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My actors aren't playing a lot with their lines and I feel like it makes some of their lines fall flat. They don't know how to try different deliveries for their lines. What's a fun way I can have them work on this?

Hi Samuel!

May I ask -- do you feel that they're not really connecting to the meaning of the lines, or that they're not trying new things despite knowing what they mean (their objectives, etc.)?

One fun game I've done that might be extrapolated to apply to varied line delivery is the Spaghetti game - each person has one line (which is the word spaghetti), and they have to deliver it as if they are...disappointed, scared, etc. Then you can have them select a feeling or even a goal (actions/tactics--to scare, to intimidate) and have the other folks guess what they were trying to go for.

Hope that helps a little!

Betsy

Hi Samuel!

What a great question and fun challenge. I've had luck with exercises that provide actors a way to explore characters physically. I use Laban, walks, and kinesphere. "Walks" is the simplest and any student can do it - no matter their age or experience. Students begin by walking throughout the space the way they walk. (In our case, we use our house and stage in the theater.) I side coach them to vary their pacing then I start providing scenarios. For example, "You're in a hurry at the airport." They adjust their physical choices because they've been given a specific scenario. I then build on that by adding things like, "You missed your flight." "You dropped something." "You hear your name called on the speakers." Sometimes we debrief at that point and sometimes we move to having them walk in character. I have them explore everything from atmosphere (temperature, weather, etc.) to space (crowded space), to pace. Throughout the exercise, I side coach them to focus on where they feel their muscles engaging, where do they feel they are leading with their body, what is their subtext, how does the pace impact what they're thinking, feeling, etc. Hopefully that gives you some ideas. The debrief often provides some very insightful thoughts and helps the actors consider practical ways to apply the exercise to their character choices. Hope that provides some ideas. :) Good for you reaching out for support and ideas for how to help your actors do their best! Break a leg!

One of the first things we would do is break the scenes into beats.  We then had fun doing a beat several ways. 

For full length play rehearsals, I would use the following  for learning lines beat by beat.

1. Regular way - they may use the script  for reference.  
2.  With an opposite emotion than called for - a love scene might be angry, an angry scene might be coddling - an exposition scene might be alarmed - etc.
3.  Next would be doing the scene in an unusual/weird way - I had a list of about 100 ways - I might select one, or they might blindly point to one that was on my list. The list was something like:  Texan, Southerners,  Hillbilly, Valley girls, Proper People from England, etc., melodramatic, operatic, rock stars, ballet stars, soap operatic, etc., toddlers, grandparents, shouters, sportscasters, giggling, sneaky, as bears or chickens or some other animal, spies, robots, etc. etc. etc.
4. Do the scene back to back secretly sharing the lines.  (This gets them to really listen.)
5. Finally have actors state what their individual objective is for the beat and then perform the beat. 

For a class where many scenes were being rehearsed, I would have a demonstration of the process and then give them a list of possibilities for #2 and #3.  

Another technique that I learned at the Strasberg Institute was the following - it worked well for scenes; for full length plays, we would select key scenes for this process and work on them beat by beat.

1. Agree where the beat will begin and end.  The person with the first line would look down at the script and then look into the eyes of the scene partner.  I the lines is long, just work your way through it, looking at the script and then into partner's eyes, line by line.  The partner keeps eyes on partner the whole time until the first speaker indicates it is the second actor's line.  
2. The second actor then repeats this process with the first actor keeping eyes focused on the second actor. 
3. Do the beat a second time, doing the remembered lines and then looking down at the script when the next words are not clear.
4. Run the beat without looking at the script.  Afterwards look back at the scene to note what words were left out.  NOTE: whatever words or lines are hard to remember are the ones where the actor and the character are the most different.  Understanding that difference will help the actor be more in character.
5. Run the beat again with blocking.

(I retired in 2020 so I realize that I have written this in the past tense.)

Jon Jory wrote a series of articles a while back that is on the data base with Dramatics.  I think the methods and ideas he outlines for character work are very accessible and fun to work on.   Here's the link  https://schooltheatre.org/?s=jon+jory+on+acting

Hi Samuel,

Some great advice on this thread.  I have students do an old school script analysis on the scene.  With pencil, they figure out -

Objective (Goal, Task,) - What they want in the scene

Motivation -  Why do they want it.

Obstacles - What is standing in the way of what they want

Tactics - What do they do to get around the obstacle (Here is where line variation can come in depending on what they choose)

Given Circumstances - Everything they know about the scene and their character coming into it.

For the analysis I have several copies of this book