Chapter 9

Working on the stage

Each performance happens on some kind of stage in view of an audience. These stages vary in shape and size, for every stage is different, sometimes the stage is not a stage at all, but just a cleared space. There are a number of basic principles that apply to work on almost any kind of stage .

Using stage directionWhen you rehearse a

scene, you will be given directions and need to make notes of those directions. Some of these directions will deal with your characterization or your emotional relations with other actors. Some will simply tell you where to stand on the stage. This latter type of direction is called blocking.

Proscenium stage

A proscenium stage has four directions:

UpDownRightLeft

Entering and exitingThe best way to make an

entrance is to use your imagination to start the scene before you enter. Ask yourself the following questions: where have I just come from? What was I doing there? Why precisely did I come here? Why do I want to go into the onstage areas? What do I except to see when I get out there? What do I want to do out there?

Similarly, for an exit, ask: where am I going? What do I want to do there? How far is it from here? What do except to see offstage? What makes me choose this particular moment to leave? Some people like to play a short improvisation before each entrance to remind themselves

Opening to the audienceThe whole point of a

performance is to share something with an audience. the easiest way to accomplish this is to make sure that your audience can see and hear you. Most of the following techniques apply to being seen on a proscenium stage, because the technical problems of being seen there are much greater than for other kinds of stages

StandingGesturingTurningWalkingCrossingStoppingEntering and exitingHandling props

FocusingAs a general rule, the

audience will be interested in what you appear to be interested in as you have probably seen happen in real life, if someone looks up at the sky intensely, gradually other people passing by stop and look up at the sky as well.

Gesture

‘’what do I do with my hands?”

Two kinds of gesture:• expressive gesture• emphatic gesture

• expressive gesture – expresses an emotion.

( Ex: crying, angry)

• emphatic gesture- emphasizes a point, usually a part of a line.

(Ex: “pointing a person”)