Tackling Text [and subtext]

A Step-by-Step Guide for Actors

Barbara Houseman

• Publisher: Nick Hern Books
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781788500111
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Acting & Auditioning

An intensely practical handbook for actors on how to cope with text, subtext, character and situation. Preface by Kenneth Branagh.

Having helped the actor with basic vocal technique in her enormously successful book, Finding Your Voice, Barbara Houseman here shows the actor how to cope with the demands posed by the text [and the subtext] of the play itself.

Full of practical exercises developed over many years of working with actors of all ages and experiences, Tackling Text [and subtext] is an indispensable handbook for any actor working with text - from acting students and young professionals, to experienced actors wanting to tackle specific problems and acting coaches wanting to discover new ways of enabling their students.

'If you want to improve as an actor, read this book... it helps restore the hard work of the actor as fresh, playful and fun' - Kenneth Branagh, from his Preface

'An inspiring teacher... a hugely motivating force in my work' - Daniel Radcliffe

'Barbara's work starts with the voice, passes through the physical - and results in a character. Her teaching helps total performance' - Jude Law

'detailed, down-to-earth, useful... with one of the clearest explanations I've read of iambic pentameter' - The Stage

'as useful to the experienced actor looking for a lifeline as the beginner wanting tips about the trade' - British Theatre Guide

PART ONE

Introduction and Basics

Why Read This Book?

HOW THIS BOOK CAN HELP YOU

Why read this book? Firstly, because it is full of practical exercises to help you explore text, character and situation. These exercises have been developed through working with actors of all ages and experiences over many years.

Secondly, because you can use the exercises in this book outside the rehearsal room to support and deepen your work with a director. You can also use them when preparing for auditions and castings – whether for stage, television or film. They will enable you to become more self-sufficient and more certain of accessing your best work, whatever the situation and however great the pressure you’re under.

Thirdly, this book also explores issues such as building confidence; dealing with criticism; handling auditions and castings; moving from rehearsal space to performance space; and offers simple yet effective tools for overcoming any problems that may arise in these areas.

Tangible Exploration

At the heart of this book is the idea of discovering by doing: getting on your feet and exploring text, character and situation physically. No specific physical skill is necessary for any of the exercises; however, you will find that by working in this way you will gain a great deal of physical confidence and freedom. You will also find that it is a much easier and more concrete way of working, which enables a far more detailed and subtle connection with both the text and subtext. The exercises allow you to have a much more direct relationship with whatever play, scene or speech you are working on and, as a result, to feel far more in charge of what you are doing and more able to solve issues for yourself.

Layering

Another important aspect of this work is the idea of layering: in other words, focusing on one element of text, character or situation at a time, then letting go of that element and trusting that you will remember what you have learnt and will be able to put it together with everything else you have discovered. This allows you to go more deeply into each element; and the resulting mix, because it is achieved unconsciously, is richer and more exciting than any conscious mixing would be. It is also far easier to achieve and much more fun!

Noticing

Every exercise in this book is designed to raise your awareness, to enable you to notice what is there. This awareness has three benefits. Firstly, it allows you to be far more self-sufficient, because you don’t need to wait for others to point things out to you. Secondly, it allows you to connect more deeply because you are making discoveries for yourself and so they have a much greater significance for you. Thirdly, it allows you to be far more specific and detailed, which in turn allows you to produce work that is more truthful and original both for you and the audience.

Essential Information

Two essential sets of rules allow you to navigate your way through any situation in life: situational rules and personal rules. Situational rules deal with what is acceptable in any given situation: it is not acceptable to walk down the street without any clothes on – unless you are in a nudist camp; or to drive on whichever side of the road you feel like; or to visit someone’s home and help yourself to their possessions. Your personal rules deal with what you feel is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour for yourself: whether it is alright, or not, to shout or cry in public, or even at all; how much personal information you share with people on first meeting; whether or not it’s alright to be physically affectionate in public and so on.

Since you are expert at improvising your way through life based on these two sets of rules it makes sense that if you can identify the personal rules of any character, and the rules of each situation in which that character finds him/herself, you will have the essential information you need to navigate your way through any play. All the work in this book is designed to help you identify these rules – especially where they are different from your own and from the rules of the situations you are used to. Throughout, you will be encouraged to ask the essential question, described below, as a way of shifting away from yourself and your own situations, whilst at the same time making use of all the experience you have as a human being.

Essential Question

It was Stanislavsky who pointed out the power of an actor behaving as if they were a certain person in a certain situation. He argued, as an example, that if you asked someone to ‘be a tree’ he/she may well go ahead and attempt to do this, but his/her brain would be saying: ‘But I’m not a tree.’ On the other hand, if you asked someone to behave as if he/she were a tree, then his/her brain would have no problem with this. The as if makes all the difference.

The essential question linked to as if is ‘What if . . . ?’: ‘What if these were my words? What if this were my rhythm? What if this was what was important to me? What if this was the situation I found myself in?’ ‘What if . . . ?’ kick-starts your imagination and sends it searching for the crucial information needed to connect with any role – whether in terms of text or subtext.

Text and Subtext

Text is what is said. Subtext is what lies under and between what is said; it is expressed by body language, tone of voice and moments of silence. Text and subtext each inform the other and it is vital that both are equally explored. I always start with text work because it is the most tangible and because it is what the writer principally gives us – the subtext is implied by the text. By starting with the text you can be sur...