Rehearsal

Teachers, when working in rehearsals with your students, are you more of a planner type or a go-with-the-flow type? Do you map out all the blocking and movements in advance, or do you allow students to experiment and figure out their work more organically? There are as many different types of rehearsal blocking techniques as there are teachers, but I have found that it boils down to two main types: pre-blocking and in-rehearsal blocking. Let’s compare and contrast the two styles. Pre-Blocking“Pre-blocking” means to plan all onstage action and character movements in advance of the rehearsal. The director has a clear vision of what he/she wants to see onstage and how the action will flow. They plan everything in advance so students learn blocking and rehearse it quickly. This blocking technique is useful for teachers and directors with limited rehearsal time. They will be organized and ready to go with their staging already in mind. From there, it gives them more time to go back later to work with actors on developing their characters, and fine-tune the overall look of the show. This style is also useful for working with younger (or less experienced) student actors, students who prefer (or need) more structure, and large casts. Challenges While pre-blocking is a time-saver, it can be challenging for student actors who might feel that they don’t have a lot of say in the artistic process. The process, while efficient, might feel mechanical or robotic to those students who like to try out different approaches during rehearsal and experiment with their characters. It’s very much a feeling that the students are the worker bees, while the teacher is the “head bee” who keeps the hive running. In-Rehearsal Blocking“In-rehearsal” blocking occurs when the director and actors come together to develop blocking in the rehearsal space. It’s an organic process, with lots of experimentation and collaboration. Students and teachers are teammates working together to create the piece. Students are free to play (within the constraints of their characters) and have the ability to try different approaches to their characters/movements on the fly. They have the freedom to share their thoughts and ideas. They also know that those thoughts and ideas will be heard and implemented into the process. This technique usually works best with smaller groups of students who are more experienced and eager to contribute. Challenges On the flip side, this form of rehearsal can take a lot longer to produce a clear result. What is the line between collaborating toward a finished piece and experimenting just because it’s possible? When using this technique, it’s important to have a goal in mind of what you wish to achieve at that particular rehearsal. It can be challenging for younger or less experienced student actors, as they may feel intimidated or overwhelmed with the responsibility of coming up with creative ideas. It’s easy for more introverted students to get overlooked or outshone by their more outgoing and outspoken peers. It may also be challenging to include everyone’s ideas or concepts in the piece. What gets omitted? And will that student feel excluded because their idea wasn’t used? In this style of rehearsal, it’s important to have a very organized stage manager who can keep track of what gets decided and records it carefully. That way, all the ideas are not lost or forgotten in the heat of creation! What kind of creation will your piece be?When approaching a theatrical piece, establish your parameters early. What kind of creation it will be, what kind of rehearsal timeline is available, and how much students are able to contribute to the process. Both pre-blocking and in-rehearsal blocking have their advantages, and it is up to the teacher to determine which technique is appropriate in a given situation. Ideally, the process will be a combination of both pre-blocking and in-rehearsal blocking. The director will have a clear vision of what they want to achieve with the piece, but still remain flexible and open to student suggestions. After all, theatre is a creative process, and students have tons of creative ideas! If you favour one style over the other, challenge yourself to try the other technique and see how it works for you. Experiment with both styles to see what works best for you and your students.

Rehearsal time is precious–there’s usually never enough of it–so when rehearsing a school production, you and your students will want to use your time together as effectively as possible. Practicing outside of your designated rehearsals is absolutely essential to help students succeed! Here are five ways that students can practice outside of rehearsal, so that they can maximize their in-rehearsal productivity: 1) Prepare in advance Students should look ahead on the rehearsal schedule and review material in advance. If the plan for next rehearsal is to block Act 2, Scene 4, students should review their lines and cues ahead of time, so they’re fresh and familiar. When students get to rehearsal, they should be ready to work. Please note – unless they are specifically told to, students should not memorize their lines prior to rehearsal. Directors will most likely have a certain vision for how the student’s character will be portrayed, which might not be the same as what the student prepared. It can be difficult to undo the work that a student has already done. 2) Use technology It’s the rare student who doesn’t have a smartphone these days. Phones can be distracting; but when used creatively, they can be useful rehearsal tools. Students can film themselves performing and then watch it back critically, looking for tics or bad habits like slouching, mumbling, or playing with their hair. Students might also wish to record dance or combat choreography to watch later while practicing at home, as a video reference. Students can also use a voice-recording app to review their lines. Have students record themselves saying their cue lines and leave spaces in between for their actual lines. Then, have students play back the recording and recite their lines aloud along with the recording. 3) Get together with a group Encourage students to get together with their friends to work on their theatrical pieces outside of rehearsal. This helps students to not only review their work but also bond with their castmates. It’s fun to get together with friends and practice – why not socialize and get some review in at the same time? Students could do line runs, plunk out notes on the piano, review choreography, watch a film adaptation, listen to the cast album… 4) Mix up learning styles There are three main learning types – visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Visual learners might read and re-read their lines, or copy them out onto cue cards or post-its and put them up where they can read them all the time (like on the bathroom mirror while brushing your teeth). Auditory learners might record themselves saying their lines and listen to the recording over and over, or listen to the cast recording of the show rather than read the sheet music. Kinesthetic learners need to get up and get physical – actually walk through the blocking while reviewing lines, get up and do the choreography over and over, or practice while doing another activity, like working out or going for a walk. If students feel that they’re stuck or like they have hit a roadblock with their review, encourage them to try a different learning style on their own time. 5) Make healthy choices Performing is very physical. It’s important for students to keep themselves in good health both physically and mentally, so they are able to focus in rehearsals and performances. Encourage students to take care of themselves by eating nutritious food, drinking tons of water, getting some exercise and stretching, and getting lots of sleep. Remind them to plan their schedules ahead of time, so they can keep up with their studies and not feel stressed about balancing rehearsals, homework, and the rest of their lives! It’s also a good idea for students to be aware of what other activities they’re involved in and make smart choices – just before show week might not be a good time to take up any extreme sports or scream their guts out at a concert!

Todd Espeland, instructor of the Drama Teacher Academy course Serious Play: Theatre Games and Warm Ups for Rehearsal and Ensemble Building, includes the game One To Twenty as among his favourite. This game encourages students to think as a group. One to Twenty GameWith One to Twenty, you want everybody to be in a circle. You want them to be in a close circle, not quite touching each other but almost. If you have a really good ensemble of actors who trust each other and enjoy working with each other, have them get in close and maybe even be touching shoulder to shoulder. You want your students focused and quiet. Encourage students to inhale and exhale and just focus on their breathing. You may even tell the group, “Everybody, inhale and exhale,” and they’ll all breathe together as one unit. One to Twenty works like this. The group is going to count from one to twenty together. However, there is no order in which they are going to say the numbers. There is no gimmick with which they will say the numbers. Somebody needs to say a number and, when the space is open for the next person to say a number – it could be immediately, it could be five minutes – but when there is a space to say the next number with quiet and attention, the next person will say “two,” “three,” “four.” If two people say the same number at the same time or speak at the same time, you have to stop and go back to one. The purpose of the game is to listen to the silence and the quality of the silence and find out when it is your turn or where there is an opening where no one else is going to speak in order to say the next number. Students want to win. Actors want to win. They want to get gimmicky with this. Somebody will say “one” and somebody thinks they’re clever and they want to get to twenty and will come right in on the heels of the person who says “one” and go “two.” Technically, that’s right, but they’re trying to win and not listen for when it is their opportunity to speak. One of the ways you can bring the group together to listen to each other is, before you begin playing, have them take three or four easy, gentle breaths together. Then encourage them to just be quiet and listen to the quality of the silence. I know this sounds ooky spooky but go with me on this – you can actually feel the silence. It’s just a subtle thing. We can hear the breath or the inhale from when somebody wants to then talk. We can sense all of these subtle nuances in physical behavior before we engage in action. We want to get the students used to listening to those subtle little nuances of our partner’s bodies and physicality before they can speak. The goal of the game really is to listen and to take your time and not be in a rush to get to twenty. After they’ve taken some breaths and you’ve asked them just to listen, tell them to begin. If there’s a particularly long silence, tell them that it’s good that they’re just listening. If you can sense people trying to rush in or gimmick the game, tell them to just relax and breathe and listen for their opportunity to speak. This is a really good game for building ensemble and for building outward focus and outward awareness of what’s going on around them. All too often, as actors, we think we must be doing something constantly on-stage. We feel the need to make something happen, or to be dramatic or worth watching. Sometimes, the doing that we need to do is just to be quiet and focus and listen rather than planning or loading what we’re going to say to our partners or how we’re going to react to our partners. Listen to what they do and then react off of what they’ve done by really listening to them. It’s a very small, quiet game that can be a little frustrating for some students because they want to win. They want to get to the end. They want to succeed. It may take a couple of times in your rehearsal for this to start to click with the students. Even if it’s not 100 percent successful when you do it, that’s okay; the students are learning to listen. The actors are learning to pay attention. So you, as the teacher, also need to take your time and just listen and allow things to be and accept the reality of how the game is going.

A table read is a common first rehearsal activity. The director, actors, and stage manager sit around a large table and read through the script. Oftentimes other department heads are there (set design, costume design, props, etc.). Sometimes the department heads will give a design presentation to the cast. Lots of people do table reads because… well, that’s what one does at the first rehearsal. In this post I’m going to dive in and explain why we do them. And, more importantly, how to have an effective table read to set your production up for success. The reason for a table read depends on your role in the show. DirectorsTable reads are a great way to hear how the voices are going to blend together. It’s usually the director’s first opportunity to have the whole cast together at the same time. They’re also the director’s first chance to hear the show out loud from beginning to end. The director probably heard a few scenes during auditions, but never the whole play. Directors spend so much time poring over the script, silently reading to themselves. And it’s inspiring to actually hear the show out loud. It’s a reminder that plays are living things, not just words on a page. A table read is when the director starts building the community that is going to put on the show. It’s a message to everyone that the director is the leader, but we’re all part of the same team with the same goal. Lastly, the table read is an opportunity to discover tricky spots. Are some actors going to need more help than others? Are there technical issues that you didn’t consider when you were reading the play? ActorsI love starting rehearsals with a table read because I’m a nervous actor. I always come to the first rehearsal anxious about the process to come. Am I good enough for this role? For this company? A table read is a very low pressure reassuring process to calm actors’ nerves and to get them accustomed to the fact that they’re there, the role is theirs, they were chosen for a reason, and they’re going to be putting on a show. The table read is an opportunity to hear the story as a whole and to understand our character’s role in the story. Actors can be pretty self-centered when preparing for a show. They have tunnel vision focus on their role, on their character’s objectives and tactics.That’s perfectly understandable. It’s what the actor is required to do. The table read is a chance for actors to hear from the other characters in the show, to get a sense of what’s happening outside of our own goals and objectives, and to see the show as a whole. Lastly, it’s a wake up call that we are here, we are putting on a show, we are a team and we all have to contribute. It’s time to get to work. Stage ManagersThe stage manager’s job begins well in advance of rehearsals and they should be up and running by the time the first rehearsal rolls around. I don’t know how it works in other countries but in Canada, professional theatres must hire stage managers for at least a week before rehearsals. It’s called “prep week” and it’s the stage managers chance to focus solely on preparing for the show without the distractions of rehearsals. At the high school level I know this is not always possible. Sometimes you get your play sorted out on a Friday and start rehearsals on a Monday! During the table read, stage managers often read the stage directions aloud. This helps the team to visualize the physical action and to get a better understanding of how the show will come together physically. Stage managers also use the table read to get a rough timing of the show. The final running time of the show will change quite a bit from the running time of the table read but an experienced stage manager will be able to come up with a pretty accurate estimate. The table read is an opportunity for the stage manager to clarify the tricky technical aspects of the show. Are there going to be tight costume changes or scenery changes? Is there likely to be a tight set of cues that weren’t apparent before? Making the Table Read Effective – Tips for DirectorsHere are some tips to make the best possible use of the table read. Describe your vision for the show. Some of your actors will be nervous. As a director, step up and go first. Describe your vision for the show. Talk about your influences for the direction of this show, why you chose the script, and why you chose this set of actors. Don’t act. Tell your actors to not “act.” Ask them to just read the script. Focus on clarity. Focus on reading the words on the page. Focus on hearing the story clearly. Coach your cast to slow down if they’re going to fast. Assure your cast that they have already won the roles. They showed you something in the audition that made you choose them. This is not an audition, this isn’t a show, it’s a reading. This is the team on the starting line. There will be lots of time for acting later. Have word definitions / pronunciations ready. If you’re working with student actors, it’s likely that they will have not done much homework. Identify unfamiliar words and look up the correct pronunciations and definitions. The actors should be doing this for themselves, but they probably won’t. If you’re ready with the answers (you should know the definitions and pronunciations anyway) then you’ll avoid wasting everyone else’s time at the first rehearsal. Have fun. But be clear that this is work time. You are building a team. Set a fun relaxed environment for the first meeting. But when it comes to the actual table read, be clear that it’s time to work. Stifle side-chatter during the reading and demand focus on the task at hand.

It’s easy to get caught in a rhythm during the rehearsal process. Lines must be memorized, blocking must be learned, it’s the same rhythm over and over again. Before you know it, it’s opening night and you’re asking yourself, “Where did the time go? What did we do?” Sometimes you find yourself late in the rehearsal period with students who have lost their passion and energy for the piece. Maybe you’ve lost your passion and energy for the piece. You’ve become stuck in rehearsal rut. Rut: A habit or pattern that becomes dull but is hard to change. Shake up your rehearsal to keep students engaged in the process. Break away from the script with some character development. Do an out-of-context line exercise. Have a Q&A session. Have some fun! These exercises not only break the rhythm, they also show your actors (and you) what they know and what needs work. Provide a focus and a drive as you head toward opening night. Change Your Warm-UpsThere is something comforting about doing the same warm-ups repeatedly. It provides structure: this is how rehearsals start. Structure can give you a valuable transition from the “outside” world to rehearsal world. But a great way to shake up rehearsals is to change the warm-up. Instead of warming up as actors, have your students warm-up in character. • Students are spread around the room. Explain that they are now in character and that every choice they make for this warm-up should be in character. Think about how your character acts, reacts, moves and speaks differently than you do. • Emphasize these differences by directing students to stretch in character. Reach up as your character, think about how old you are, how far you can stretch your arms. Reach out to the side, always staying in character. Do the ragdoll (reach up and then flop forward from the waist) and roll up vertebrae by vertebrae, continually coaching students to stay in character. • Direct students to move about the room in character. Think about your character’s pace and speed. Do they walk always in a straight line? Do they wobble? Do they make a lot of sudden changes in direction? Stay focused, stay in character. If you make eye contact with anyone, you can say hello – in character. If your character doesn’t like another character, make it clear. • Have students come to a halt. Coach them to stand so that they are not making eye contact with anyone else. Make sure everyone stands as their character would. How does your character stand? Remember, you are different than your character. Make your stance different. Where do you hold your hands? Where are your shoulders? Make this pose the most defined and expressive stance for your character. • Direct students to think about the problems their characters face in the play. What are your problems? Think about the issues that make you really tense. Where do you (the characters, not the actors) hold tension? Is it in the shoulders? Do you get stomachaches? Headaches? Exaggerate the tension you feel right now. Hold on to the area where you feel that tension. • Direct students to walk around the room, maintaining the tension in their bodies. Think about the tension you feel right now. Think about what problems you have to face. Make that tension so intense you can barely walk. It’s so bad you have to come up with a way to get rid of it. How do you get rid of that tension? What do you do to get that tension out? Do you sing? Jump up and down? Run around the room? Do you scream? Come up with an action and a sound that you, the character, does to get rid of tension. Make it big and make it loud – that’s the only way to get rid of the tension. • Direct students that on the count of three everyone is going to do their sound and their action at the same time. Coach them to release that tension. Reiterate that they should make it big and loud. One, two, three go! • Direct students now to move about the space tension-free, in character. You’ve got rid of the tension and you’re feeling good about yourself. How do you walk? How do your shoulders move? Do you bounce? Are you grounded? • Once the students are moving with purpose about the space, tell them they are going to start greeting the other characters in the play. Pretend you’re walking down the street. When I say, “Go,” greet the first person you come in eye contact with, in character. Make sure you’re reacting to them based on your relationship in the play. Are you close? Friends? Enemies? Maybe you don’t know them, that’s ok. Talk to this person. Tell them where you’re going and why you’re walking down the street. Go! • Coach students to leave that first person and find another person to greet. • Once they’ve completed three sets of greetings, coach students to come to a neutral standing position and shake the character out of them. Coach them to exaggerate the shake. Out of Context Line ExercisesLearning lines comes easy to some, and not so easy to others. A common problem student actors have is they learn their lines solely within the context of the play – they associate each line with a specific piece of blocking. They get into a specific rhythm with the line because they’ve learnt it by rote. They get into a line rut. But what if another actor blanks? Or changes the blocking? Or says the wrong line from three pages ahead? Dependence on a certain rhythm or with everything going perfectly is a recipe for disaster. Use these exercises to get actors out of their line ruts. 1. Speed Round: Students spread out around the space. Ask them to close their eyes and think about their lines. On the count of three, have everyone start at the top of the play and say their lines, all at the same time. Coach them to keep their eyes closed, so no one can see them and they can’t see anyone. Coach them to say their lines as fast as they can without stopping. They don’t have to act the lines, just say them. After a couple of minutes, call out stop. Question the actors about the exercise: • • Did anyone have trouble saying the lines without acting? Ask them to reflect on why that happened. What are they relying on to help them with their lines? • Did anyone get stuck? Where did they get stuck? Have those actors pull out their scripts and circle the lines – this is where they need to do some homework. 2. Shout Out Game: Go through the script and pull out ten individual lines. Take them from the middle of monologues, from the beginning of the play, from the end. Create a list of these ten lines. Make sure the list is not in chronological order. Gather the cast and call out each line one at a time. Who knows where the line comes from? Who says it? What’s the next line? What’s the previous line? Coach your students to shout out the answers! This will give you a clear indication of who really knows the play. 3. The Situation: Go through each scene in the play and ask your students to write a one sentence description of what happens. It doesn’t matter if they’re in the scene or not – what happens in scene 2? Then have everyone write a one sentence on why each scene is important. What’s going on? Why is it important? Everyone on stage should know what’s supposed to happen and why. That way they can help each other when things go wrong. 4. All dried up: Students need to learn what to do when a scene goes off the rails. More often than not, if a line is missed, or someone speaks out of place, students will look around for someone else to solve the problem. Run through a scene with your actors. Tell them that at some point, one person in the scene has been given the directive to “dry up.” They’re going to forget a line on purpose. (You can do this by handing out slips of paper to the actors and if they get a slip of paper with an X on it, they’re the one who dries.) When that happens everyone else must carry on. They have move the scene forward, in the correct direction, in character. No one can call out “line,” no one can break character, and the person who has “dried up” is not allowed to help. 5. What line defines you? This exercise allows the actors to think about the lines outside the world of the play. Each actor should know his or her lines well enough that they can choose the one line which defines their character. They should know their character well enough to be able to experiment and explore their lines outside their context. NOTE: Make sure actors don’t choose a full monologue or a long chunk of dialogue. It should be one or two sentences. Ask your students the following: • What is the most important line for your character in the play? • Why does that line define you? If you have actors without lines or they don’t have any character-driven lines, ask them to pick the moment in the play rather than a line. Have these students write out this moment in one sentence. That will be their “line” for the purposes of this exercise. Ask students to say the line out loud. All at the same time. Ask them to say the line with different styles and emotions: Say it slow. Say it fast. Yell it. Whisper it. Laugh it. Be angry with the line. Be depressed with it. Ask the actors to walk around the room. When they make eye contact with someone, they will say their line to each other. Coach students to say the line in a specific way – it could be in the style or emotion they use in the play, but it doesn’t have to be. Have students repeat this with three other people. Ask students to pause and get in their own space. Direct them to say the line aloud again. Students are now going to come up with a physical action for their line. If you couldn’t speak, what physical action would define this line? Be creative – do you roll into a ball? Do you skip? Do you flail? Do you reach up to the sky? Do yoga? Kick? Remind students this is not just some random action, this is an action that represents this line which defines their character. Is the emotion of your line coming out in the action? Direct students to do their action with their line. Everyone does this at the same time. Have them repeat this three times. Then, have students complete the action without the line. Just the action, no sound. Repeat the action three times. Now, instead of saying the line, instead of saying words, come up with a sound. Again, choose a sound that represents the line which defines the character. Is it a yell? A note? A hum? A grunt? A groan? Coach students not to use any words with this sound. It is a noise. Ask students: What’s the emotional quality of the line? What sound matches that emotional quality? Say the line again. Now do just the sound. No action. Do it again. Direct students to do the sound and action together. Coach students: Put your heart into it. Commit to it. This is the line or the moment that defines you. Bring that line to life through this sound and action. Ask for a couple of volunteers to present their sound and action to the group. See if the rest of the group can figure out what line is represented with the sound and action. Finally, ask students to reflect on the connection between the line, the sound and the action. Why did they choose that specific sound or action? If you’re doing this play as a class project have students write it down in their journals. If it’s a production, have students write this reflection in their script. This way, they can refer to it later. And ask them to do just that – Think about that sound and that action that defines you. How can you incorporate that into a moment on stage? Character ProfilesThe more an actor knows about their character, the more depth they can play. It’s important for actors to think about their characters outside of the confines of the story. It’s so easy to get caught up in lines and blocking that character development goes by the wayside. This exercise is a great way to get out of a rut and to bring character development to the forefront. A Character Profile is made up of any number of details. Characters come to life in the details. This exercise will also help your actors with small roles flesh out their characters. You’ll find a short Character Profile at the end of this guide. Give the actors a maximum of 15 minutes to answer these questions – make it an instinct exercise. Use it to shake up your rehearsal, but don’t let it be a time suck. Here are some guidelines: Full Name: If the character’s full name isn’t given (or if they have no name at all) the actor should come up with it. What’s their middle name? Family: What is the character’s family situation? Does the character come from a large or small family? Does the character live with both parents? Is the family situation happy? Tense? What makes you laugh / angry: Pretty self-explanatory. Once actors define this, identify parts in the script that trigger these emotions. When does the character laugh in the play? When does the character express anger? Favourite / Least Favourite Food: Everyone has likes and dislikes. So should your character. Childhood memory: Many people are defined by childhood events. What does your character remember from childhood? Describe Your Bedroom: Is it neat? Messy? Designed? Plain? Does your character hide secrets in their room? What does the room say about the character? Character QuestionsIn addition to the Character Profile , provide a character-specific question for your actors. Each character gets their own question, which only they can answer. It takes some effort on your part, but it’s a worthwhile exercise. First, it’s something specific for every actor and that makes them feel important. Second, the right question can allow actors to think about their characters in a way they might not have previously. For example, here are a number of questions I came up for the actors rehearsing my play The Bright Blue Mailbox Suicide Note. • JAKE : Why has your friendship with Ken lasted? How long have you and Karen been dating? • KAREN : You say, “I believe in marriage.” Do you believe you have a future with Jake? Is this a secret, or something you’ve talked about with Jake? • JOAN : You don’t treat Ken ‘funny’ after his revelation. Why? What is your relationship with Ken? • BEE BEE : Why is it so important to you to present the persona of “flaky Beebee” to your friends? Does it bother you that Karen, Lisa and Joan don’t know where you work? Why? How long have you known them? • DENNIS : You talk about what your dad is like. What is your mom like? Describe your relationship with her. As you can see, the questions are VERY specific! Small, specific work like this takes characters (and your rehearsals) to the next level. What can students do with these questions? In my Bright Blue example, the actress playing Karen was really excited by her question. She decided that Karen was definitely the type of character who thought about being married. She went so far as to say that Karen was one of those girls who had planned their wedding from the time she was a little girl. In the play, Karen finds her boyfriend pushing her away. The actress came up with a moment where she held her hands as if holding flowers in the traditional wedding pose. As Jake turns away from her, she dropped her hands, as if dropping the flowers. You can present these questions as part of the Character Profile or present them as part of an Interview Hot Seat Exercise. Interview Hot Seat: Each actor sits in front of the group and answers questions in character. It could be the questions you’ve come up with, or you can ask everyone in the cast to write down a question for the character. This is a great opportunity for you to see what your characters think about the other characters in the show. Scene StudyShake up your rehearsal rut by going through one scene in detail. Invite everyone who’s not in the scene to participate in this scene study. There’s a lot you can learn by watching specific scene work. Line by LineStart by running through the scene normally once. Then go through the scene line by line. Ask actors questions about the content of the scene. Ask about why their character makes any decisions or why they say a certain line. Ask them about background information that comes up in the scene. Are they clear about the relationships in the scene? Answering “I don’t know” is a red flag. Play TimeAfter the line reading, go through the scene again and play with it. Give students alternative blocking. Place the scene in a different location entirely. If the scene is a drama, run it as a comedy or viceversa. You’re trying to break your cast out of a rut, so change things up. For example, when I had the students rehearsing Bright Blue do this scene study I chose a scene where all the characters read a suicide note for the first time. In the play, the characters aren’t sure if the note is real or fake. I had them do the scene and play “keep away” with the note. This brought an energy and a game atmosphere to the scene that wasn’t there before. Why’d you move?Next, run through the scene but stop every time someone moves. Ask that actor “Why’d you move?” There should be a character-driven reason for every move. “Because you told me to” is not an acceptable answer. Push your students to come up with a reason why their character decided to sit or stand or move across the room. What is their subtext? Are they uncomfortable and want to get away from someone? Are they interested and want to get close to someone? You can get rid of Rehearsal Rut! Sometimes there isn’t enough time to get your production to its best possible performance level. But there should always be time to incorporate even one of these exercises into your rehearsals. Your students will be more aware of their characters, more confident with their lines, and they’ll maintain that vital connection to their passion. We can’t ask for anything more for our students, can we? Character ProfileActor: Character Name: Family: What makes you laugh? What makes you angry? Favourite / Least Favourite Food? Describe a childhood memory. Describe Your Bedroom.

Questions are important in the theatre. They’re more important than answers. Rehearsing is all about exploration – at no part in the process should the exploration stop. My favourite directors to work with are the ones who are always pushing you to explore the script more deeply. They know how to ask questions. They don’t necessarily expect answers to the questions, they expect the actor to explore the role based on the question. I’ve made some amazing discoveries about my character because of questions like these. Here are ten of the most memorable questions I’ve been given in rehearsal.Start rehearsal by posing one of these questions to your cast. Ask your cast members to individually think about the question during rehearsal. Be clear that this isn’t a test and their answers aren’t being graded. There is no “right” answer. There is no “wrong” answer. 1) If the playwright showed up today and started mercilessly cutting the script, what is the one line your character says that you would fight for? If your character has no lines, what moment would you fight for? 2) Think about the quietest moment in the play. Would an audience member sitting in the back row of the balcony be able to understand what you’re saying? What your character wants? What your character is doing? If not, what can you adjust to reach them? 3) Choose one of your lines and say it with the opposite intention. (e.g. Say “I really want that rose” with the subtext “Get that rose away from me. I never want to see it again.”) Did it work? If not, why? Is there another line that an opposite intention would work for? 4) What part of your own physicality do you use for your character? Can you change it to something unique to the character? 5) Is there anywhere else your character would rather be? Is there a place they dream of going? 6) What lies does your character tell? Which lines are lies but not obvious ones? 7) Choose one physical move your character makes. Why does your character move that way at that time and in that direction? (n.b. You should be able to answer these questions for every single move your character makes.) 8) What one action could you make as an actor to make something easier on a fellow cast member? 9) What one action could your character take to make something more difficult for another character? Are there times your character lets them win too easily? 10) Choose a pivotal moment for your character. What would happen if they made the opposite choice in that moment? Processing the QuestionsThere are three approaches to processing these questions at the end of rehearsal. How you choose to process them will depend on your circumstances and the amount of time you have available. • Informal Leave the questions for the actors to consider on their own. If they find it helpful for their process, fine. If not, that’s ok too. I don’t recommend this for student actors because they’re going to want to share their discoveries with you. • Semiformal As part of your rehearsal wrap-up, hold a short discussion with the cast about the question. This can be a great team-building activity. The cast will reveal things about the script that you never even considered. • Formal If the play is being done as a class project, the questions are great for journal entries. Have students complete a written reflection for each question.

Warm-up games are never a throwaway activity; they transition students from the outside world to rehearsal world. They can be used to encourage ensemble building in your group and help students work on technical skills. Whether you’re rehearsing Shakespeare or devising an original work, there’s a warm-up just for you. So… what should you look for? Devised WorkIn an original devised play, everyone has to work together to create, and not everything they create is going to be successful the first time. Pick warm-ups that help students get used to making mistakes and celebrating those mistakes. FarceWarm-ups that create energy. You want your students awake and moving! Get students used to making exaggerated physical choices. Ensemble-based WorkYou want your ensemble to operate as one. As a team. Look for warm-ups that emphasize teamwork. Absurd or AbstractIn the absurd or abstract play nothing is naturalistic or realistic. Look for warm-ups that explore this concept. Non-realistic plays can be hard for students to connect to. Choose fun warm-ups to help break down the barrier. Issue Based DramaWarm-ups that create an environment of support. Issue-based dramas can open a can of worms for students. It’s important that your rehearsal environment is supportive when any unexpected emotions flood to the surface. ShakespeareShakespeare is a mouthful, so prepare the mouth to move! Start rehearsals with warm-ups that focus on vocal articulation. ComedyActive physical warm-ups that get students laughing. Get your students in the right frame of mind for the work to come. DramaListening exercises. Get students used to listening and reacting so that when these moments come up in the drama they will present as genuine. The key to acting in a serious moment is to listen and react and not just say lines by rote. Student DirectorsStudent directors need to create an environment of command. Even though they’re working with their peers, they’re still in charge. Look for warm-ups where the cast has to follow instructions. Get the cast used to listening and taking direction.

Don’t miss the printable version of this post at the end of the article! IntroductionThe first day of play rehearsal can be nerve-wracking, especially for beginning actors. But it doesn’t have to be. Just as with any new experience, preparation is the key to success. Here’s a guide on how to get yourself ready for the first day. HomeworkThere is quite a bit you can do on your own to get yourself ready for the first day. These steps will get you familiar with the play and your character. Read the PlayThe first thing to do is a straight “pleasure read.” Read the play purely for your own enjoyment, just as you would sit down and read a book. Don’t take notes, there will be lots of time for that later. Do your best to avoid focusing on your character (it’ll be very difficult). Your goal is to get a sense of how the play works as a whole. Prepare Your Script• Some actors cut up their scripts and paste each page on its own larger page like this:

Oftentimes, we’re flying by the seat of our pants in the theatre. On opening night, the show… isn’t… quite… ready… yet… We need just one more week! Just one! Please! But what if you’re über-prepared? The cast is off book, the blocking is solid, the set is fully built, and you still have a few days of rehearsal left? Or what if the show is already mounted and you’re just keeping things going between levels of a competition? Peaking too soon is just as scary as peaking too late. The feeling of a show being “done” before opening is very dangerous because the beauty of a live art like theatre is that it’s never complete. There’s always new territory to explore, new discoveries to be made. Here are five easy techniques to use to keep the discoveries rolling… Role SwitchPut everyone’s name into a hat and recast the show totally at random. Run scenes with the “new” cast. Don’t worry about getting the blocking right, just do it for fun. This allows everyone to see the play from a completely different perspective, allowing the actors to step outside of their own roles and to be more sensitive to the other characters’ wants, needs, objectives, journeys. Isolation RunSpread everyone about the room and tell them to close their eyes (or turn out the lights). Do a line run of the show like this, with everyone in isolation. You can also coach the cast to whisper their lines, yell their lines, sing their lines, etc. You’ll really like the whisper part, it’s a great focus-builder. Italian RunThis is a variation of a line run. Have the cast stand or sit in a big circle. Do a line run of the show as quickly as possible. No pauses, no drama, no emotion, just raw speed. It’s my favourite thing to do in the late stages of rehearsal. It’s a great team- and focus-builder and is a big help for actors struggling to pick up their cues. Play BallAnother line run variation. Have the cast stand in a circle and do a line run. Whatever character is speaking holds a big rubber ball in his or her hands. At the end of their line, they toss the ball to the next speaker, and so on. Use the physical act of throwing the ball to mirror the emotional act of the line. If the character is angry, they’ll throw it with some intensity. If the character is loving, they’ll toss it gently. If the character is infirm or very young, maybe they roll the ball. If the character is teasing, maybe they’ll roll the ball just short of their scene partner. Opposites AttractRun various scenes of the show playing the exact opposite of the intention of the scene. Play comedy for tears, drama for laughs, make suspenseful scenes obvious, make silly scenes dangerous. A world of discoveries comes out of an exercise like this. Every scene should be three-dimensional. Nothing in life is ever one note.