The Role of the Specialists - The Performers

Last week in The Role of the Specialists - The Director,we noted how the Director, having casted the play, would organise the rehearsal period through which he/she would attempt to draw out the most effective performances possible from the performers and enable a unified company.

The role and responsibilites of the performers is to work individually, to work together and with the Director, to reach that collective goal and present an effective production to their audience.

The first stage of the rehearsal process, the reading, studying and discussion of the play is probably the most important. Knowing the play as a whole, its story, its characters and their relationships to one another, is vital for every performer before they concentrate on their own parts.

Very often, Community Theatre members think this stage can be skipped. I'm speaking from experience here, I once even heard a community theatre actor, who had been cast in a demanding role, tell another actor, "I never bother coming in until the rehearsals start "properly", you can read the play yourself at home."

I learned a few lessons there, and immediately included workshops on the rehearsal process in my regular drama workshops, to help the members of the drama group understand why such a process is necessary. However, if after understanding the process, an actor still skips the initial rehearsals, I would reconsider the decision to cast them.

Once an actor accepts a role, they have committed themselves to the play and must accept the responsibilites of that commitment. You, the Drama Worker/Director, may note with your casting eye someone who could perform very well and suit a particular role, but if they are unreliable, no matter how well suited, they shouldn't be offered the part. The problems such a casting could bring to the company during the rehearsal period will not benefit the production as a whole.

After studying the play as a whole, the performers concentrate on their own parts. They will analyse the various aspects of characterisation such as a characters appearance, occupation, social status, and general personality.

Next, they will examine the characters aims, objectives, and behaviour in the play as a whole and in individual scenes. And finally, they will study how their role is related to the other characters, to the structure of the play, and the period and setting.

At the 'blocking' stage, where the Director works out the pattern of movements, the performer will portray the characters gestures, walk, and bodily attitudes. The performer works to understand the emotional reasoning behind each movement so that he/she can perform the action in character.

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