Performance Skills and Acting Technique
Performance Skills and Acting Technique tests whether you can build a role through repeatable technique rather than mood. It examines objectives, given circumstances, actioning, listening, voice and movement, and the actor's relationship to the audience and partner.
Core rules
- Play an objective, not an emotion: 'to reassure', 'to expose', 'to punish' are actable; 'to be sad' is not.
- Use given circumstances to justify every choice.
- Break scenes into units and beats; name the tactic changing beat by beat.
- Subtext is the gap between what is said and what is wanted.
- Voice: breath support, resonance, articulation, pace, pitch, pause. Movement: centre, weight, gesture, spatial relationship.
- Listening is active: respond to the partner's offer before speaking.
Worked example
A character says 'I'm fine' after receiving bad news. If you play 'to be sad', you indicate. If you choose 'to protect my mother from worry', you may smile, tidy a cup and avoid eye contact. Reasoning: the objective creates action; the subtext carries the pain; the physical task gives the actor something to do. In rehearsal, test whether the tactic changes when the mother moves closer.
Traps
- Indicating emotion with facial expression.
- Line-reading without intention.
- Ignoring the partner and playing out front.
- Choosing an objective you cannot pursue physically.
- Confusing the character's words with the character's needs.