6
Creating Onstage Chemistry
By Christina Hamlett
Former actress/director Christina Hamlett is the author of 41 books and 171 plays. For Pioneer, she and her writing partner Jamie Dare have penned three “Seusspeare” comedies as well as a contemporary script titled “Fandemonium.” She is also a professional ghostwriter and a script consultant for stage and screen. http://www.authorhamlett.com.
When a playwright pens a new script, the plausibility of the storyline hinges on how effectively they have crafted characters that an audience will accept as “real.” Do we know who they are? Do we relate to what they want? Do we understand the risks they’re willing to take? The characters in a play — albeit fictional personae — make decisions to collide, to collude, to coalesce through dialogue and action. For audience members to deem it a satisfying production, they must be convinced of the characters’ intentions.
But what about the real-life actors cast in these roles? Do they have the same emotional bandwidth to create believable interactions or, for them, is it just “another openin’, another show”? If your cast members are at a total disconnect with one another, the resulting performance will be little more than an ensemble of strangers reciting whatever lines they were given.
My husband and I experienced this several years ago at a local production of Steel Magnolias. Robert Harling’s cathartic script features insightful dialogue and multi-layered roles for its all-female cast against the backdrop of a Louisiana beauty salon. Like Cheers, it’s an intimate venue where everyone not only knows your name but also all of your personal problems — probably better than your own family does. Unfortunately, the director cast six women who had zero chemistry. Zip. Nada. Even when death claims one of their own in the second act, the grief they projected fell far short of genuine.
At the end of the day, it wasn’t the play’s fault. It was all on the actors.
Much has been written about improv exercises to help performers identify with the wants, needs, strengths, and weaknesses of the characters they’re portraying. It’s just as important, though, for the actors to embrace an esprit d’ corps amongst themselves in order to appreciate the likes, dislikes, and overlaps that will foster their connectivity as individuals. No chemistry = No scene.
In everyday life, how do you decide if a friendship is worth pursuing? You ask questions! (“Do you like this song?” “Have you ever had sushi?” “What are you reading?”) The answers then provide a framework for further exploration... or for moving on. In theatre, however, you can’t walk away just because there’s no personal vibe with your co-star(s). You have to find a bond in order to forge one, even if the person opposite you is playing an adversary.
As a fun icebreaker on the first day of rehearsal with a new cast, start off with the following questions:
- How many of you have pets? What kind?
- How many of you have siblings? Younger or older?
- How many of you have allergies? What kind?
- How many of you have lived in another state or country? Where?
- How many of you like camping?
- How many of you have decided on a career? As what?
Left on their own between scenes, participants will naturally gravitate to peers whose answers offer the comfort of common ground (“Wow! Sally is allergic to strawberries, too!”) or the mystique of something totally outside their frame of reference (“Jack grew up in Australia and had a pet wallaby!”). Once that dynamic occurs, they’re on their way to understanding what makes each other tick, even if it ultimately produces viewpoints on which they disagree.
Another bonding exercise best used between two actors is one in which they “interview” each other with questions such as:
- How would you describe yourself?
- What were you doing before you came to rehearsal?
- What’s the best/worst meal you’ve ever had?
- What would your best friend say about you?
- What’s something about you that would surprise most people?
- Would you rather be the funniest person in the room or the smartest?
- What super-power would you most like to have?
- How do you feel when someone says something about you that isn’t true?
- What’s your best/worst subject in school?
- Who would you most like to see in concert?
- What would you do with a million dollars?
- What person in history do you most relate to?
The objective, of course, is not to debate the rightness/wrongness of a reply or to inappropriately invade privacy, but rather to provide actors with the means to see each other as human beings in broad brushstrokes outside the narrow parameters of the characters they’re playing. Coupled with role-playing improvs, it’s a formula guaranteed to deliver a show that audiences will come away believing was a “real” experience — one which tickled their funny bones, challenged their perceptions, and tugged at their heartstrings.
