When kids first start learning to act, their primary concern is usually their lines. How many? How long are they? When I first started acting in elementary school, I would come home after the first rehearsal of every play I was in and say "Look Mom, I have six whole lines all by myself!"
So I would spend the next six weeks memorizing my lines, practicing them with different inflections until they were absolutely perfect. Those six lines were so polished I couldn't have done them any better if I had being doing a run for months. But it didn't make me a great actor.The problem had nothing to do with my lines at all. It was the times when I wasn't speaking. I was just standing, waiting for my next line. It never occurred to me to react to what the others were saying. The most difficult acting occurs not during your lines but in between them.
What to do:
1) Listen. How interested is my character in what the other character has to say? This does not mean you should stare at the person delivering the line. Be natural. Do you stare at people when they are talking? Pay attention to your actions the next time you are having a conversation with someone. How do people naturally listen? Does how they listen differ depend on how they feel about the person and what they are saying?
2) React. How does what the other character have to say affect you? The line that comes before yours is more than just a cue. It is your motivation. 3/4 of the time it is the reason for your next line. Make it believable.
3) Respond. Why is my character saying this? So, you've got a line. There is a reason it is there. What is it? What is your character thinking that gives them the need to express the line? "Think the thought that makes the line inevitable."
What not to do:
1) Don't pull focus. React, but don't be "bigger" than the one delivering the line. Upstaging can be hazardous to your health.
2) Avoid uncharacteristic thoughts. As long as you are onstage, think only things that your character would think. Never, under any circumstances, let yourself think things like:
- "Oh god, my leg is so itchy."
- "Boy, does his nose ever look funny in this lighting."
- "Hey, is that Mom in the third row?"
These kind of thoughts are a sure-fire way to bring you out of character and spoil a performance. If you find yourself thinking anything like this during a show, you need to re-focus.
