Characterization

Many drama teachers look for large cast plays with huge ensembles so they can include every student who wants to participate. But sometimes you don’t need something that big. Maybe you have a new or fledgling drama program with only a few students. Maybe you’d like to feature your graduating seniors, or challenge your advanced acting students. Or maybe you just want something on a smaller scale. Whatever the reason, a small cast show is a necessity! With a small cast show, you can get laser-focused. Because there are fewer characters, students must go deeper and really get to the heart and soul of the characters and their journeys. Here are two analysis-based exercises focusing on small cast shows. These exercises can be done individually or in small groups. If you need some small cast scripts for your drama class library, Theatrefolk’s top 10 plays for small casts is a great place to start. 1. Small Cast Character AnalysisWith many analysis assignments, students are challenged to choose one character from a large dramatis personae list, and do an analysis of that character. With a smaller cast show, have students do an analysis of each character, not only examining each character and their personalities and choices, but also looking deeper at how they relate to the others in the show, as well as their journey through the play as a whole. Have students read through the play and create a character relationship map. Sketch or choose an image of each character and arrange them on a blank board or blank document. Identify the different kinds of relationships between the characters and use different coloured lines to connect the characters (red for love interest, green for friends, blue for relatives, etc.). Have students think of creative ways to indicate complicated relationships, such as “enemies to lovers” or “one-sided friendship.” Since the show is a small cast, each character should be connected to all the other characters in some way. If you’re working on a vignette-style small cast play, the character relationships might not be as evident, because the characters might not interact with each other directly. In this case, they can still make a character relationship map, they just have to approach it a little differently. Have students look for threads that tie the characters together: How are they similar in terms of how they think, what they’re going through, how they approach a problem or challenge? There also might be subtle hints in the text that aren’t immediately evident; for example, perhaps two characters mention that they have the same math teacher, or one character might be the sister of another character’s friend. For each connection, have students write a small explanation of how the characters relate to one another. 2. Small Cast Producer’s ChallengeAsk your students why they think a theatre company might want to do a small cast show. Have students think like producers and brainstorm reasons having a small cast show could be advantageous. For example: • Smaller cast generally means a smaller budget (and with producers, it always comes down to the bottom line of money) • Fewer actors to pay • Fewer costumes required • Less rehearsal time needed (possibly) • Often one unit set is all that’s needed • A more intimate and focused story • Plenty of stage time for each performer Then brainstorm reasons why having a small cast could be challenging: • Fewer roles to go around so fewer actors can be involved • You could double cast the show so more actors could be involved but that would take more rehearsal time • Could be more challenging to get audience members to come • Fewer characters means more lines, which will take longer to memorize Have students select a small cast show (or assign one for the entire class to focus on). Students will read the play and do a SWOT analysis illustrating the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the small cast show. Next, have students create an estimated budget for the small cast show. It might help students to compare a small cast show budget to a large cast show budget. You might have them do an online search for production costs for theatrical productions. Broadway Tour has a great article breaking down how much it costs to put on a Broadway show — it definitely isn’t cheap, even if the show has a small cast! Students will present their analysis and budget to the rest of the class. Make note of common ideas that come up and look deeper into unique ideas that other students may not have thought of. Keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming article about acting and directing exercises for small cast shows!

We are all about character analysis — it’s a great tool for helping students develop a deeper understanding of characters in plays that they are studying, performing in, or creating. Read on to find four mini exercises that your students can do to analyse a character and come up with interesting backstory details. It’s time to go younger! These exercises could be used as writing prompts as well. They can be completed live in class, via distance learning, or assigned as homework. 1. Character overview in the present :To get a stronger handle on your character, start by creating a character overview using evidence from the script. Check out the article A Quick Tip for Character Analysis for more details about this. These initial notes will help you develop a good foundational grasp on the character as they are in the present time of the play. Action** :** Take a piece of paper and divide it into four sections. In the first section, write down what other characters say about your character. In the second section, write down what your character says about other people. In the third section, write down any events that occur surrounding your character. In the fourth section, write down how these quotes and actions affect the action of play. 2. Childhood :Think about the character’s childhood. Using your character overview notes, think about how the character is now, and what events from their past might have made them this way. Was their childhood happy or sad? Easy or challenging? How do you think the character was raised? Did they have parents or parental figures? Siblings? Were they cared for? Neglected? Cherished? Seen but not heard? Were there any major events that affected the character? Action** :** Write a brief descriptive paragraph about your character’s childhood. If you can’t find specific evidence in the script, make up the details! If another classmate is studying the same character, compare your paragraphs after completing them. It’s interesting to see others’ interpretations of the same character. 3. School days :School has a huge impact on people. Did your character attend school, and if they did, were they a good student? What was their favourite subject? Did they have friends? Were they bullied? What did they wear to school? If they didn’t go to school, how did they spend their time? Action** :** Write a one-page journal entry, as the character, describing a typical day at school. What are you studying? What activities do you do? Who do you spend time with? 4. Likes and dislikes :What was your character’s favourite toy as a child? Favourite activity? Favourite article of clothing? Favourite food? Best friend? Favourite memory? What about their least favourites? How did these favourite and least favourite things affect your character in a lasting way? For example, perhaps a romantic hero grew up reading fairy tales and romantic poetry, which inspired them to search for their happily ever after in the present. Action** :** Create a list of 10 childhood likes and dislikes for your character. For example: toys, food, activity, memory, holiday/trip, book, sport, scent, flower, article of clothing. You can choose different likes/dislikes if you prefer. Then, circle the likes/dislikes that your character still has in the present. Choose one that stands out the most and write a brief descriptive paragraph about how and why your character came to like/dislike that thing.

We’re starting 2021 off with a fun series of exercises focused on superheroes, supervillains, and super sidekicks! You’ll find ideas for character creation, playwriting opportunities, different performance options, and technical theatre projects. Let’s dive right in! Superheroes: they’re everywhere. From Spiderman to Wonder Woman to the X-Men to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, superheroes abound in films, television, and books. We love to cheer them on as they battle the bad guys, and we marvel at their amazing feats of strength, bravery, and leadership. Individually or in groups, give your students a few minutes to brainstorm as many superheroes as they can think of from popular culture. Write them down. Then as a full class, discuss the following questions: • What do these superheroes have in common? • What makes a hero “super”? • What is a superhero’s mission or goal? • If you could have a super power or special ability, what would you most want to have and why? (You may also wish to pose a follow-up: What might the negative aspects of a certain power or ability be? For example, it might be cool to have telepathy, but there are many people whose minds I would not want to read!) • Does a superhero need to have special powers or abilities to make them a superhero? • What personality or character traits, outside of special abilities or powers, do superheroes possess? (For example: bravery, virtue, kindness – anyone can possess these traits whether they are a superhero or not.) • Are there negative aspects or downsides to being a superhero? If so, what are they? (For example: In X-Men, the mutants are ridiculed and hated because the public doesn’t understand their powers.) • Would you want to be a superhero? Why or why not? Armed with this information, students can start to develop their own, original superhero character. Use Lindsay Price’s 20 Character Profile Questions to help students create their characters, with the addition of the following questions: • What is my mission? • What is/are my special power(s)? How did I get them? • What is my greatest weakness? • Do I have an alter ego (or public identity – for example, Batman is Bruce Wayne), and if so, what is my alter ego’s name and profession? How does my alter ego’s personality differ from my superhero persona? • How did I become a superhero? Did I choose this life, or was I forced into it? (As William Shakespeare said in Twelfth Night, “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ’em.”) You’ll find a printable worksheet with these questions at the bottom of this post. Have students fill in their character traits and submit them to you. Don’t worry about villains, enemies, sidekicks, or intricate storylines yet – that’s coming up next. Just focus on the hero. When your students have finished they will have created an outline for their own new superhero, ready to leap into action. But wait – their superheroes are going to need some help. Keep an eye out for our next post in the Superhero Series: Adding Support with a Super Sidekick!

What do the musicals The Little Mermaid, Honk!, and Cats all have in common? They’re all shows that feature actors playing animals. It’s a lot of fun to play non-human characters, but the vast majority of shows feature people playing… well, people! It’s easy to make a character move and look differently when they are an animal. But how can you make your character’s movements and gestures interesting and unique when they’re “just” a student, businessperson, townsperson, or other generic human being? Use your animal instinct – try thinking of your character as an animal. If your students are struggling with making interesting and unique character choices, try this multi-part exercise with them. It challenges students to look at their character through a different lens, pushes them to experiment with bigger movement choices, and helps them to then fine-tune their over-the-top actions into natural yet unique, character-driven movements. Exercise:1. Write down as many adjectives as you can to describe your character. Include examples from the text of the script. 2. From those adjectives, think of an animal (or animals) that stereotypically have those qualities. For example, we often think of cats as self-possessed, snobby, and sleek, while we think of dogs more as energetic, rowdy, and bumbling. Snakes are slippery and sneaky, while monkeys are wild and screechy. Owls are wise, lions are powerful, and sloths are lazy. Write these connections down. 3. Determine which animal your character is most like. For example, if your character is a wild, obnoxious six-year-old, your animal might be a caged monkey or an untrained puppy. Perhaps your character is a powerful business executive – maybe they’re like a sleek panther or a stately lion. Or perhaps your fashionista hairstylist character is like a pampered poodle – always perfectly coiffed. 4. Watch videos that show how these animals move. List verbs that describe their movements – such as slither, glide, flounce, float, stumble, waddle, crawl, roll, and so on. Those are much more interesting words than simply “walk” or “enter.” 5. Try out some animal movements yourself, or as a group. The “Mixer” game is great for this; find it here. 6. Experiment in rehearsal or in class with the animal-like movements for your character. Go through your scenes while first doing big, actual animal-like movements. Yes, everyone will look and feel silly! For example, if your character is like a snake, actually try slithering into the scene on your belly. If your character is like a cat or dog, go down on all fours to enter. Stomp through the scene and take up space, like an elephant or rhino. Race through the space like a squirrel or chipmunk. Go totally over the top! 7. After working through the over-the-top movements, run the scenes again while personifying the animal traits. Think beyond simply walking – explore movements such as sitting, eating, head tilts, eye gazes, and hand gestures (such as pointing or demonstrating). How would a cat move if it were up on its hind legs like a human? How would a gorilla put on a coat? How would a hyena drink out of a glass. 8. Upon completion of this exercise, students will complete and submit a Reflection.

If you want your students to physicalize their characters, get them thinking about status. What is status?Answer this question for yourself. Write down a couple of different answers yourself, then ask your students to come up with a couple of different answers on their own. Status is about power and control. Many people talk about status in terms of money and monetary status. Money does give us status because it gives us control. But money does not necessarily mean that we have control. Control is not always about having money. Status can be the relationship of control, like between a student and a teacher. The teacher has control. Why? Because students have been told the teacher has power over them. The teacher has control over a student’s grade. A status relationship can occur in the most unexpected places. A homeless man who shouts at you on the street. What’s your first thought? Do you feel uncomfortable by this loud obnoxious person coming at you? You may have more money, but they have the power. They have the status in this situation. Status can be about the struggle for control. Perhaps a high status person has status over a low status person and the low status person doesn’t like it. Or a low status person disguises themselves as a high status person to take that control back. When you look at a scene, look at who has control or which characters are battling with each other for status because they want control. Physicalizing statusOne of the ways we can learn about status is by physically playing status in the body. The way a high characters walks is quite different than the way a low status person walks. How does a High Status person move? Not afraid to touch or be touched. Initiates contact (eye contact, physical contact, or verbal contact). Body is physically open. Walks in straight lines. Takes time getting to their destination. Confident. Finishes a complete thought on a complete breath and in a complete sentence. Has a positive outlook. Has power. Has a large or small bubble of personal space but not afraid to have that bubble of space broken. How does a Low Status person move? Does not like to touch or be touched. Does not make or initiate contact of any kind (eye contact, physical contact, or verbal contact). Body is physically closed off or protected. Does not walk in a straight line. Rushes or moves slowly to their destination. Touches their hair, clothes or face while they talk. Does not finish a complete thought on a complete breath or a complete sentence. Gives away their power or has no power. Has a small bubble of personal space because they feel like they shouldn’t take up much space, OR a large bubble of personal space because they want to keep others away. In the game you will describe characteristics for status and have your students take on those characteristics. Remind them that high status does not mean snobby or snotty and low status does not mean an emotionally broken person or somebody who has some sort of deep emotional problems. Again, it’s all about power. Watch the Status Walks game in action!

If you want your characters to be three dimensional, you have to consider their voice. What words do they choose? What’s the structure of their language? How do they communicate? A character specific voice not only gives an actor something to play, but it also lifts the character off the page. There is no such thing as silent reading in theatre. We want characters to come to life. Defining how a character sounds is an essential part of that process. How do we define a character specific voice? 1. Define their vocabularyWhat words does this character use when they talk? Do they stick to one syllable or do they reach for the ten dollar words? Do they use ten dollar words even when they don’t know what they mean? Do they pronounce them correctly? Do they use words associated with a favourite pastime? For example, if they like Star Wars, do they talk about the Force? If they like football, do they frame everything in terms offense and defense? Do they show off their knowledge of physics or fashion? Word choice is key to creating a specific character. Exercise Play with word choice by putting two different characters into the same scenario. The location is a courtroom. The situation is that one of the characters is trying to talk the judge out of giving them a parking ticket. Define the vocabulary for each of these characters. What words would they choose to communicate to the judge? Do they succeed in the end? Does their word choice improve their situation or make it worse? • Scientist • Fashion Model • Artist • Computer Programmer • Chef • Ballet Teacher • Lawyer • Construction Worker • Librarian • Personal Trainer 2. Define their language structureOnce you look at the “what” of your character’s voice, you want to look at the “how.” How are their sentences constructed? Do they speak with grammatical correctness or with a lot of sentence fragments? Do they say “I am unfamiliar with that term,” or “I don’t know” or “Dunno”? Do they speak in short, clipped sentences or long, run-on sentences? What is the character’s primary punctuation? Do they speak in blunt statements or exclamations? Do they go off on tangents? Defining the “how” in a character’s voice is the best way to write the sound of a character. It also gives the actor playing that role a playbook in terms of vocal pace, speed, tone, and tension. Exercise Write a monologue using the same scenario with two different characters. A boy is asking the head cheerleader out on a date. Be specific with the language structure. Depending on the boy’s character, what is his primary punctuation? Sentence length? Does he use contractions? Does he speak in complete thoughts or sentence fragments? • Debate Team Member • Quarterback • AV Club Member • Student Council President • Math Club Member • Environment Club Member • Yearbook Editor • School Spirit Leader 3. Define how they communicateTheatre is a communicative form. A character’s main job is to communicate their story, viewpoint, and personality to an audience. Decide how you want the audience to perceive a character and how well you want the character to communicate. Is your character direct? Are they vocally high status? Do they tell the truth all the time? Do they speak in statements? Do they get to the point? Do they state their opinions with confidence? Or is your character indirect. Are they vocally low status and insecure? Do they take forever to get to the point? Do they peeter off at the end of their sentences? Or punctuate every line with a nervous laugh? Do they verbally meander? Do they lie? Once you decide what a character says, and the structure of their speech, you can establish a character’s specific voice. Exercise Choose one of the character types from the previous exercises. Write a monologue in which that character talks to their parents about something they’ve done. Before you start, decide if the character is direct or indirect. • If your character is direct , then your character is: confident, truthful, concise, and is high status. • If your character is indirect , then your character is: insecure, untruthful, rambles, and is low status. Include all four elements in the monologue. Variation: Choose a character who is typically indirect and write them as direct for this scenario, and vice versa. *Note: For all the exercises in this post, “type” characters are used. This is to give students an instant visual and a doorway into the writing. Certainly, as you move forward with character specific writing, it will become less about the “type” and more about using these tools to create dimension.

One of the keys to Classroom Management is getting students to work well together. Group work is tricky if students don’t know one another. Why should I share something with this guy who doesn’t say two words in class? Exercise: Round RobinDownload a printable PDF of this Exercise including Character/Conflict sheets at the end of this post. This exercise encourages students to work together and to think quickly. Tell students that they have to have a unanimously agreed upon product at each stage of this exercise. Outline • There are two stages in this activity: Character and Conflict. • Each group will complete a task three times for each stage: 3 times for character, 3 times for conflict. • Each group will then select one character and one conflict to use as the foundation for a short monologue. Materials • Character/Conflict Sheets (download these at the end of the post) • Each stage requires a variety of prompts. These prompts will be scattered throughout the room. You’ll need enough so that groups can visit three different prompts per task. (e.g. If you have 15 students in groups of 3 you will need 5 prompts for each task.) • Character: Individual pieces of clothing. • Conflict: Objects both natural and manmade. The objects should be small enough to hold in your hand (e.g. rocks, packet of letters, toys, stuffed animals.) Instruction • Students are divided into small groups. • Start with Character. Tell students that each group is to go an area of the room where they will find a piece of clothing. • Each group studies their piece of clothing. Students will create a character who might wear this piece of clothing. Groups must unanimously choose the following details about the character: Gender, age, name, physicality, job, hobby, family, where do they live, and significant relationship (e.g. a person, an animal, a plant, dead relative, imaginary friend). • Direct students that they have five minutes to choose their character details. • Once the time limit is up, groups rotate to a second area of the room and repeat the exercise: study the piece of clothing and create a character who might wear it. • Once the time limit is up, groups rotate to a third area of the room and repeat the exercise: study the piece of clothing and create a character who might wear it. • Groups now have 3 character descriptions. • Groups will repeat the process to create a conflict. The Conflict prompt will be an object. • Each group moves to an area of the room where there is a conflict object. They are to study the object and answer the following questions: • What is the object? • What problem has this object caused? • What emotion is attached to the object? Why? • Direct students that they have a three minute time limit to answer their conflict questions. • Once the time limit is up, groups rotate to a second area of the room and repeat the exercise: study the object and answer the conflict questions. • Once the time limit is up, groups rotate to a third area of the room and repeat the exercise: study the object and answer the conflict questions. • Groups now have three character descriptions and three conflict objects. Groups will choose one character and match him or her with one conflict. • Groups will write a monologue for the character about the conflict. The character is speaking to whoever or whatever was chosen as the character’s significant relationship. Direct students that they must use their chosen conflict. How does the character talk about the object and the problem the object has caused? How does the character try to solve the problem in the monologue? • Groups share their monologues with the class.

If you want your students to take their character development to the next level, introduce them to Laban Movement. Laban Movement will provide them with a clear and understandable tool set that will enable them to grow their own movement vocabulary and discover new ways to physicalize character. This work is not just technical but spends time teaching the students to recognise and act upon creative impulse in the body. What is Laban Movement?For a long time Laban movement was primarily used for dancers and dance choreography to discover new ways to move. In the 80s and 90s, it began being used to help actors and improve performances. I first encountered Laban work while I was training at the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre. While the Laban work comes out of modern dance exploration, at Dell’Arte they were using Laban’s Eight Efforts to explore character in the body. They used it as a way to extend an actor’s movement vocabulary and ability to play characters physically. The Eight Efforts became a cornerstone of my work as an actor. They help an actor both physically and emotionally identify and play characters who are different from themselves. This embodied work helps the actor in understanding internal impulse and in developing an expressive body that can make clean, precise choices. It also helps the actor create and maintain a strong physical instrument that will serve them throughout their training and future professional work. Who is Laban?Laban is named after Rudolf Laban , who was a movement theorist, a choreographer and a dancer. He is considered a pioneer of modern dance. Laban categorized human movement into four component parts: • Direction • Weight • Speed • Flow Each of those parts has two elements: • Direction is either direct or indirect. • Weight is either heavy or light. • Speed is either quick or sustained. • Flow is either bound or free. So, for example, if you’re looking at Flow and the movement is bound, then it’s very tight. It’s very held in. Think uptight businessman or administrator. Whereas someone who moves freely is the opposite of bound. Think of children. They are always running, always free. And if you’re looking at direction, you’re either moving toward something directly or you’re meandering toward it. Laban then combined these parts together to create The Eight Efforts: • Wring • Press • Flick • Dab • Glide • Float • Punch • Slash For each effort, Laban identified which component parts were to be used. For example: For WRING • The Direction is Indirect • The Weight is Heavy • The Speed is Sustained • The Flow is Bound How can you use Laban in the drama classroom?Student actors have a hard time moving outside their own body. Every character they play, moves like they do. Introduce a process to students that gets them thinking about different ways to move. Then with every character they play, they have a vocabulary to draw from: Does this character move with a flicking movement? What weight does this character have? Am I bound or free? There are many different ways an actor can begin to employ these efforts into their work. Observational work: The actor can take time observing individuals and creatures in the world around them with an eye towards identifying the Eight Efforts within the movement and behaviour of the observed subjects. After careful observation and replication of the efforts, the actor can begin to apply what they observed to the creation of a character, borrowing elements of what they observed and rehearsed. Text work: The actor can carefully analyze the text and look for speech patterns that are similar to the Eight Efforts. Our language is a representation of our inner lives. By looking at what and how the character expresses themselves, the actor can find clues for which one of the Eight Efforts to explore. For example – in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the character of Peter Quince speaks in monosyllables. QUINCE “Here is the scroll of every man’s name, which is thought fit, through all Athens, to play in our interlude before the duke and the duchess, on his wedding-day at night.” His text is made up of short quick words. This could be a clue to the actor to try vocally playing Dab in the voice and seeing how vocally playing the Effort affects the body and the physicality of the character. Playing off this same idea of using the text to find the Effort, Oberon (in A Midsummer Night’s Dream) talks a lot about aggressive hairy animals and seems to be aligned to the animal world. Many of the animals he speaks of have Alpha Males in their social hierarchy, which tend to be Heavy, Direct, Free and Quick. This might be a clue to the actor playing Oberon to play around with a Slashing quality in the voice. Emotional work: One can look at the personality of the character and the emotional makeup of the character to look for what kind of Effort to experiment with. We can look at a character’s personality and think of them in terms of the Efforts. On the TV show South Park, the character of Carman is pushy and aggressive with his friends. He tends to try to dominate any situation he is in and is quick to anger. You could think of his personality as a Punch. Eeyore from Winnie-the-Pooh is light and indirect in his personality and the way he interacts with the world. He could be described as a Float or a Glide. Ask your actors to look at their characters’ emotions or how they react to the world around them. This can help them find an effort to play. Costuming: Finally, we can play around with costuming. What kind of costume is the actor called upon to wear or how does the period clothing inform the actor as to what effort to play? If we think of Gwendolen from The Importance of Being Earnest She is usually costumed in light dainty fabrics that tend to have a great deal of lace on them. How can the actor translate the delicate nature of the fabrics and lace into an Effort? It is light and free – so could the actor play Glide? Or does the actor find the clothing light but binding and play Dab? By experimenting with the Laban Efforts and ways to interpret them, you can create a language to give your students to get them out of their bodies, out of their shells and into a new physicalization. What do the Eight Efforts look like?If you’ve never used Laban before it is definitely like learning a new language. What does it mean to Punch or Glide?

Who is the most interesting person you know? Who is the most interesting person your dad knows? Who is the most interesting person your boss knows? It could be a specific story, a whole history or a certain personality trait. That’s the interesting thing about being interesting – it’s never going to be the same quality across the board. This exercise takes a look at the question “What makes a person interesting?” and explores it in a theatrical context. After your students question someone about their most interesting person, they’re going to dramatize that person in a monologue. The more students can hone in on the specifics of “being interesting”, the easier it will be for them to write interesting characters. Exercise1. First, pick a person. The only rule is that it can’t be a classmate or someone your own age. Consider talking to a parent, a relative, a teacher, your boss, a neighbour, a family friend. 2. Ask that person the question: ‘Who is the most interesting person you know?’ The answer could be someone they know currently, or someone they knew growing up. 3. Get the basic details on this person: What do they look like? What did they sound like? The more you know, the more you’ll be able to visualize this person. 4. Get the details on what makes this person interesting: is there a specific story related to this person? Is it their everyday behaviour? Make sure you write it down. 5. Based on what you know, write a monologue in the voice of this person. 1. Decide who they’re talking to. 2. Decide where they are when they give their monologue. 3. Decide the one thing they want to share with the person they’re talking to. 4. Decide their emotional state. 6. Once the monologues are complete, divide students into small groups and have them read the monologues aloud. 7. Afterward, have students write a reflection on the exercise. What was it like to learn about an “interesting person?” Do you think the person was interesting? Why or why not? What was it like to try and write a monologue for this person? What was it like to hear other monologues on this topic? Which one did you like best and why? Bonus After everyone writes their monologue, have them prepare a presentation. They have to perform their monologue, in character with full costume and props.

Character analysis can be done in many forms: • You can analyze a character in a play you’re studying. • You can analyze a character you’re playing in a production. • You can analyze a character in a play you’re writing. This Character Analysis Exercise will work in all three circumstances: Analyze a character students are studying, playing, or writing about! Have students do this exercise once they’ve either read the play at least once or they’ve written a first draft and are ready to dive deeper into character development. The goal of the exercise is for students to learn about a character through the eyes of others. Instruction1. Entry Prompt • Students enter and respond to the prompt in drama journals or on a separate piece of paper. • Describe yourself (both your public self and your private self) using the five senses. What is your look, sound, texture/feel, smell? Have them identify a specific food for taste. 2. Activity: Mirror Monologue • This is a nonverbal exercise. It is suggested that everyone goes at the same time, so that no one is singled out. You can have students facing in different directions so that they are in their own space and not looking at others or being looked at. • Say to students, Imagine you are standing in front of a mirror. When do you look in the mirror? What do you do when you look in the mirror? The goal is to get students to start a simple action. You may want to give some suggestions: Do you brush your teeth? Do you check what your clothes look like? Do you wash your face? Do you wear contacts? What are you doing? • Say to students: How do you see yourself? When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Do you see yourself as confident? Make a pose or gesture that shows that. Do you see yourself as insecure? Make a pose or gesture that shows that. • Say to students: How do you think others see you? When others look at you, what do they see? Make a pose or gesture that shows how others see you. • Bring students back to neutral, and change the tone of the moment with an upbeat game or improv. • Afterward, discuss the exercise. What was their experience? 3. Character Analysis • In the same way that we can reflect on how we see ourselves and how others see us, we can do with characters. What can we learn about a character through the eyes of others? • The first step is for everyone to choose the character they’re going to analyze. Students who are doing this as a rehearsal exercise should choose their own character. • Divide students into small groups. Have each person in the group share their opinion of their chosen character. What do they think of them? Why did they choose them? What do they like about this character? What don’t they like about this character? • Now that students have had a chance to verbalize their thoughts, have them write them down. Give students the Character Worksheet (download below) and have them record their thoughts on their chosen character. • Next, students will choose a second character. They will now go through the script and identify everything this second character says about the chosen character. • • What words do they use? • What attitude is behind the words? • What is the emotional context behind the words? • Have your students highlight in their script how the second character responds to the chosen character. Again, have them focus on the words they use, the attitude behind the words, and the emotional context of those words. • Bring the students back into groups. Have each person share what they’ve learned about their character from analyzing the second character. Are they surprised? How does this second character see their character? • Now that students have had a chance to verbalize their thoughts, have them write them down. On the Character Worksheet students will answer the question, “How does this second character see your character?” They are to use the text to support their answers. • Bring everyone together and discuss the exercise.

Have you ever listened to a singer who hits all the right notes but there’s still something missing? When you sing, especially in a musical, there are necessary elements. Having proper technique. Being able to breathe is immensely important. But the best singer is not always the one with the most polished technique. The best musical theatre performer is the one who finds the heart of the song. The heart of the character. The one who makes the song mean something. Makes it personal. Audiences connect to heart. They connect to personal stories. And if the person singing does this, that’s far more meaningful than a note held till next Tuesday. It’s not just about the notes. So, how do singers connect to the song beyond the notes? Ask questions!Analyze what you’re singing. Ask and answer questions about the character and the song. The more you know, the more you can draw from, the more depth you can create. A held note becomes an emotional connection if you can relate it directly back to the character. Start with these questions: Where is the character physically?And this doesn’t necessarily mean are they in the hall or the kitchen. This could mean: • Where are they in their life? • Where are they in relation to the other characters? • Where are they right before they open their mouths to sing this song? Example: ‘No One is Alone’ from Into the Woods. The baker has just lost his wife and must deal with raising his child alone. In ‘Close Every Door’ from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat Joseph has just been thrown into prison, with no hope of getting out. Where is the character emotionally?Musicals happen because they take characters to a point where they can’t do anything else but sing. So what is the emotional ‘why’ for the character that they have to break out into song? Example: ‘I Feel Pretty’ from West Side Story. Maria has no choice but to burst out in song because she’s so happy and so in love. And even in something as frothy as “You Can’t Stop the Beat’ from Hairspray each character has an emotional standpoint. Also ask yourself this: Does the character change their physical and emotional state by the end of the song? What does the character want?Is your character they trying to make a decision? Do they want to share their feelings about another character? Do they want happiness? A new life? Their old life back? This goes hand in hand with knowing the physical and emotional state of the character. Knowing what the character wants and communicating that in the song is the easiest way to connect to an audience. Example: After a boy runs away from her, Elphaba in Wicked sings ‘I’m not that Girl’ (as in the girl that boys like) but what she wants more than anything is to BE that girl. In ‘I could have danced all night’ from My Fair Lady Eliza wants her spectacular night (and her new turn in life) to go on and on and on. In ‘Music of the Night’ The Phantom (The Phantom of the Opera) wants Christine to love his music and love him. It’s so important to sing the want in the song, not just the notes that make up the song. What’s going on in the song?What is the story of the song? Make sure you understand what’s being said. What’s happening in the story up to this point. Sometimes musical numbers rely on metaphor and it’s easy to catch someone who is only spouting words without any thought behind them. Can you write a one line description of the song? Who is the character singing to?Is it a specific person? Is it to the audience? If it’s the audience that’s fine, but think about what the character is trying to communicate to the audience, or get the audience to do. Be specific, and ‘no one’ is not an answer. Example: When Annie sings ‘Tomorrow’ she is singing to her dog, but also to herself. She is convincing herself and the audience not to give up, there’s always tomorrow. Song Analysis‘Somewhere That’s Green’ from Little Shop of Horrors is a song that has some very funny lyrics and traditionally Audrey has a very funny voice so it’s easy to get trapped into focusing on those aspects when singing the song. It’s easy to play Audrey simply as a dope. But that’s pretty boring for you, and certainly boring for the audience. There is a lot of character in the song, and more importantly a lot of heart. There is a lot for a singer to connect to, and in turn bring that connection to the audience. At this point in the musical, we know Audrey works at Mushnik’s Skid Row flower shop and have met her abusive motorcycle riding dentist boyfriend Oren. Right before the song, Audrey reveals she might have feelings for the main character Seymour. Seymour is the completely opposite of her boyfriend. Click here to read the lyrics to the song. Based on what you read how would you answer the following questions? • Where is the character physically? • Where is the character emotionally? • Does the character change their physical or emotional state? • What does the character want? • What’s going on in the song? • Who are you singing to? Where is the character physically?: Audrey lives in the city, in ‘Skid Row.’ She is as far away from somewhere that’s green as humanly possible. She is in the middle of an abusive relationship (black eye, arm in a cast) She reveals that she likes Seymour and dreams about being with him in an ideal place. She’s never shared these thoughts before. Where is the character emotionally? Audrey is unhappy but doesn’t think she deserves better. (She sings about this in ‘Suddenly Seymour’ – Nobody ever treated me kindly, daddy left early, mama was poor. I’d meet a man and I’d follow him blindly…) coupled with this is a belief of how happy she’d be in her dream. Pure unhappiness and pure happiness all at the same time, that’s what makes her sing. Does the character change their physical and emotional state? Yes. She goes from the reality of her situation, to the dream of the white picket fence and then back to the reality of her situation. At this point in her journey, she can’t believe that she’ll ever escape. What does the character want? Audrey wants the white picket fence. She wants the suburb, the green grass, the TV dinner, and most importantly, the guy who will treat her right. What’s going on in the song? Audrey describes her ideal life. It highly contrasts her real life. Who is the character singing to? Crystal, Ronnette and Chiffon are in the moment with Audrey as are her audience. Audrey is also singing to herself. She needs to convince herself to keep up this dream of hers, despite her reality. Do this exercise with your students

Characters come alive in the smallest details: a favourite food, a favourite type of music, a fear of spiders, an allergy to plums, a scar from a fall at two years of age, a love of reality television. These details make a character three dimensional and human. They make a character specific. The details may seem mundane, but think about what defines you as a person. Is it the grand events in your life, or the day to day? Small details add a layered richness beyond the world of the story. Sometimes you’ll find a place to work them into your writing, and sometimes you won’t. But coming up with details have to be a part of your character development process when working on a play. The more you know about your characters, the deeper the well you have to draw from, the more specifically you can write for them. This character development exercise will allow you to create the details of the small for your characters. What’s In Your Bag?Empty out the bag you use most regularly, whatever you take with you when you go out. If you don’t carry a bag, think about how you carry what’s necessary – what’s in your pockets? First, look at the bag itself. • Write a short paragraph about the bag. Why did you choose it? How long have you had it? Do you need a new one? Secondly take out all the items and lay them out on a table. Write down everything in your bag and then analyze the items as a group: • What’s your opinion on the amount of things you carry every day? • Is everything functional in your bag? • Is there anything in your bag that shouldn’t be there? • Do you carry anything that comes with a memory or an emotional attachment? Lastly, analyze three items in your bag. • Why do you carry this item? • What purpose does it hold in your life? • Is there any emotional feeling or memory attached to this item? Why or why not? Once you’ve answered all the questions, look back at what you’ve written. What does your bag say about you? Are you surprised by any of your answers? Why or why not? Apply this exercise to a character Now, apply the same process to the main character. It could be a character in a play you’re studying, or a character in a play you’re writing. 1. Give this character a bag. • Describe the bag. What does the bag look like? How old is it? • Why does the character carry this bag? Is this character the type of person who can’t leave the house without a huge bag? • If the character definitely wouldn’t carry a bag, create the reason why. 2. Once you’ve established the bag itself, make a point for list of the items in the bag. • What does this character carry on a regular basis? • Is there anything job related in the bag? • Based on what you know of the character, what items are expected? • Think of one unexpected item that would be in the bag. 3. Take three items and analyze them. • What does the item say about the character? • Why is it in the bag? • Is it functional for the character? Why or why not? • Does it have an emotion or a memory attached to it? 4. Look at what you’ve written. What does this bag tell you about this character? Bonus If you want to go further, write a monologue or scene that takes place in the world of your story involving this character and their bag. Exploring the world of the small in your characters is always going to give you a wealth of material to work with.

Consider this brilliant scene: “A: Do you like my dress? B: Yes, it’s beautiful.” Imagine you’re playing the role of B. And that is your only line in the entire show. The “obvious” choice is that B thinks A’s dress is beautiful. It’s the obvious choice, and it’s also the least interesting choice. • What if B is lying? Why would B lie? Because B intentionally wants A to look bad. • What if B is lying? Why would B lie? Because B is going to a function that A wasn’t invited to. • What if B is lying? Why would B lie? Because B feels that A has always lied to her. • What if B is lying? Why would B lie? Because B is a people pleaser and says what she thinks people want to hear. What if B is telling the truth? Are there interesting ways for B to tell the truth? Of course! • B is overwhelmed by the beauty of the dress and needs to compose herself before speaking. • B had her eye on the same dress in the store and is forlorn that A bought it before she got a chance. • B loves the dress but is jealous that A could afford it and she couldn’t. If you only have one line in a show, the director’s probably not going to spend a lot of time with you to develop your character, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have one. Interesting choices – they don’t require a huge shift in performance, nor should they draw focus from the scene, but the interesting choice makes everything on stage more three-dimensional. There’s no such thing as a small role, just small choices. Make big choices. Make interesting choices.

The first place to get insight into your character is by reading the play. Before making any decisions or judgments about your character, read the whole play three times. The first readThe first read is a “pleasure read”. Just read the play as a whole purely for enjoyment purposes, paying no particular attention to your character. The second readRead the play a second time, this time recording everything that is said about your character. Also record details you find about the environment and people surrounding your character. Also record actions that other characters do that affect your character. The third readThe third time through, write down everything your character says about others and every change your character makes to the world around them. By this time you should have a pretty good framework from which to start!