Drama School

Drama schools tend to have a highly competitive admissions process. Applicants must submit to an audition process before they are granted admission. Drama schools focus on the development of acting technique, usually focusing on work in the theater. Although the work is performance based, students typically also learn about stage craft. Classes on set building, lighting design, and even dramatic writing are often offered so that students get a well-rounded education.

Drama Strategy

A simple strategy for creating an honest script is through the use of mantras.

Mantras- an expression or idea that is repeated, often without thinking about it, and closely associated with something...like a life's story.

While you are acting in a scene, recite an appropriate motivational phrase over and over again in your head. The mantra will subconsciously affect your performance, making it seem more natural. For example, if you are playing in a loving family scene, you may want to try reciting, “I love you,” in your head during the scene. The mantra will help to add depth to your character.

Elements of Drama

The primary elements of drama are plot, character, and theme.
The theme is the central idea of the work, or the message the writer wishes to impart on her audience. The theme governs the progression of the plot. The plot in turn governs the characters, who move through the plot’s conflicts, thereby helping to further develop the theme. Other elements such as irony and symbolism can be added to lend more subtle touches to the script, making it more human and accessible.

Acting in Theater

Drama and Humor. Comedy acting is often a critical component within a dramatic piece, though it is one that is difficult to create. Because humor is subjective, one can’t be sure what will make an audience member laugh. Usually the best rule of thumb is not to try hard. In life, many things can and do make us laugh, even in moments of high tension. Ideally the writer will have achieved honesty in the script, so as an actor you have only to portray the role as honestly as possible. One of the worst things to do is to go for the laugh or “milk” the audience for a laugh. The audience will feel manipulated and lose interest in the world you have created with your character. And all that hard work will be for nothing.

Acting in Theater

Playing Drama, and the act of performing drama, teaches us to re-engage the skill of discovery. As children, we discovered all the time. In the creation of relationships, and the art of imitating relationships that stem from drama, we are again taught to relearn how we engage in relationships. The writer of script must study how to bring characters together within the plot, while the actor must learn how to imitate these relationships on stage. It is perhaps why we call it “playing” a role, or even why a dramatic production is called a “play”!

Jitters

Techniques for the Jitters First night jitters affect almost all actors. Rumor has it that Steve Harvey is nervous before every show he does! As an actor, you need to develop your own personal strategy for defeating the jitters. Your method can be something as simple as going over your lines again or as complex as yodeling. Meditation and other breath control techniques often helps. What matters most, however, is that you come up with your own personal way of managing nerves and stick to it.

Loose the Script

Scripts are great to have your nose in when you’re sitting around before rehearsal, or waiting for your turn, but get rid of it before you hit the stage. Many actors have become so accustomed to have an off-book date set for them that they will cling to every available second of script they can get during rehearsals until that date arrives. Trust me, don’t wait, ditch the script fast!

Learn your lines for a given scene in a given day. If you’re blocking Act I, Scene 1 then memorize that and nothing else for that day. It’s hard to do if you’re unaccustomed to it, but I stand by this method. It lets you learn your lines sooner, lets you become accustomed to moving in character without something in your hands and it lets you look your partners in the eye from day one. And if you can’t remember all those lines? Well, that’s why there are those wonderful Assistant Directors. “LINE!” Just stick to and remember all of your acting training and you will be just fine.

Relaxed and Confident

A crucial acting tip is to always remain relaxed and confident. Granted, you may play characters that display the extreme opposites of these emotions. What matters is that you approach the role with these attitudes. Learning to be relaxed within your role helps you to be a more flexible talent, allowing you to respond instinctively. Being confident helps to you develop your character more fully, even if you are playing a role that calls for a doubtful characteristic.

The Vocal Warm Up

Part of any serious actor training involves training the lips, voice and tongue to articulate and project.

Here’s a great exercise to get you in tip-top shape for performance time. Begin by standing up straight, knees unlocked. Breathe long and deeply. Exhale through your lips in a sigh. Open your mouth very wide, and stick your tongue out. Then pull it back in.
Next, blow air through your loosely closed lips so that they flap like a horse. Stick your tongue out and move it in all four directions and hold for about 3 seconds in all directions. Then, place a pencil in your mouth, bite down, resting the pencil on top of your tongue. dig up all the tongue-twisters you can find and repeat them out-loud, correctly, 12 times with the pencil in your mouth.

Here are a few I use:

• A tutor who tooted the flute tried to tutor two tooters to toot. Said the two to their tutor: "Is it harder to toot,Or to tutor two tooters to toot?"

• The sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick

• What noise annoys an oyster? The noise that annoys an oyster is a noise that knows no oyster. 

• The Leith police dismisseth thee, The Leith police dismisseth us.

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Show and Tell

Showing verses Telling:
A critical acting tip is to remember that you are showing a story, not just telling it. This may sound simple at first, but it’s harder than you might think to engage your audience. Simply reciting your lines and obeying stage directions won’t be enough. Acting involves the whole of your being. Each movement, each breath, and each spoken line contribute to your performance. When you are on screen or on stage, know that your actions must be deliberate. Everything you do (your “stage business,” in other words) must work to show the audience the story.

The warm up

The Relaxation Warm-up:

Acting training isn’t all about learning lines and how to move around on the stage. One of the most vital acting techniques is teaching and training the body and mind before you set foot on the stage or in front of the camera. The first part of any warm-up exercise is relaxation. This may appear counterintuitive, as you will want to have lots of energy to perform. What the exercise does is turn your body and mind into a blank slate, ridding you of…you, for lack of a better term. You want to remove all thoughts and tensions in order to rebuild a different person who will take on the role he or she has been assigned.

Example; Lie down in a quiet area, arms at your side, palms facing up. Take 12 long deep breaths. With each inhale, imagine you are breathing in pure energy. With each exhale, push out all toxicity and negative thoughts. Allow every muscle in your body to unclench and relax. do this for 12 minutes, then slowly revive yourself by wiggling fingers and toes before you slowly sit up.

The Alexander Method

The Alexander technique is another way of approaching acting. It involves a complete restructuring of the way your body responds to stimuli, re-realizing how your mind and body integrate through retaining breathing and movement. It was Alexander’s belief that breathing and vocalization determine how the body functions as a whole. This technique allows actors to retrain any bad physical habits they have developed and create more efficient ways of moving and breathing.

Method Acting

The Stanislavsky method,

is one of the most common acting strategies.


It involves studying and living as the character you are portraying. Basically, with the Stanislavsky Method, you are working to find common emotional experiences with the character. Once those common emotions are identified, you draw on your own experiences of those emotions to fill out your character. In this way the emotions of your character become more sincere. They become you.

Playing for Status

Status is a big part of acting technique. Most of human interaction could be broken down in to shifting issues of status. During the course of an average conversation, a person’s status may shift from high to low, and back again, depending on the topic of the conversation. In order to be an effective actor, these status changes must be replicated on screen or on stage. Be conscious of your body language. What kind of status is your body projecting? You should also take note of the timbre of your voice. Is it clear and confident or low and quavering? These factors help determine your status in a scene, and thereby establish your position and goals within it.