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Creative Approaches to Understanding Characters

By Margaret F. Johnson 

During her thirty-seven years as a drama teacher, Margaret F. Johnson directed over 190 productions and served as the Montana State Thespian Director from 1972 to 1992.  Margaret is also the author of The Drama Teacher’s Survival Guide and its sequel. 

As directors, we need to allow our actors to thoroughly discover and understand their characters inside out.  They need to know and be able to justify how and why their characters do what they do in the play.  Being a good actor is like being a good detective:  one must think of every possible question and come to a logical conclusion.

As tempting as it is to dive right into working on the script, your production will benefit greatly from taking the time to have your actors thoroughly get to know their characters.  It often begins with a written analysis.

Analysis

These analyses usually ask questions such as:  “What does your character do?”  “What does she say?”  “What are his goals and aspirations?”  “What events or conditions prior to the beginning of the play are important for understanding your character’s motives and objectives in the play?”  and “What does your character want?”  Check out this sample analysis.  Note that it starts with a question that ties directly to the plot of the play.  All the others are broader and require the actor to think more deeply about their character.

One question I’ve found to be very revealing:  “What is your character’s secret?”  (Having a secret always adds a sense of mystery to a character.)  Of course, you may have other questions that relate specifically to the play.  Feel free to ask them!

Looking at the analysis, it won’t take long for your actors to recognize that a lot of questions on the form may not be specifically answered in the play.  So, a great way to help your actors understand this exercise is by discussing the first question during a rehearsal.  Have them go around and share how each thinks their character would answer that question.  This is especially true for those characters who have very little to say and do, who in the cast list might be referred to as something general, like PERSON 1 or WOMAN 2.

But we all know the old adage:  “There are no small parts, only small actors.”  Everyone in the cast is important, and those playing small roles can often create some of the most interesting characters.  Before the analysis is turned in, have your actors share one interesting thing they have written about their character.  This helps everyone see how important the analyses are.

As important as the written analysis is, I’ve also had great success with more creative options to help young actors better understand their characters.

Collage

A fun way actors can get a deeper understanding of their characters is by creating a picture or collage — a group of objects that relate to their characters.  By looking at this “picture,” anyone can get a real feeling for the character.  It could include a picture of the character (from a newspaper, magazine, or actual photo), surrounded by a color, an object, a food, and a flower that best represents the character.  Other elements might include a key line or phrase the character says, or anything representing the motivation which drives that character.  On a separate sheet of paper, have actors list the items they chose for their collage, and explain why.

Illustrations

Maybe you would rather have your actors explore their characters artistically, through illustrations.  Take a break, during rehearsal, and give your actors two pieces of clean white paper, along with crayons, colored pencils, magic markers, stickers, etc.  Give them 10 to 15 minutes to create a pair of pictures, reminding them that there is no right or wrong interpretation, but that they should be prepared to justify anything they have in their “final work,” and that those viewing the works should feel some kind of an emotional response.

For example, instead of just having them draw a picture of their character, suggest artistically interpreting the character using colors (what color do you see them wearing?), symbols or objects (hearts, sword, car, candle, wire rimmed glasses, etc.)  and various strokes (broad, curved, uneven, bold, light).  The other, second illustration could show how their character views the entire play, including the play’s title, which should be written out somewhere.  (How the title is written as well as its placement is very important.)  Illustrations should not have the name of the artist/actor on them.

Be sure everyone is separated so there’s no overlap on personal interpretations.  Then, collect them and continue your rehearsal.  After the rehearsal, line the art work up along the front of the stage and have actors try to figure out whose is whose.  It is often quite a revelation to everyone!

Short Bio

Consider having each actor write a short biography or autobiography of their character, which could include prior events or conditions that are pertinent to understanding the character’s motives and objectives in the play.  As a biography, this would be in third person; as an autobiography the actor would use first person and need to be in tune with the “voice” the character would have when talking about him or herself.