As if!

I have mentioned in past blogs that the great thing about acting, dancing, singing is a chance to pretend. While I always encourage people to play roles they fit, that doesn't mean that you don't get a chance to play on stage, on the contrary i am a believer in never getting so bogged down in the creation of a role that you lose track of the fact that this is play! Have fun!

So, as a playful actor, there are many times you will play a part that you are suited for, but has experiences that are not in your life. So this is where your wonderful imagination gets to come into play. Faced with an expereince you have never had, you simply play a little game of "as if". Suppose a key point in the play has you realizing your wallet was stolen. but you never have had your wallet stoeln. We think back to something in your own experience that could bring up similar feelings. Alsmost all of us have misplaced or lost a cell phione. Panic, desperation, you are focused on the anxiety of that moment. Messages lost, numbers lost. So what if you play the moment that you realize your wallet is stolen as if you cell phone was missing? Instead of just pantomimimg patting your pockets, looking for the wallet, pretend you lost the cell phone, relive those actions.

I credit Sanford Miesner for the term "as if", Stanislavsy refers to it as "particularization", and JT calls it pretending. Call it what you will, it is a handy tool for an actor to use.

  


Suppose in a play your character has a scene where they are angry about not getting hired for a job, losing the job to someone the character feels isn't as qualified for the job as they are. Maybe you are a young actor, and don't have that experience yet. But you have likely auditioned for a play, and perhaps not been cast. Perhaps you even felt at the time that the person who got the role didn't do as well as you. Similar enough experiences for you to have your character have a realistic reaction to not getting the job. Or you have tried out for a sports team, but not made it in. You have enough experiences in your life to build some excellent "as if" moments for your character.

J.T. Turner
The Actor's Sensei


Private classes and coaching available.