Notes on How An Actor Prepares
Walking into a classroom is much like walking onto a
stage.
One thing we in the professoriate might learn from the actor
is how to bring more feeling into the presentation of our ideas.
 When
we attach feelings to our ideas, we convey the notion that these ideas are
valuable to us, thus increasing our impact on students. Through the centuries,
actors have developed two primary approaches to projecting feelings---one
internal and the other external. Each approach can have value for the professor
trying to bring enthusiasm to a lecture.
Using the internal approach, actors initially identify the emotion they want
to project. They can then use one of two techniques to create an internal
state---"emotion memory" or the "magic if."
In emotion memory, individual actors ask if they have ever experienced the
same feeling as their character in the same situation.
Likewise, professors might ask themselves if they ever experienced
enthusiasm for the lecture they're about to give. If the answer is yes, the
performers (professors or actors) will think back to the experience, recalling
specific details---the way the room looked on that occasion, what they were
wearing, the time of day, as many significant details as they can recall. In
the process of recalling the experience and what surrounded the experience, the
teachers or the actors may resurface the real emotion they felt at the time.
The other internal technique is the magic if. When called on to play an
emotion with which they are having difficulty, actors might ask themselves,
"What would I feel like if I were the person in this situation? If I were
Juliet, how might I respond to the voice in the darkness below?" The
performer with a vivid imagination will find the desired emotion, and so will
the imaginative teacher.
To use the external approach, one begins by identifying the emotions to be
projected and then studying how these emotions are projected by others.
For instance, one expresses anger by raising the volume and intensity of the
voice and tightening one's face muscles. The actor will apply these external
signs onto himself. Performers think of this as putting on a mask.
The teacher who finds it difficult to maintain discipline might use the mask
of the disciplinarian to bring about order. Actors will tell you that the
external will frequently lead to the internal.
A technique that uses both approaches calls for actors to see themselves as
the character performing the role and then to emulate that performance.
For professors, this means seeing themselves successfully presenting the
lecture or conducting the lab. The imagination, in this approach, leads the way
to a successful performance for the actor, or to a rewarding classroom
experience for the professor.
Using the Voice, Body, and Movement
The actor's voice and body are indispensable tools in communication with the
audience. This is also true for the teacher. Actors spend endless hours working
for flexibility, strength, and, above all, expressiveness in their instruments.
It is a maturing process that goes on throughout one's career.
It would behoove us as teachers, too, to think about the impact of our
voices upon students, for we depend upon this instrument just as the actors do.
Perhaps we could even take voice lessons.
The actor is also conscious of another tool---movement, which has two
purposes: to fulfill the physical requirement of the lines the actor speaks and
to reveal the psychological attitude of the character.
These dimensions of movement can also serve the teacher. For example, in
passing out the syllabus in the opening moments of the first class, I can be
sensitive to the way I use my body: A brisk movement that enables me to give
the syllabus to each student while making eye contact with them can convey my
interest in being there and my commitment to doing all I can to make the class
meaningful. Lethargic, less than enthusiastic movement, conveys a much less
positive message.
Using the Environment
The environment is another tool that actors constantly use. They rehearse on
the sets prior to the play's opening. They would not dare do otherwise because
they realize they must take time to know the setting if they are to make
maximum use of it.
Have you ever delivered a lecture in a room you have not first explored? Not
doing so can lead to some real surprises! Taking your cue from the actor,
consider how the arrangement of the room can aid you. Is it possible to
rearrange the seating configuration? I have found that doing this midway
through the term can bring a much needed dimension of freshness to my classes.
Changing the conventional rows of rows of chairs with the teacher in front to a
circle seems to encourage more open participation. Awareness of our environment
allows us to make it work better for ourselves and our students.
Preparing to "Go On Stage"
Any parallels between teaching and acting would be incomplete without noting
the preparation that the actor makes before going on stage. Minimally, it is a
ritual that takes an hour, beginning with the arrival and signing in, then
putting on makeup and changing into costume. Often, a set of vocal and physical
exercises will be interjected into this ritual anywhere along the way.
Performers vary in their habits once they are costumed and made up. Some
like to socialize with the rest of the cast while others prefer to isolate
themselves.
When the Acting Company came to our campus several years ago, one of our
students volunteered to work backstage during the performance. Her attention
was struck by a performer who arrived backstage 30 minutes before curtain time.
He checked the theater's acoustics and then took a seat backstage, reading the
campus paper.
Once the performance began, she realized that he had been reading the paper
in the persona of the character he was playing, showing the same attitude,
mannerisms, and intensity.
This actor demonstrated his desire for solitude before a performance, but,
more importantly, he demonstrated that performers don't just rush out onto the
stage and act. There is a ritualized process whereby they make the transition
from the pace of everyday life to the world of the character.
Teachers should take note of this process. Too often, we enter the classroom
without leaving ourselves any time to prepare mentally or physically for
teaching.
We will benefit from taking the time not only to think about the content
material for the day, but also about our students as a group and perhaps
individual students, even to the extent of visualizing their faces. We might
think also about the room and how we will move about it, and perhaps also about
our voice and how we will use it as a teaching tool.
Giving attention to the expression of our feelings through our bodies, our
movements, and our voices in a specific environment can make a surprising and
positive difference in how both we and our students feel about our teaching.
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