Acting Games for Individual Performers by Levy Gavin

Author:Levy, Gavin [Levy, Gavin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Meriwether Publishing Ltd.
Published: 2006-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

C

hapter 12

Act and React

67. Telephone Tattle

For this exercise, have a conversation on the phone with yourself. That’s right, you read correctly — with yourself. Improvise some dialog on the phone. You can choose any scenario you like; perhaps you are getting directions to the dentist, arranging to pick up your dog from the vet, or speaking to your mother about a dinner party on Friday. Now, I want you to hear the other person’s response. I don’t mean you should vaguely pretend to hear something in general. If you asked, “What time is my appointment?” by utilizing your imagination you should have heard, “Mrs. Edwards, your appointment is at two o’clock on Wednesday.” Hear very specific responses and allow time for those responses and your reactions. I want to make it clear that you are not being asked to phone anyone, and it is better to turn your phone off before starting this activity. While you should be saying your lines out loud, the responses from the other person should simply be heard in your imagination, not vocalized. When you are ready to take a break, go ahead and phone a friend and pay attention to what you do when it is her turn to speak. Listen to the responses and pay attention to what you are doing at that moment. When you have finished your conversation, go ahead and work the exercise again with a completely different scenario.

Variables:

Vary the amount of time you spend on this activity. You might decide that you are going to have a ten-minute improvised conversation. This can be quite a challenge if you are to hear every one of the other person’s responses. It will take a great deal of focus and concentration to do this with believability.

Discussion:

What tools did you use to help yourself hear the other person’s responses?

At any point did you find yourself zoning out and not hearing your partner’s responses?

Did you keep the phone close to your ear or did you simply mimic and pretend to hold it close?

Explore this statement: The ability to listen can be quite draining.

Purpose:

To delve beneath the surface of the script

As an actor you are constantly going to find yourself with scripts that ask you to do some of the work. Many phone conversations will not be written with the luxury of the other person’s dialog. Many actors will simply accept this fact and have a one-way phone conversation. This activity encourages you to acknowledge that this is a two-person scene and that you must create dialog for the other person. How can you react to another when you do not know what you are reacting to? When you have a script in front of you, it might also be very beneficial to write in the other person’s responses. This activity gets you accustomed to the idea that a script is never really a finished product, but rather it is a beginning. In talking about scriptwriting, Lajos Egri comments, “If the reading public understands the

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