Acting as a Language

Augusto Boal, a Brazilian writer and director, says that “ theatre is the art of looking at ourselves.” As a theatre performer, I get to encounter many types of people, both onstage and off. I also get to meet someone else: the characters. Inside a script, there is a whole new world to discover, that can be entirely made up, or completely nonfiction, and it is in the hands of the actors to bring this world to life as accurately as possible. Acting, in a way, is a language of its own that allows a look into the past through research, ourselves, and the world around us, and also in a way helps create a sense of understanding and empathy towards others, and through acting, I have learned how to do all of these things.

First, I’ll be delving into acting and how it has influenced my love for reading. When I approach a new show that I will be auditioning for, I first have to familiarize myself with every aspect of the production: the script, the history, and if it is a musical, then of course, the music. Therefore, in order to understand the show, I must do research, which means a ton of reading. One show in particular where research was very important was Dreamgirls. This past summer I played the part of Lorrell Robinson, one of the Dreams. The story of these three women is loosely based off of the Supremes. For this show, I was not only bringing a character to life, but also a real life person, Mary Wilson of the Supremes. Not only did I have to read about the history of how this story came to fruition, but I also had to read about the history of the sensational girl group’s rise to fame. For example, let’s pretend I am auditioning for a show, or I have auditioned for a show, and received a callback, I may have to do a “cold reading” from the play or musical. Generally, there is not a lot of time to look over your readings, so you may need to use context clues to understand the scene and what your emotions will be. I find it easier to just read the script before an audition, which has also influenced my love for reading. Not only am I reading the play, but I am also analyzing every situation, and every character's feelings in that moment. Acting has also helped me in my everyday life by allowing me to speak more clearly and openly in discussions. Acting has helped my literacy not only through enhancing my love for reading and analyzing plays, but also helped me develop a different language both on the stage and off.

Acting also enables us to look into ourselves, and at the world around us. As for onstage, depending on the play, or musical, the dialogue may be different than what people are used to in their everyday lives. For instance, William Shakespeare, in his play As You Like It said, “All the world’s a stage.” However, what does this mean? To me, I feel that it could mean how Shakespeare intended with the rest of the quote: “All the world’s a stage,/  And all the men and women merely players;/ They have their exits and their entrances,/And one man in his time plays many parts, / His acts being seven ages” (2.7. 139-166). So, this quote, without the context of the play, could mean that God is the writer of our lives, and humans are the performers who are playing it out. The first line of that quote could also mean that seeing how we play situations out can help us to identify with one another, as we would as an audience member at a performance. However, in the context of this play, the character Jaques, is talking about the different phases, or “acts”, of his life, and how with each situation that is presented to him, he acts differently. I think that this quote really embodies acting as a means of reflection. If you were to divide your own life into acts, what would they be? You may notice that your life might be divided the same way that another's is, and you may have similar situations through which you can relate. In relation to literacy, the same applies. For every new topic, I may approach the piece differently. For a research paper, there will be a lot of brainstorming and searching for information to back up my main focus, as opposed to writing an essay on a specific theme of a novel or play. I also might be able to divide the “acts” of my literacy history into the different stages of my English history. For example, at my high school, each year there was an overall theme that the class would focus on. We started out freshman year with gothic novels, followed by Greek mythology sophomore year, with American literature the next year, and British Literature my senior year. Naturally, my high school experience with English is very different from my elementary or middle school experience. However, I have been able to learn how to use what I have learned and read in my everyday life and as a performer.

Through various roles, acting helps create understanding and empathy. In his book Audition, Michael Shurtleff, says that as an actor, you must “train yourself in the audition situation to think that every scene is about you , not someone else” because it is “the quickest way to find motivations that will justify the actions in the scene” (Shurtleff 54). This is also the same for when you are hired to play the role. An actor must find reasons why, if they were in the situation of the character, they would cheat on their spouse, kill someone, or love someone they shouldn’t. When you take on any role, there is this saying that states “justify don’t judge.” You must create a sense of understanding, which can allow you to empathize for your character, the other characters, and maybe even someone in the audience who relates and empathizes with a character. I think the most rewarding part of digging so deeply into a story through research is the reaction that the audience gives. Every now and then you meet someone who says they have been abused, suffer through mental illness, or just love the show because it was their first theatre experience, and it’s amazing when you can somewhat get a glimpse of what they mean, and can empathize with them. I think I understand this most when I am in the audience and I am able to see myself in other characters. I think about what motivates and analyze their decisions as I would if I were reading the dialogue that they were saying. I question why would John in The Importance of Being Earnest live a double life, or why Juliet would give up everything, and even die for  Romeo. I think one of the greatest advantages of having the experience of being in the cast or the audience is getting to find new perspectives and aspects of a character that might be missed.

As you probably noticed, I am very passionate about theatre. I find that I have gained so much knowledge on society, history, and the types of people I may encounter. In relation to literacy, I am able to fully analyze a script, and it is my job to bring the new world that I have stepped into to life as accurately as possible. Acting, has allowed me to be well versed my everyday life during discussions, or even everyday conversation. Lastly, acting has taught me to see the world around me in a different way. This spans from loving instead of hate, empathizing, instead of sympathizing, and seeing everyone as an equal. I think it has been rewarding that something I love so much has been able to enhance my learning on not just a textbook level.

Works Cited

Shakespeare, William, and Frances E. Dolan. As You like It. Penguin Books, 2017.

Shurtleff, Michael. Audition: Everything an Actor Needs to Know to Get the Part. Bantam, 1980.