Images exist in plays in order to make abstract concepts more concrete. Shakespeare does this for us frequently. He uses concrete images of real things to describe otherwise abstract ideas. When preparing a scene with lines that contain images, be sure that first, you understand the image. What does it represent? What does it mean? […]
Videos
The Telegram Exercise
In this video, I describe my method for uncovering and utilizing the core message in a speech or scene: the telegram exercise. This is one way to help move the story forward in a way that the audience will understand. The exercise is based on Stanislavski’s concept of the single stress – emphasizing the most […]
Laban Part 1: Exploring Space
Exploring Laban Space Let’s look at the idea of space in aspects of human behaviour, using the Laban vocabulary of physical action. The four elements Space Time Force Flow When we focus on any one of the 4 elements we are always aware that each element is inextricably connected to the other three. Just […]
Laban’s Vocabulary of Rhythm: An Overview for Actors
In this video, we’ll discuss an overview of Laban’s Vocabulary of Rhythm. Stanislavsky says that an actor cannot function without an understanding of rhythm. In his final and most effective approach to the craft of acting, the Method of Physical Action, he searched for a practical system of rhythmic action that joined, as one direct experience, […]
The Map of the Speech or Scene
The Maps This video follows the work on from the previous technique of ‘Maps.’ First, the Map of Me, then the Map of the Character, and next, the Map of the Speech or Scene. These give: The experience of a strong personal connection between the person writing the Map of their lives and the images […]