Earlier this year I attended an open house at a drama school. To help us get an idea of what a class might entail, two volunteers were chosen to act out a simple scene. Each actor could only use one word. One could plead with “Please.” No matter what, the other was forced to respond “No.”
Surprisingly enough, it made for compelling drama. One would beg and cajole and ask repeatedly and yet the request was always refused. It obviously wasn’t the words being used – it was the meaning behind them. One wanted something desperately and the other person stood in his way. The audience marveled at the persistence of the one asking and the determination of the one refusing the request.
“Please” and “No” written over and over would not make for an interesting scene in a work of fiction, but there is something to be learned from this simple acting exercise. Often times, it is not the words being said, but rather the meaning behind them. What is going on under the surface? It is called “subtext” and it can make all the difference to a storyline.
What are your character’s motivations? What do they really want? Who or what is saying “No?” How can they convey that without coming straight out and saying it? These are questions worth pondering the next time you are crafting a scene.
AnneFaye
Anne Faye writes from Western Massachusetts and is the author of The Rose Ring and Through the Open Window, and blogs at http://www.annefaye.blogspot.com/. You can follow her on Twitter at @AnneMFaye
Yes. Less is more. Sometimes, if you've given enough backstory to a character, a simple comment that wouldn't make anyone worry can be fraught with meaning, weight and emotion.
"To be or not to be…"
We've seen the line a billion times, give or take, to the point where we see more meaning in the parodies of Hamlet than the text itself.
Heck, most everyone's heard it; for most of us, it was the first SS quote we ever heard.
But knowing it's really about Hamlet deciding if he should off himself or not makes a lot of difference in how we respond to the work when we either try to perform it or see it performed. Knowing, in other words, the subtext makes a world of difference.
Sadly, most of us see this quote for the first time as something overacted or parodied in a Bugs Bunny cartoon. And it takes some whoppin' good actors to reassign that context for us, so we can get the message Shakespeare intended.
"Please," "No." I know a Doctor who said that, although she only took one Drama course through all of college, it helped her in relating to her patients. I wonder if an exercise like this was part of the coursework, and how other professionals might benefit from learning to put a ton of context into as few words as possible?
I bet I could benefit from it… 😉
JDM