“To be cool” is the mantra of many teenagers. The monotone, the lack of obvious emotion, the whole tendency towards the laid-back slacker attitude—it’s all the antithesis of comedy. Getting middle school and high school students to break through the cool and act is one of the most difficult things for a director to do. When I teach or direct teenagers, I put it to them up front at the first rehearsal or class: “If you’re here to be cool, you’re in the wrong place. If you can play the fool without feeling foolish, you’ll begin to understand the essence of comedic acting.” I point out Jim Carey movies and how over the top he goes, or Saturday Night Live, where actors who “go for it” are the ones who get the most laughs. Of course, this isn’t enough. In middle school and high school, and especially with beginning actors, their self-consciousness and fear of looking foolish paralyze them. Here is a technique I’ve used in rehearsal that made a big difference in helping them shed their self-consciousness: Once they are off book, after they’ve had a few runs and they really know the play, have them do a run of the show at double time. Keep urging them to pick up the speed, to go faster and faster but keep all the lines and blocking intact, and suddenly they feel what it’s like to have fun with the lines. Their need to be cool, their inhibitions and their self-consciousness go out the window in their attempt to speed through the run. There will be lots of laughs, and they will find new bits of acting and character. Often, they’ll find what the actual pace of the play should be! They will learn organically that a slow pace kills comedy—and if they’re not having fun, chances are the audience isn't either.
Besides writing for the theatre, Edith Weiss also acts and directs in both children's and adult theatre. |
