Theatre Brief 21: Disturbing the Molecules choosing active verbs

The TWENTY previous "theatre briefs" are here:

   00. Introduction and Explanation

1. Character Checklist
2. Learning Lines
3. Subtext: Does "no" mean "no"?
4. Using Goals or Objectives
5. Intentions
6. Objectives and Super-Objectives
7. Where are You Coming from?
8. Specific Intentions, Part I
9. Specific Intentions, Part II
10. Don't Get Carried Away
11. Specific Intentions and Dialogue
12. Overcoming Obstacles
13. Writing Your Programme Bio
14. Breaking down the Text
15. Overcoming Obstacles by Changing Intentions
16. Reading the Actor's "Score"
17. Using Expectations and Outcomes
18. Using (and misusing) Emotions
19. A Roadmap of Intentions
20. Beginning at Step 4? Really?

 

Brief #21  Disturbing the Molecules

(by Norman Schwartz)

 If drama is the story of someone wanting to do something against all obstacles, then the choice of SPECIFIC INTENTION--what I want to do NOW, moment-to-moment-- is absolutely essential to building the character. It is very tempting to choose a simple or obvious verb of intention.  Most plays begin with somebody wanting something from someone else, often something the other person doesn’t wish to do or give.  (E.g.  “I want to CONVINCE my husband to finish the screenplay he’s been working on for two years.”)

CONVINCE is a rather ineffective verb. The secret then is to heighten or upgrade this ordinary verb until it becomes something definite, exciting and actable.  From ordinary to extra-ordinary.

In William Bell’s must-own book on directing, A SENSE OF DIRECTION (Drama Books), he offers an excellent example of upgrading. In the scenario, the common verb CONVINCE my husband is changed by the actor to FLATTER, FORTIFY, EXALT, IMMORTALIZE him.

The actor who works this way does what Glenn Close calls “disturbing the molecules.”  When the actor chooses an active verb rather than an innocuous one, s/he creates an energy force that transports the specific moment to a heightened point of reality. The energy field has travelled from the actor on the stage to the point where it enters the perception of the spectator. G.B. Shaw referred to this effect as “the optics of the theatre” --the trick the actor uses to carry his/her emotion to the point of audience comprehension and excitement.

Sandy Meisner spoke of it this way: “ (When) you ... get the basic reality at the conversational level, and then discover the deeper meanings that fuel it with the optics of theatre, it’s not built on bed of clichés... (When) you put the real situation on the stage, you need to keep its reality so that it’s believable both to you and to the audience; but you have to raise it to a level above real life. Otherwise it doesn’t communicate.”

Ball offers this example:

I want to FLATTER him                   becomes

I want to PRAISE him                        becomes

I want to STRENGTHEN him           becomes

I want to GLORIFY him                    becomes

I want to GLORIFY him into realizing his true worth.

The plot says the wife convinces the husband to finish his script. The actor acts something much more theatrical and exciting.