Trinity College of Music, London

Character Development and Acting Technique for Singers in Performance

"In order to become professional singers, persons must have exceptional voices, a sound musical background and natural acting ability ."

"Dancing, playing a musical instrument or acting are part of singers' training and good singers are often full-fledged actors and musicians." (www.career-descriptions.co.uk)

Singing is not only about producing a pleasing and accurate tone, staying in tempo, phrasing, and responding to the lyrics to produce a beautiful sound. Coupled with these and other technical aspects of performance, singing is also about stimulating an emotional response from an audience, a reaction which is identical to the affect of good acting on those who watch, listen and appreciate its art.

A technically talented singer with a wonderful voice can move an audience. That same technically talented singer, when shown the techniques of acting and stagecraft, can touch, move and inspire an audience.

Stagecraft, stage-presence, and character interpretation are essential to the art of singing, all integrating the meaning in the text of a song to create a complete musical performance. Singers must communicate with emotional honesty what a song is saying. The best artists have this skill.

Successful singers connect with and involve their audience on an emotional, often subliminal, level. There is nothing mystical about this connection; it is a technique that can be learned.

The proposed workshops will provide the technical skills of acting and stagecraft -- of stage presence -- and demonstrate how their successful application by a singer can transform a good performance into a great one.

The workshops will cover:

• Stage presence -- the art of stagecraft. The importance of improvisation and of character exploration and assimilation as a prerequisite to dramatic musical performance.
• Stagecraft and self-presentation. Awareness and appreciation of a dramatic 'self', and its importance and application both in the audition and performance setting. The dramatic 'self' on stage and in studio, as soloist or as part of an ensemble.
• Movement -- the ability to adjust your style of movement to suit the age and gender of the role, or to highlight the limitations and/or expectations of a specific historic or artistic period. Analysis of and practical experimentation with stylized and naturalistic representation.
• Performing in different spaces -- the effect of a large or small performance arena. Adjusting the dramatic 'self' to accommodate these spatial constraints without compromising dramatic or musical integrity.
• Analysis of music -- the skill of interpreting the dramatic content of a work and the dramatic intent of its composer. Trusting the composition and trusting your emotional response to it.
• Freedom of expression. The artist and the audience share common human emotions. A performer who frees their own emotions and, in a controlled and technically responsive way, re-presents these emotions to an audience can only achieve empathy in return.

The workshops will also provide the opportunity to focus on audition material and preparation, as well as in-depth work on specific roles should it be required.

At no time are these workshops intended as vocal instruction. They are intended to support and enhance the performance skills of those with good vocal technique and excellent musical training.

In the modern performance environment, artists are more and more expected to arrive at rehearsals as a 'complete' package. Very little time, if any, is given to character exploration or dramatic integration. This can lead to an artistic 'experience' for an audience which is inexplicably disparate and disjointed. By taking responsibility for your own dramatic reality, and by learning the skills of stagecraft -- skills which are as responsive as they are performative -- the singer can learn to 'direct' themselves. This ability to analyse a musical text and to assimilate the emotional reality of the character represented enhances not only the performer's impact in an audition situation, but also their impact in performance. Only by 'owning' their skill and 'owning' their character can the singer be judged as a competent professional by their peers, and an outstanding artist by their target audience.

THE TEN RULES OF CHARACTER

1) Your characters believe they are real people (there are internal dialogues in your physical and emotional responses to what you are performing which are not related to the process simply of singing).

2) Music is the characters' feelings and feelings are the characters' music (the artistic composition should be the primary source for all the nuances of behaviour and emotion; trust the composer and the piece: you are an interpreter).

3) Commonality of emotion among humanity -- you have all the emotions in you, and so have the audience in them to empathize with you. Just find the freedom to express those emotions.

4) Remain yourself -- do not deny what or who you are but respond to and transform those aspects and

traits of your personality which need to be emphasized or subdued.

5) An audience has to have something to 'read' in a performance -- show them and they will respond, but always as the character not as yourself.

6) It is art -- you are interpreting someone else's art and you must allow yourself to be the vehicle for that interpretation. There is no right and wrong, just sincerity and clarity. Be sincere and be clear.

7) If your character is believable an audience can identify and so empathize with you. Empathy leads to arousal of emotion. Emotional response leads to an appreciation and communication of art.

8) Convince your audience by re-creating believable, apparently spontaneous aspects of human behaviour.

9) Acknowledge (and play) the smallest detail and the bigger picture will become clear -- the smallest action or gesture can speak volumes to an audience. Ensure that your fellow performers are aware that their slightest response can make or break your performance.

10) Never try to repeat results -- the workshop/rehearsal process should allow you to find the reality In performance, the spontaneity of an audience reaction or a fellow performers' response might change or alter your own reality. With a firm understanding of your character you can respond to this change in a new and excitingly artistic way.

KEYWORDS

Acting : 1. vbl . n . The process of carrying out into action; performance, execution.

+ 3.a. vbl . n . The performing of plays or other fictitious scenes and incidents, playing, dramatic performance; feigning a character not one's own, simulation.

Condition : I.1.a. n . Something demanded or required as a prerequisite to the granting or performance of something else; a provision, a stipulation.

Motivation : I.b. n . Orig. Psychol. The (conscious or unconscious) stimulus for action towards a desired goal, esp. as resulting from psychological or social factors; the factors giving purpose or direction to human or animal behaviour.

Performance : 4.a. n . The action of performing a play, piece of music, ceremony, etc.; execution, interpretation.

Stage-craft : 14. n . That part of the art of dramatic composition which is concerned with the conditions of representation on the stage.

Technique : a. Manner of artistic execution or performance in relation to formal or practical details (as distinct from general effect, expression, sentiment, etc.); the mechanical or formal part of an art, esp. of any of the fine arts; the manner of execution or performance in any discipline, profession, or sport; also, skill or ability in this department of one's art; mechanical skill in artistic or technical work (freq. used without article or qualifying word). loosely , a skilful or efficient means of achieving a purpose; a characteristic way of proceeding; a knack, a trick.

STANISLAVSKI'S SEVEN QUESTIONS

1) Who am I?

2) Where am I?

3) When is it?

4) What do I want?

5) Why do I want it?

6) How will I get it?

7) What do I need to overcome?

ACTING TECHNIQUE

Imagination

The combination of thought, word and deed. The objective, the through-motivation. The deliberate act of self-expression. Develop this through improvisation. The art of personalization. Reality and meta- reality.

The development of imagination

The act of communication.

Relaxation

Learn to relax before, during and after a performance. Warm up thoroughly, physically and vocally, so that you are ‘up to speed' from the first moment of a performance.

Concentration

Listen and Learn.

Self and Others. Be aware of yourself and of those around you.

Acting and Reacting. Be alert to sensation, both internal and external. Be ready and willing and free enough to react to unusual circumstances. This will come easily after improvisation. Remember, accept and build .

Preparation

Vocalization and speech. Be aware of rhythm and variation. You might be constrained by musical rhythm but this does not prevent you varying the ‘emotional rhythm' of a piece.

Balance

Body Awareness, postural alignment, expressive facial communication, character study, environment. Physicality and moving in character.

Basic Body Placement

Movement

‘Hands'

Stage-craft. Integrating stage-craft and the language/music of the chosen text. Having an understanding and intellectual awareness of the historical/social context/etiquette.

Risk. Be willing to take risks in the rehearsal process. This is the safest place for yourself (and your fellow performers) to discover the potential of your role.

Practice.

REMEMBER: Imagination -- Relaxation -- Concentration -- Preparation

Kevin Quarmby 2008

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