APR
1

Blocking Tips

By Kevin Stone 

Kevin Stone has been writing and directing plays for over 20 years.  He has experience as an actor and as a director of community theatre, church plays, high school productions and touring collegiate groups.  Besides teaching drama classes, Kevin is the pastor of a church and the managing editor of a ministry website.  Kevin’s play After Hours won the Shubert Fendrich Memorial Playwriting Contest. 

So you’ve spent the first couple practices for your production getting the cast introduced to each other and excited about the play, followed by a read-through of the script.  But the honeymoon period is quickly over and it’s time to get down to the blocking rehearsals.

Blocking out each scene is not everyone’s favorite pastime.  These rehearsals can be tedious and awkward as the actors clutch their scripts and try to master the fine art of reading and walking simultaneously.  But getting the movement of the play down is an important part of bringing a play to life.

Here are some tips on making the most of your blocking rehearsals:

Practical Considerations

Preplan.  It’s a good idea to get as much of the blocking sketched out ahead of time.  Of course, when you actually start moving real actors around a real stage, things will change, but you should go into the first rehearsal with a good idea of how each scene should look — who exits where, who crosses when, who sits, who stands, etc.  Have a “blueprint” to follow in constructing the framework of movement in each scene.

Draw pictures.  It’s often quite effective to have a diagram of the stage on which to mark out the blocking step by step.  This is especially useful for complicated scenes or scenes involving a large group of actors who appear on stage together.  (Hint:  Pioneer Drama’s director’s books have a stage diagram sketch on the facing page of every single page of dialogue.)

Set out some obstacles.  Usually, blocking rehearsals are held far in advance of anything remotely resembling a finished set, but it is important for the actors to know where furniture and other set pieces are going to be.  Mark out the floor plan in your practice area.  Chalk or tape on the floor might work, but it’s even better to have something the actors can actually practice walking around — chairs can represent tables, doorways, trees, beanstalks, or whatever else.

Teach proper stage terminology.  Especially if you have new actors, make sure everyone knows which way is up, where the apron is, and how to wait in the wings.

Avoid crashes.  Too many people using the same entrance at the same time will cause problems.  Avoid congestion by spacing out the timing of the entrances and exits and, if possible, utilizing opposite sides of the stage.  During busy scenes, make sure each actor has a specific route that does not interfere with another actor’s intended path.  Also, teach your actors to anticipate each other’s entrances and exits and thereby clear the way for whoever is coming (or going) next.

Don’t skip the basics.  Novice actors often find it awkward to turn “through the audience,” to gesture with the proper (upstage) arm, and to avoid being upstaged.  Your job as director is to drill them in the basics of stage movement until these things become second nature.

Artistic Considerations

Pay attention to relative strength.  Movement brings emphasis.  To emphasize a character’s words, add movement.  Walking in a straight line communicates greater strength and purpose than walking in an arc.  Moving downstage or to a more brightly lit area strengthens stage presence, while moving upstage or out of direct light usually weakens it.  The closer to center stage a character is, the more attention she will command from the audience.  The same is true for vertical level.  Standing is a stronger position than sitting, and standing on a dais or platform communicates more strength than standing at floor level.

Use the whole stage.  It’s as if you’re a painter, and the stage is your canvas.  Paint the corners and borders of your stage — that is, include them in the action of the play.  Vary the location of the climax of successive scenes, as this will heighten interest.  As William Cowper said, “Variety’s the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavor.”

Group your crowds.  Imagine you’re a photographer, and you’re composing a well-balanced photograph.  As a general rule, “balance” the stage by keeping approximately the same number of characters on the right as on the left.  Remember that raising someone vertically adds more “weight” to that person, as does moving him closer to the audience.  Aesthetic balance becomes even more important in scenes with a large number of actors, such as the chorus in musicals.

Motivate each movement.  Every movement on stage must have a motivation.  For some movements, the motivation is easy.  A line such as “I’ll get the door” should provide enough direction for the actor to know where to go and why.  Other motivations, however, are not so straightforward.  You may need an actor to move closer to the window so that he can later open it and jump out, but you’ll have to devise a motivation to get him to the spot he needs to be.

Be enthusiastic that the blocking rehearsals are bringing the play to life.  Proper blocking marks out the ebb and flow of the play’s natural action.  With a little thought and planning, even “talky” and expository scenes can be visually interesting and dynamic.