CHAPTER 33

Session Three

In this session: Breathing and phrasing · Marking phrases • Chair exercises • Memorization • Caesuras • Back-to-back hearing exercises • Antithesis

As we had run out of time in session two, Dude now writes on the boards the terms we wanted everyone to copy. She puts terms and breathing review on one board and the list of skills on the other. Here is what they are:

Terms to know:    Iamb (a regular foot, it scans )

Trochee (an inverted foot, it scans )

Anapest (three combined syllables, it scans )

Dactyl (inverted three combined syllables, it scans )

Pyrrhic (a foot of two unstressed syllables, it scans )

Spondee (of foot of two stressed syllables, it scans )

Breathing review:  Punctuation marks

Claw technique

Diaphragm work

On the floor breathing

Chair exercise

Key skills:      End-of-line support (Kick the box)

Caesura (sense pause marked //)

Phrasing (circle the phrases)

Scansion (marking the stresses and feet)

Trochees (inverted iambs)

Breathing (use the diaphragm)

Antithesis (one idea against its opposite)

Feminine endings (soft syllable)

Elision (removing a vowel and syllable)

Imagery (haven’t studied yet)

Playing your action (verbs)

More someday.

Coach: Welcome. After today, we’re more than halfway through this series of workshops.

Dawn: Let’s just keep going.

Coach: That would be fun. But I have to get this material, and other new material, to the publisher by a contracted date. We’ll just have to think about another time. (Groans.) Thank you. That’s really nice, that you are all enjoying this. Makes me feel good.

Dude: Me too!

Coach: Yes, both of us. Before we get back to the breathing exercise and doing your speeches with correct breathing, I want to combine breathing with some phrasing, as phrasing sets up the breathing spots and breathing allows you to speak the phrases. Before we erase one board, any questions on the lists? Copy it all down.

I have selected the Brutus speech from Julius Caesar for this exercise. When a board is available, Dude please write it out for us to work with. (See chapter 3 of the book.)

Brutus:    What you have said

I will consider; what you have to say

I will with patience hear, and find a time

Both meet to hear and answer such high things.

Till then, my noble friend, chew upon this:

Brutus had rather be a villager

Than to repute himself a son of Rome

Under these hard conditions as this time

Is like to lay upon us.

The actors take turns identifying phrases and breathing points, then read the speech. The first to try have trouble; the next see the problem and do better. We all study the final four lines. There is no punctuation. There are four lines without a breath. Everyone tries it. They do pretty well, figuring out how to release their air in a controlled manner, saving some for the last line. We have lots of laughs as actors run out of air on the second or third lines. Eventually, everyone can read the four lines without a breath, but for some it remains a struggle.

Coach: Good. Now let’s circle the phrases.

Dawn circles all the phrases. We notice that lines 3 and 4 contain three full phrases each, so Dawn marks a small caesura before some of the phrases. She works out the phrases in the last four lines: lines 5 through 8.

Coach: This is how your rehearsal script should look—all phrases circled. Let’s try your speeches. Everybody put a few lines of your speech on the boards. (They do this.) Let’s use the colored pens and make the phrases clear. (Everyone selects and uses a colored pen to circle phrases.)

Marilyn: Shall we mark the breathing points?

Coach: Yes, circle them, too. While you’re working your lines, you might as well mark your breathing places, also your caesuras and your scansion. Good. I see scansion, phrases, breathing points, caesuras, trochees, elision, some feminine endings.

Dawn: I have lots of those.

Coach: Mike and Dawn pair up; Joan and Zach; Dude with Marilyn. (Michael is absent.) Now we’ll do the breathing exercise. Then we’ll do the phrasing. They are similar exercises.

While the others do the breathing exercise between two chairs, Dude demonstrates it to Marilyn. As Marilyn was a yoga teacher for years, she has no problem with correct breathing. The other actors run their speeches for each other, doing the breathing exercise and keeping each other honest. The actors tend to seek shortcuts when doing this exercise, as they are anxious to get to the next words, but that’s part of the idea of the exercise. We’ll do the phrasing next, and this will make them even more eager to get on with their speeches.

Marilyn: Do I breathe at each punctuation?

Coach: Yes, at each breathing point, use up all of your air, then breathe in while you walk to the other chair. Understand how much air you have, understand how breath gives you strength.

We all pause and talk through the exercise again, then lines start flying all over the room as actors breathe, speak, move, breathe, speak, move, etc. “The quality of mercy” . . . “Two households” . . . “Five hundred poor” . . . “Poor lady” . . . “The raven himself” . . . “Now my brothers in exile”—all are bouncing off the walls and create a great acting workshop energy. The actors are free with trying things, so they seem to remember that these exercises are for rehearsal only. They can try anything; this is not performance.

Dude: I have a personal problem with this exercise.

Coach: What’s that?

Dude: I find that I speak the phrase, but I haven’t used up much breath, so when I cross to the other chair, I have to exhale nearly full lungs before taking a new breath. I’ve got to learn to use up the breath: realize exactly how much I have, then use it.

Coach: It will give you strength.

Dude: Should I just blow out the leftover air?

Coach: Yes. Clear the lungs, then breathe in a completely new breath. You should exhale what air you have on the first step toward the other chair and breathe in full lungs on the second step. While you breathe in, also bring the next line clearly into your mind. Get to the chair, read the line while blowing out air—the line rides out on the air—then move, exhale what’s left, inhale a new breath, speak the line, and send it out with the breath. It will give you great power. (She’s doing the exercise.) Now you’ve got the rhythm nicely. (Marilyn alternates doing the exercise with Dude. I check on the other four, and everyone has found the rhythm of this exercise and is doing it correctly.) You’ve each got it correctly. So let’s run a few lines of our speeches, using the correct breathing. Then we can move on from this.

We run about eight lines of each speech, the actors pausing and moving from chair to chair with each new breath. This takes a while and is tedious, but I know it pays off down the road.

Coach: Good work. Now each of you can evaluate the amount of air required to get from punctuation point to punctuation point. Later, when we get rid of the chairs, you’ll know how deep your breath must be at each point. You’ll have power. Now let’s do that with phrasing.

You’ve circled your phrases, so you can see them clearly. This time, move from chair to chair on every phrase, breathing if there is punctuation, not breathing if there is only a caesura. But move on every phrase. This will force you to recognize the phrases and not just talk through them. This will get your mind working on ways to handle each phrase—pauses, vocal pitch, tempo—whatever you need to do to set aside the phrase so the audience can hear it. Later, we’ll get rid of the chairs and the walking, and you’ll just speak the lines the way you want to. But your mind will know when the phrases change to a new thought, and your mechanism will help the audience to hear the change.

They pair up as before and run their speeches, moving on each phrase. It takes a while to do the phrasing exercise, but eventually everyone has it.

Coach: Later, when we read our lines again, you’ll be surprised what new ideas have developed in your speech. We’ll hear many of these new thoughts for the first time. These ideas will be in your head, and you’ll know exactly what you’re saying.

Marilyn: A question about the scansion. What if you want to emphasize two words, like “It is twice blest?”

Coach: It’s a spondee—stress both words—two stressed syllables. That’s a good choice.

Dawn: “I am the man.” Spondee?

Coach: I wouldn’t. Trochee. It’s a situation where you would play the pronoun. (She does.) Isn’t it fun working on six things at once?

Dawn: Yeah! Love it!

Coach: Zach, got something? (He misreads “Gloucester.”)

Zach: “My brother Glochester?”

Coach: Pronounce it “Glou-ster.”

Okay, five-minute break, then we’re all going to stand up and read some lines with all these skills applied. But we have one other exercise first. (Most keep working on their speeches during the break and asking questions.) Zach and Joan, we’re on a break . . .

Joan: Okay, we’ll break. (Lots of jabbering during the break.)

During the break, I place a pillow on the carpeted area of the room. Everyone assembles.

Coach: One thing about the breathing exercise: it makes you want to get rid of it so you can get to the next part of the speech. We’ll do that soon, but in the meantime, the exercise makes you conscious of the air power you have and when and how to use it. Later, when you discard the exercise, your muscle memory will automatically try to use breath and take deep breaths in for more power. That’s how it will be in performance. And on that note, what about memorizing? There is a reason why I haven’t asked you to memorize. Anyone know why?

Dawn: Because I haven’t learned the emotion behind the lines.

Coach: That’s a reason. But more so, when you start memorizing, it’s hard to concentrate on any skills that will help clarify the line—the overall meaning. You’re only concentrating on remembering your lines. You need two or three weeks in rehearsal to be comfortable with your lines. That period of time should follow right after learning the skills. If you’re trying to learn your lines before learning what they’re doing, you’ll forget end-of-line support, the caesuras, your scansion, your phrasing and breathing—you’ll just be trying to learn your lines. I don’t want you trying to remember your lines while you’re trying to make your language clear. First the skills, then take a step back and begin the memorization process of the line as it will be correctly read.

Dude: We’re not doing any rehearsal?

Coach: Right, we’d need another six or eight workshops to include rehearsal, and we’d probably all need to be working on the same play. Then we could have true rehearsal. In that case, you would have your skills learned for each of your lines but would not actually have memorized them, so you’d still carry your script, mark your blocking, etc. Rehearsal is about discovering the relationship between the characters, and that’s where your concentration would be. Then you would memorize the lines scene by scene, as you rehearsed.

Learn what the language is doing first, then begin rehearsals. Rehearsal is not about the actor learning the lines—that’s the actor’s job outside of rehearsal—but many directors don’t know or don’t insist on that procedure. It blows my mind. With a realistic play, you can sometimes memorize first—but not with verse.

Most actors want to work from “natural talent.” I’ve met very few actors who don’t think they can just pick up a Shakespearean script and read it correctly. They just think they can. But some learn better ways.

We start on the new exercise. Because of arthritis, Dude sits on the pillow, with Marilyn back to back with her. Dawn helps Dude settle onto the pillow and promises to help her back up!

Coach: This is a listening exercise, tuning in your ear. Marilyn, Dude is going to listen to you read your lines and stop you at every point where you miss a skill. She’s working on her ear by listening to your words, and you’re working on getting the words properly expressed with all of the skills. (They begin. Marilyn reads one line of her speech.)

Dude: Should she be putting the caesuras into her lines?

Coach: Yes, but not character yet.

They run the exercise; Dude stops her on various words. We point out the antithesis, which we have only discussed—it’s playing one word against its opposite. We work on that and all hear the speech improve. They reverse: Dude reads her lines, Marilyn listens. She asks Dude to repeat some phrases. She does.

Joan: When it’s done right, it so musical and beautiful.

Coach: You hit the exact reason why you don’t have to rush. These are good words. These are such good words you can take your time and all will listen, if they can hear and understand what you’re saying. And that’s why we learn the skills first, so the audience can listen—and sing, you might say. Dude and Marilyn, go find a corner somewhere and practice listening and catching omissions. Help each other get the skills into the lines.

Dawn and Mike settle back to back on the floor. They listen to each other, help each other, direct each other, and point out what they miss. “Churlish” is tricky. We work it. Mike suggests that Dawn take a moment to “look” for the word, set it up. Dawn tries that and other ways; she picks up dropped syllables and missed caesuras as Mike points them out. Her ear is very receptive to keen listening.

Dawn: I close my eyes so I can hear better.

Coach: Me too. I often don’t watch actors in rehearsal—only listen. If you turn away, and just listen, you find yourself in a different world. Actors can easily deceive you into thinking they know what they’re doing when often, especially early in rehearsal, they’re experimenting. If you watch them, you can be taken in and forget your job because you’re enjoying watching them do their job. In this exercise we’re doing now, you have to hear honestly.

Dawn: I can always hear better with my eyes closed.

Coach: Dawn, you just missed some.

Dawn: That one, got it—“break” has to be stressed. (Mike does. They find antithetical words, and Mike plays those correctly.) He got the antithesis; it’s clearer.

Dawn asks Mike questions; he repeats the questioned phrases. Both can notice that their ears are “kicking in,” and they hear the problems. They see clearly how hard it is to change a phrase reading when you’ve become accustomed to saying it a specific way. That is what happens when you memorize too soon. Trying to relearn some imbedded lines can take a huge amount of time. The effort is often not successful.

Dawn: Oh my god, it’s terrible. I’ve been there—trying to relearn how to say a line. If I had learned the skills for saying the line first, I never would have memorized it wrong.

Coach: That is especially true if you’re working with young people; directors who say to learn the lines first are totally in the dark. The kids will memorize the lines and many will be incorrect. How do you shake them out of that memorization? You get them to change for one rehearsal, and in the next rehearsal, they fall right back into it

Dawn: (Back to Mike.) He’s really good with the caesuras.

Coach: Yes, he takes the time to use them.

They reverse. Dawn reads her lines, and Mike and I listen. I remind her to breathe. We adjust some scansion. But her ear is good. Her problem is rushing; she doesn’t want to stop and breathe.

Dawn: You know what’s funny? I practiced this speech in the grocery store, and people looked at me like I was crazy!

Coach: Perhaps because we’re in Wyoming. In NYC, you can almost always hear an actor practicing lines as he or she walks down the street.

Dawn: I want to read the lines out loud, wherever I’m working on them.

Coach: Good. Always rehearse this material out loud. If you try lying in bed and working on this, you’ll soon be asleep. You need to use your muscles with this language. Always rehearse it out loud. Dawn and Mike, find a corner and run the exercise a few more times.

Joan and Zach replace Mike and Dawn and do the exercise. Zach catches “battlements”; Joan then gets it right. She has a scansion problem with “fill me to the crown,” etc., and we work that out. We also work out “direst cruelty.” We work the antithesis “crown” and “toe.” Zach wants “direst” shortened—it works. He also wants “stop up” fixed. A trochee. He gets Joan to stress “stop” rather than “up.” But she’s memorized “stop up” and has trouble reversing the stress. She eventually gets it. That phrase actually works best when both words are equally stressed.

Coach: Good. Your ears are really hearing it. I’m anxious to hear you do the speech without all the clutter of these skills filling your mind. But we’ll be glad you did the skills first because when you forget them, as in performance, the speech will be beautiful. I know, it takes a lot of patience now, when you’d rather get to the speech than to the skills. Zach’s turn.

Joan listens, back to back with Zach. She stops him on first line—“I, Richard’s body . . .”—and gets him to separate the “I” and “Richard’s.” We talk about what’s happening and the background to the speech. Zach understands. We also talk about how fast an audience can hear—and how fast an actor can speak.

We ask Zach not to rush—make him see thirty seniors, all over eighty, as his audience and speak so they can follow him. He does, and the words become instantly clearer. He stops rushing. But I wonder if he really knows what he’s saying, so we talk about the situation with Henry V and Henry IV and King Richard II and what all happened in the transitions. Now this speech makes more sense to Zach.

I am reminded here again that these actors are unskilled at reading scripts and interpreting what has happened historically, what will happen, and what is happening at this very moment. It is necessary to talk through the action of the play itself, as they haven’t learned how to do that, and perhaps haven’t really read the play. That problem might be solved by having everyone work on the same play, but it’s hard to find enough good speeches in one play, even if you ignore gender. I realize I should review the plot of each play from which we have taken speeches but know that I will need more workshops for that kind of time. If directing a play in which these five actors were cast, it would be imperative to read the play aloud together and discuss the plot, historical background, and relationships of characters. This reading should be done prior to beginning on the pre-rehearsal exercises.

Zach needs to circle his phrases and play them more clearly to prevent rushing. He says he will. The two speeches are coming along. We’re all eager to get rid of the exercises and just do the speeches.

Zach: It makes so much sense now. Once I completely understand what he’s saying, it gets so much easier. But then I start rushing.

Coach: It’s hard to do everything at once, I understand that, but you’re really getting it. (We all reassemble.)

Joan: It was so much better after you explained exactly what was happening at that moment. We really have to study the plays more.

Coach: It’s the actor’s job to thoroughly know the play and know how the character fits into the plot and actions. You must know that. It’s my fault we didn’t do that. Frankly, I just assumed you’d all read your plays and know what was happening to the character at the moment of your speech. But with the exception of Dawn, you’ve never been expected, or even asked, to read through a play you’re going to work on. I should have anticipated that. I’m learning about community theatre. You’re teaching me as much as I’m teaching you!

Joan: We know now to do that. It’s hard, though, when there is so little time.

Coach: Well, take solace in this: nobody said this was going to be easy for any of us. I only said it would be fun! And it is that. But I’m not sure I have the patience for working in community theatre.

Dude: Oh, you do too.

Coach: But I need time. I think that’s what I mean by patience. Quality takes time, and with community theatre actors, the time is so limited. And for many, the attitude is confusing. We had actors right here in town who remarked that actor training for them was a total waste of time and completely unnecessary. How do you work with that? And with so much to do, can we ever get to my favorite exercise: imagery? I doubt it because it takes thirty minutes per actor to do the exercise correctly.

It takes hours to get this material right, and will community theatre actors put in those hours? Have you, for instance, the time to thoroughly study the play, then to thoroughly work the exercises as applied to each line? If you don’t, I have to control my patience because getting the line right is what matters to me, and that is what takes so much time, which is what you don’t have.

I ask Marilyn how much time it took her to earn her non-violent communications leader certificate. (She’s the only person in Wyoming to have this credential, and about 350 people wordwide have it.) She says, “Five years.”

Coach: Amazing. And the Institute didn’t even give her a PhD. I earned a PhD in two years; she should certainly have one.

Dawn: Can we all petition to get her a PhD? (Laughs.)

Coach: We’ll have to see how that would be received. Maybe the advanced leadership credential is all they give—it’s the top of the pyramid. (Marilyn nods.) We’d better move on. Next time, before we do any more new exercises, we’ll work just on your speeches.

Joan: What does that mean, exactly?

Coach: Getting your ears tuned in is almost as important as being able to speak the words. You can’t direct this material if you can’t hear what needs to be done with the language. You won’t be any use to your actors.

So next time, we’ll stand to read our speeches and apply every skill to them. For example, when Dawn is reading her words, those listening will each have an assignment. Mike will listen for end-of-line support, Marilyn for caesuras, Joan for breathing, Zach for phrasing, Dude for antithesis, me for everything else, which is scansion, trochees, and phrasing.

When Dawn finishes, we each comment on the skill we were listening for and point out when it was good and when she needs to improve it. Then we change assignments and the next person goes up. All of us are involved in every word spoken. We train our ears to hear it, now that we know what we’re listening for.

Coach: How can you be a musician or an actor if you can’t hear it? What do you call it, Dude—you’ve experience with this—when you act with someone who can’t hear it?

Dude: A tin ear—very hard to work with. Non-actors.

Coach: Isn’t it amazing? We don’t have a single tin ear in this group!

Dude: We really don’t.

Coach: For next time: all of these skills, including antithesis, which is “Give me liberty or—”

All: “—give me death.”

Coach: “To be, or—”

All: “—not to be.”

Coach: “From the crown—”

All: “—to the toe.”

Coach: So, the other skills are . . . (Everyone says them in a different order.) . . . end-of-line support, caesuras, scansion and stresses, phrases, breathing, trochees and irregular lines, elision and feminine endings, and antithesis. We forgot imagery. I hope we can get to it.

Dawn: I love this!

Joan: Looking at my speech, Lady M wants to do things, but she doesn’t want to feel sad about doing it. No conscience.

Coach: She says it straight out. As with most Shakespeare, the character says exactly what she means. “Stop up the passage to remorse”—that’s exactly what the line means. See everyone next week.

Dawn: Can we extend this? I’m not ready yet.

Coach: By the way, Mike has a show to do in three weeks, and we promise him we’ll be there. And Joan just finished one. (All applaud.)

The actors visit for a while, then everyone drifts away. We put the room back together and call it a day. That ends session three. A good day.