I think that the word “character” is extremely difficult for the young actor to understand the nuances of the word and what they mean.
By definition:
noun
the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.
a person in a novel, play, or movie. a part played by an actor.
A character is a person in a narrative work of arts (such as a novel, play, television show/series, or film).
Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr, the English word dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of "a part played by an actor" developed.
Character, particularly when enacted by an actor in the theatre or cinema, involves "the illusion of being a human person."
In literature, characters guide readers through their stories, helping them to understand plots and ponder themes. Since the end of the 18th century, the phrase "in character" has been used to describe an effective impersonation by an actor. Since the 19th century, the art of creating characters, as practiced by actors or writers, has been called characterization.
A character who stands as a representative of a particular class or group of people is known as a type. Types include both stock characters and those that are more fully individualized. The characters in Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler (1891) and August Strindberg's Miss Julie (1888), for example, are representative of specific positions in the social relations of class and gender, such that the conflicts between the characters reveal ideological conflicts.
The study of a character requires an analysis of its relations with all of the other characters in the work. The individual status of a character is defined through the network of oppositions that it forms with the other characters. The relation between characters and the action of the story shifts historically, often miming shifts in society and its ideas about human individuality, self-determination, and the social order.
So how do we help our young actors unpack all of various aspects of character? I believe the first thing is that the student needs to understand who they are and what is their relationship to and in the play. Granted this is a bit easier when they have a named character in the play or musical, at least they have a place to start from. However, a lot of times they are listed as chorus or ensemble, what’s “their” name how do “their” relationship to other people in the play? This was something I struggles to communicate in the dark ages when I first started teaching. After reading many sources and drawing from my days as a professional performer, I developed a fairly extensive character development study that I had all of my performers complete in the first week or two of rehearsal. (See attached document).
It is broken up into two separate parts.
- Part 1 consists of 20 questions (21 if their character does not have a name in the script) regarding the background of the individual. Specific choices they need to make to define who they are.
- Part 2 consists of 10 questions regard the status quo, what is happening right now in the play.
By having all of my students engage in this character development study it made the production richer with much more depth to the performers on the stage, and those performers felt invested in making it be best performance they could achieve. This was partly achieved by the ensemble/chorus choosing an appropriate name for themselves that fit into the structure of the given play/musical. One way to make sure that all of your performers complete the task is to make it an assignment and give them a grade. For me it was a pass/fail, though I might write comments in the margins to give them something to think about.
I’m confident that all of you have some form or another that you use for your students. Whatever that might be, I do encourage to spend some time helping your student understand the nuances of the word “Character”. This is just my take.
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Stewart Hawk
Washington State Thespians
206-465-4568
stewart.hawk@gmail.comhttp://wathespians.org------------------------------