Category Archives: Actor’s Etiquette

Actor’s Etiquette: Be Punctual

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mannersYou have a limited amount of rehearsal time, and no one really knows if it’s going to be enough or not.  Don’t waste any of it.  Get to rehearsal early enough that you can take off your coat, change to your rehearsal shoes, get out your script, turn off your cell phone, and gather your bearings.  If you need to eat when you get to the theater, get there early enough that you’ve finished swallowing by the time rehearsal is to start.

If everyone arrives at the time the director has called for rehearsal to begin, the odds are very good that ten minutes will be wasted while everyone greets everyone else and gets their act together.  It is courteous to get that out of the way PRIOR to the called time.  If you don’t, then whoever IS ready to begin at that time has to wait for you.

Tech week is always difficult.  If you can be early, that’s often a good idea, because sorting out technical issues always takes more time than you think.  The earlier you get there, the earlier you can go home.

On performance nights, know when the stage manager has called you for and be there on time.  No one wants to worry about whether or not you’ve had car trouble.

If for any reason you are going to be AT ALL LATE for ANY rehearsal or performance, call and let someone know as soon as you know, so that they can deal with your lateness appropriately.

If the schedule has been changed and you are no longer expected at rehearsal, confirm that with your director or stage manager.  Some shows don’t really have a schedule, and what is being dealt with at future rehearsals is so fluid that it is easy for actors to get confused about when they are needed.  So check and double-check about when you are required to be there!

Actor’s Etiquette: Be Polite

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ws_etiquette_ALL_340x280Be respectful of other points of view.  Expressing your own is fine if you don’t make the other person feel wrong.  If you think you have, apologize.

Don’t yell, and if you do, apologize.

Don’t argue with the director.  Discussion is fine.  Argument isn’t.  If you do, apologize.

Don’t criticize other actors, on or off stage.  If you do, apologize.

Be nice to the technical crew.  They work hard, and they aren’t your servants.  They don’t get much appreciation.  Say thank you.  A lot.

Directors are almost as unappreciated as the technical crew, and they’ve been busting their butt since long before you got involved.  Let them know how much they really meant to the success of the show.

Say thank you to your fellow actors, too.  They are part of the reason why you look good on stage.

Be cheerful, even if you’ve had a bad day.  Put it aside for the time you’re at the theater.

Remember that you have to live with these people for a period of months, and they have to live with you.  Keep all your relationships at the theater healthy and happy!

Actor’s Etiquette: Oh, Do You Have a Line?

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etiquetteIf you’re sloppy with how you memorize lines, it’s very possible to find that you’re talking when someone else is supposed to be talking.  This is annoying on a number of levels.

I did a show once with an actor who decided to run two of his lines together, which meant that saying my line (which was only a single word:  “No!”) muddied things a bit.  He had an emotional reason for making this choice, even if it was a bit misplaced.  I ended up cutting my line out, because the way he was handling the scene just made it seem messy and as if someone (me, probably) had screwed up a line somewhere.

I had plenty of lines in the show, so losing a word was hardly a problem.  However, the lines were written as they were to produce a laugh, one we never got because of how the actor was playing the scene.  All the more amusing, really, since the actor in question considered himself to be a comic.  But I always felt badly about it, because it was the audience who lost out.  (And no, the director did nothing to fix the problem.  C’est la vie.)

Overlapping dialogue is fine, even when the playwright hasn’t written it to indicate overlapping.  It makes things more realistic, and sometimes helps to convey urgency or passion on some level.  It’s nothing that you want to do too frequently, because the other actors may start to feel that you are “all about you”, and not about the play.  Nor do you want to overlap more than a word or two.

You also want to be sure that you aren’t overlapping any important information or emotion.  Never step on another actor’s moment.  And never kill a laugh intentionally, as my scene partner did.  Audiences love to laugh; give them every opportunity!

Also, be careful in doing this when the line you’re overlapping belongs to someone who has a small part in the play.  If it is really necessary and appropriate, that’s one thing, but do remember that actors with small parts relish every word and moment they get on stage.  Let them have them!  If you’re the lead and they have twelve lines, you won’t endear yourself to them by stepping on one of them.

If you find yourself talking at the same time someone else is speaking, go back and check the script.  Make sure you’re handling your end properly and that you haven’t misunderstood the scene or memorized it incorrectly.  If the problem turns out to be your scene partner, have a word with your director in private.  With any luck, he’ll fix the matter, and if he doesn’t, do what I did in the above instance:  make your best judgment about what you can do that will best serve the play in this instance.

Actor’s Etiquette: Make Your Entrances On Time

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Etiquette-Design-5The last community theater production I was in, no less than four actors completely missed their cues to come on stage during Tech Week.

By completely, I mean everything came to a halt while they were located.  In one instance, I was about to go off stage and drag them on after improvising for about two minutes when they finally showed up.  This was only five minutes into the play.  In the other two cases, there was nothing to be done but stop the play while the actors, who were deep in the dressing rooms, were found.

Thankfully, we had no such incidents during the run, although we did have one actor come on stage a page early.  This called for some quick thinking and readjustment on our parts after the actor exited, so we could pick up the dialogue we had missed due to her early entrance and then jump forward to the scene after her exit.  Those of us onstage were pulled out of the moment a bit, but the audience remained ignorant of the problem.

I’m not sure that I’ve ever been in a play when this happened before.  Oh, sometimes an actor spaces out and comes running on stage a second or two late, but never more than that.  These occurrences, however, were pretty egregious, and two of them happened with experienced actors who should have known better.

Pay attention.  Make your entrances on time.  Don’t leave your fellow actors hanging on stage.

Actor’s Etiquette: I Haven’t Heard My Line Yet

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il_570xN.227565305Many actors are a bit casual at memorizing the actual lines in the script.  This is not only disrespectful to the typically absent playwright; it also usually hurts the play.  If you’re one of these actors, there is little I can say to convince you to handle the matter otherwise, and I’m not going to try.

But when it comes to another actor’s cue, be sure to give the cue line verbatim.  Tiny little things can throw an actor off, and if you start messing with your word choice when delivering a cue, you can, at best, take an actor out of the moment, and it will take him a half page to fully integrate himself with the play again.  At worst, you will cause him to forget his lines.  He is memorizing not only his own lines, but his cues, and he isn’t memorizing what you say in rehearsal, but what is in the script.  (Probably in the vain hope that you will someday stick your nose in it and figure out that you’re saying the line wrong.)

So be courteous, and deliver the cue lines as written.  Every time.

Actor’s Etiquette: Being Creative in an Ensemble

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etiquette_thingsyouneedtobetoldI hope that my recent posts on creativity indicate that coming up with ideas and trying them out in rehearsal is a good thing and to be encouraged.

So how do you offer ideas if you aren’t supposed to do anything that another actor can interpret as you telling him what to do?  Everyone talks about “Ensemble Acting” as if it’s a good thing to do.  If I’m part of an ensemble, shouldn’t voicing my opinions about the play as a whole be acceptable?

Yes, and no.

First, ensemble acting primarily implies a certain equity among actors strictly in terms of their importance to the piece.  In ensemble acting, there is no obvious “starring role”, and this equity carries into the way the actors work together, too.  Actors accustomed to working together may be able to respectfully generate ideas in a brainstorming sort of way that offends no one, and if the ideas are offered up without any one idea being strongly advocated by an actor who isn’t the one enacting the idea, it’s all good.  But that’s the sort of thing that comes over time, typically in resident companies.

But here’s the truth about ideas. If they do involve you, just do your part of it and the rest will come.   If you throw something new and inventive to your partner, she’ll have the chance to respond to it in whatever way she likes, which may be better than your idea.  Or maybe she’ll find your suggestion on her own, simply because you have given her something good to work with.  That is all that is required most of the time.  Experiment as much as you like, but don’t demand a certain response to your own behavior.  Your own creativity encourages other people to follow you.

Sometimes an actor may be frustrated and be open to general help with his problem.  In that case, you can perhaps gently say, “May I offer an idea?  I don’t know if it’s any good, but . . .” or “I have a thought, but I don’t know if it will work.”  If you are invited to give your thoughts, you may, but do so in such a way that it puts them under no obligation to take your suggestion.  State it simply and leave it at that.  Don’t argue on its behalf, and take its rejection gracefully.

Ensemble work also means being generous to the other people in the cast.  But that’s another topic . . .

 

 

Actor’s Etiquette: There’s a Director of This Play, and You Should Listen to Him

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9780520267848Directors have a number of responsibilities regarding the production that are different from yours as an actor.  Among them is the responsibility (and right) to determine how to generally interpret the play, which includes his vision for it and the tone the production should strike.

You may not agree with his choices, but you have to make your way to being at peace with them, or the production will suffer.  You can discuss your opinions with him, if you differ in a material way.  You may find you aren’t really far apart; you’re just using different language.  Or you may find he’ll appreciate your input and adjust his vision in some way.

But you may just have very different views, and in that case, he wins.  Ties always go to the director.  This means that it is your job to listen carefully to what he has to say and to try to adjust your own thinking to meet what he is asking for.  Lecturing him on what YOU think is right is only going to create bad feelings.  Take it too far, and the director may wonder if he can ask you to do anything without you putting up a fight.  (I’ve seen this in action.)

Even differences of opinion about small character choices should be dealt with this way.  Yes, you know the character better than the director does.  Eventually.  A good director, if he’s done his homework properly, knows more about your character initially.  My actors start to overtake me in this department somewhere around the halfway mark.

If a director makes a suggestion to you about your character, listen with an open mind.  Trust that he has a reason for it, and that it has something to do with the fact that he is seeing how what you are doing is playing out in the house.

It’s not always easy to do this, I know.  When a director makes a suggestion to me, sometimes I immediately know that he’s right, and all is well.  Sometimes I am in a generally receptive mood and consider it and we have a nice conversation about it.  Sometimes it sounds to me like an idiotic idea, but because I am in a receptive mood, I do my best with it.  If it’s really idiotic, it will probably become apparently in playing it.  If it doesn’t and he still seems attached to the notion, we can now have an honest discussion about its merits and I can politely and reasonably defend my opinion.

And sometimes my worst self emerges and I have a kneejerk reaction that sounds something like this:  “No, my character wouldn’t do that.”

These are words that should never be uttered.  They will, and I’ll probably be one of the actors saying them.  But they shouldn’t be said.

Don’t assume that suggestions from the director are inflexible mandates.  They may be, but they won’t always be.  So go ahead and try what he suggests and see if there is any merit to it.  You’d want the same courtesy if you suggested something; extend it to him.

When my bad self rejects an idea, I always end up considering it later.  “Later” may mean five minutes, and if it does, I make sure I respond to the director before the rehearsal is over, and tell him that I’ll try his idea the next time we do that scene.  Sometimes I think about it overnight, and I’ll talk to him about it at the next rehearsal.  The important thing is that I get back to him about his comment.  Integrating it without acknowledging that is what I am doing isn’t enough.  I need to keep the lines of communication with my director open, and to show him that I respect his input.

Most of the time, I end up realizing that he has a point, and that whatever he is suggesting is more creative and interesting than what I’ve been doing.  It’s easy to get stuck in a rut, and he is throwing me a lifeline.  If I can’t come around to his way of thinking, the time between rehearsals gives me a chance to figure out how to explain my objection to my director, which may open up new possibilities for us.

The director’s “third eye” is critical to a good production.  Trust it.  At the very least, respect it.

Actor’s Etiquette: There’s a Director of This Play, and It Isn’t You

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51V3ETWY0FLIt is always very bad form to direct another actor or to otherwise ask another actor to do anything for you.

It doesn’t matter if the director isn’t very good.  Or if he seems to have trouble communicating something and you think you know where the disconnect is.  It’s not your show.  Keep your mouth shut.

You undoubtedly have plenty of work to do on your own role.  That’s where your attention should be.

I once watched an actor who wasn’t hired until halfway through rehearsals start directing his scene partner ON HIS VERY FIRST DAY AT REHEARSALS.  My jaw nearly hit the floor.  The director was gracious and let him speak, and the actor to whom he was speaking was so green that he didn’t realize what a faux pas Mr. Newcomer had made.  I probably would have slapped Mr. N. upside the head.  (His behavior only confirmed my feeling that he was a bit full of himself, and it will probably always color how I view him.)

I’ve also seen an actor ask another to alter the timing of his entrance, which was prescribed by the text, because the way he was doing it (at the director’s instruction) “is throwing me off.”  This was even more egregious because the moment belonged to the entering actor, not Mr. Sensitive (see a future post called “It’s Not Your Scene”).

If you genuinely think you can help the director and feel compelled to do so, do it in private, after rehearsal is over.  This gives the director the opportunity to either listen without you undermining his authority in front of the cast or else tell you to mind your own business without making a scene.

Your job is to simply receive and respond to what you get from the other actor, not to demand what he isn’t giving you because he’s not good/clever/insightful enough to give it to you.  Even if you’re asking for the right thing.

Even if the other actor is upstaging you in the worst way and you have every right to be upset, don’t challenge him on it directly.  Let the director know and let him deal with the problem.  He can handle it better than you can.  You risk making the other actor hate you on some level (theater people are not always mature and professional), and it will make the experience miserable for you both and affect the play.

This doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for you to make suggestions in the moment that you think might be helpful to the production, but they should always be made to the director, not to the other actors.  Phraseology matters, too.  “Could we try . . .?”, “I wonder if it might work if we . . .?”, and “Might it be even better if . . .?” leave open the possibility that you’ve just come up with a terrible idea and give the director the ability to turn it down politely.  Creativity in a play is a group activity, and you are a full player in that.  But you aren’t in charge.

And if you aren’t involved in the scene in question, I don’t care how great the idea you have is.  Keep it to yourself and share it with the director privately, after rehearsal.  It’s not the last time the scene will be worked on; it can wait. Never butt in with your two cents on someone else’s scene unless the director expressly asks for suggestions from the cast as a whole.

In brief:  Don’t make the people you work with look stupid or incompetent.

Actor’s Etiquette: Memorize Your Lines

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charm-school-for-business-etiquette-6-5-20121I once directed a play with a cast of experienced actors.  At the first rehearsal, I gave them my usual spiel about memorizing lines (you can’t do any real acting until you are off book; the earlier you memorize them, the better your performance will be; I suggest you aim for three weeks before opening; don’t try and go off book until you really are off book, because it’s a waste of everyone’s time and I won’t permit it).

Some directors set “deadlines” for the acts to be memorized, but really – there’s nothing we can do if you miss the deadline, is there?  It’s not like we can send you to bed without supper (not that I think negative reinforcement is a particularly influential approach.)

The actors nodded at me as soon as I began speaking.  As experienced actors, they knew exactly what I was talking about, and three of the actors in this show had a ton of lines each, so they knew what they were facing.

Three weeks before we opened, none of them had come close to memorizing their lines. I hadn’t really focused on this fact.  Yes, I knew they were still carrying scripts around, and yes, they seemed to rely on them more than I thought they should be at that point, but these guys had been around the block more than a few times.  They knew what was required.  They were pros, they’d get it done.

Also, different people handle memorizing differently.  I’ve worked with actors who made me unsure they were ever going to finish memorizing the script, but came in Tech Week solid in their lines and doing some remarkable work.  I hadn’t really worked with two of these actors before.  What did I know about their process?

Three weeks out, it finally occurred to me that I had to bring the obvious to their attention:  “Uh.  You guys might want to think about memorizing your lines.  We open soon.”

I could tell by the expressions on their faces that they hadn’t fully registered the gravity of their situation until I brought it up.  They began to work in earnest on memorizing from that point on, but two of them never really got solid and we had one performance that took a big hit as a result.

As a director, the one thing I DON’T worry about is whether an actor has memorized their lines.  It’s not my butt up on stage, and the one thing the audience won’t blame me for is an actor who forgets his lines.  I have always figured the potential of public embarrassment is sufficient motivation for an actor to hit the books and get his lines down.

I was wrong on this particular point.

I can’t memorize your lines for you.  I also don’t wish to be a nag; it’s an unpleasant role to have to play.  In the future, I’ll remind my casts each week of how far we are from opening and note where I think they are in terms of memorization, but I’m not going to do more than that.  You’re responsible for yourself.

Memorizing your lines is a basic element of being an actor.  Do it early so you are sure to get it done.

Actor’s Etiquette: Read the Script

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HT_BehaveIt is not sufficient to read the play once and then to work on scenes as if they are separate entities.  Everything in the play informs every other moment in the play.

This happens particularly in scene class, but I’ve seen it happen in regular rehearsals, too.  In class, I assign a scene of two to three pages.  The actor gets the script and reads it.  Now he knows the gist of what happens in the play and has a feel for who are the bad guys and who are the good guys.  He has a visceral response to what sort of person his own character is.  Fine.  That’s enough, right?  Now he’ll just work on the scene.

Sorry, but it isn’t nearly enough.

Working on a single scene requires a lot of the same investigation into the character and his background that working on the entire play demands.  You can’t understand your character in isolation.  You’ve got to know what happened in the scene before the one you’re playing before you can begin to understand how he feels in this scene.  Background information that is revealed in scenes before and after yours may help to explain something that happens in your scene.  A comment made in Act II sheds light on something he said in Act I.

As for rehearsals for a full production, it’s not enough to encounter the play when you are working on it with the rest of the cast.  It’s not enough to read it for the purpose of memorizing your lines.  Plays are littered with clues that help you to understand your character, and at some point I’ll talk a bit about how to find them and put them together.  The point is, you have to look for the clues, and you can’t do that particularly well when you are running a scene or memorizing your lines.  Yes, you’ll discover some things when you do, but it won’t be enough.

When I act, I am actively mining for information about my character throughout the rehearsal process (and throughout performances, for that matter).  By “actively mining”, I mean that I am paying close attention to everything that is said, and everything that I read, to see if I can understand it on a deeper level.  There isn’t a magic number for how often you should read a play, but I probably read the ones in which I have a large part at least 80-100 times.  You don’t have to read it that many times, but I hope it suggests that more than a half dozen times is required to really get the most out of it!