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The Marriage of Playwrights and Actors

by Ellena Antoinette

Copyright © 2004 All Rights Reserved


“When he was on hist travels, Sir Putton, I used to...” , a line for an actor to say. I really meant “When Sir Putton was on hist travels, I used to...”.

On paper, both lines seemed easy to say. It was what I considered a trip line, a line that seemed out of sequence or tripped you up because your mind was in a different place.

Sometimes when we are writing, we can write the entire experience in a short time. Other times, we write and because of daily interruptions like the phone ringing, we may lose our place. Sometimes for me, I just write what comes to mind. This means, I have an idea, but the thoughts come out, like a jigsaw puzzle. It is up to me to put them in the right emotional order.

Because of the emotional rhythm of a particular piece and the variable elements such as time, place, etc., suddenly, some words or lines seem out of order.

It is the actor’s job to find the beat changes but as playwrights, we should be able to provide a signpost. Be consistent in inconsistency if that is your flavor. Warnings like ‘steep hill’. Not in those words but through the words – to help with the beat changes.

I had an opportunity to participate in a performance workshop in which I had to perform what I wrote. Trust me, it is one thing to write it, and a different thing to perform it. I suddenly felt edgy when I should have felt calm, I suddenly was too angry, too soon. I suddenly had a long-winded paragraph when two sentences would have said it more clearly. Saying them out loud, while figuring out blocking and movement was quite a challenge for me. “I’m not an actor,” I kept saying to my instructor.

He said, “If you’re a playwright, then you’re an actor, and if you’re an actor, you’re a writer, a director.” All of these feed into each other in some form.

I said, “But I’m not an actor. People train their whole lives to do what you’re asking me to do in one workshop.”

He said, “You can do it. You just don’t know you can do it. Now, what is the intention of....” he would go on. Like it wasn’t a big deal. Didn’t he hear me? I said, I write, I don’t act. But the more he pushed me, the more I understood what he meant. I had to bring to the stage with the same intensity and the same intent I had in the written words. The words I put down on paper were for someone else to perform. I understood that if I wrote a line simply to be cute, it could trip the actor up. They are very focused and in search of the signpost to the next stop. If we drop the ball and are not clear, they struggle.

I thought it would be easier because I wrote it. Of course I knew what I meant. In my head, I did. When I said it out loud, in front of people, well, let’s just say I went back to my room and did some serious rewrites.

Anyway, I had to perform this piece, and it felt so choppy that I had to say, “Can I come back next week after some rewrites?” I know what I want to say; I know the arc of the character, but it’s not coming out in any cohesive manner.

In my rewrites, I would say the lines out loud and I could feel my way through the beat changes (or signposts). This was a true revelation for me.

Thanks to the rewrites and working on my performance aspects, I received a standing ovation for my performance (and acting debut). People said the acting was superb and the writing was great. This tells me, you need both, and they both need to be good.

It makes the journey to get from one point to the next smoother if; a) the writing is good, and b) it moves you through the emotional arc in a realistic manner.

I have a great deal of respect for the actor’s job and the director’s job. They haven’t been in your head. Actors only see the words on the page and glean from those words, who they need to become. It’s like telling a grocery store person, they’re now a pilot.

This is why I think readings are beneficial. You get to hear the words outside of your head. If the actors don’t get it, the audience won’t get it either. Aside from poor casting, which does happen, the actor and playwright collaboration is an invaluable development process. I often would grab an actor and ask them to read my script to get an idea of what works and what doesn’t. I believe the actor’s perspective is better than or as good as a dramaturg. Most dramaturgs are grown-up actors and polished directors.

The actor brings a different and often new perspective to the playwriting process. An invaluable tool. The playwright is simply too close to the work. The actor isn’t. That is a good balance. Actors don’t set out to misinterpret your work. They generally want to understand your work. What a great match.