is what I like to do when I am putting a character together. And just to make it a bit more accessible (and fun) I’ve noticed it lends itself very well to what you would find if you… say…  logged into your character’s Facebook account! Now we aren’t building their account from scratch – no it already exists – we just need to pull it out of our script.

So lets work backwards. This huge script is a little like their newsfeed – full of things that don’t seem to make a lot of sense out of context. It can be a daunting task to search through our own feed at the best of times but all the information is there.

Imagine how you could work backwards from your newsfeed to get your timeline, your profile page and ultimately YOU (or in this case… your character).

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