CHAPTER 40

The Afternoon Session

Thus did he answer me, yet said

I might know more hereafter.

CYMBELINE, IV, ii

AS YOU PROBABLY know, placing one idea against another is called antithesis. Shakespeare uses antithetical words, phrases, or thoughts in nearly every speech. Having the skill to discover and play antithesis is a key to handling Shakespeare’s language. For the actor, antithetical words, phrases, or thoughts provide clear insight into the meaning of Shakespeare’s text.

ANTITHESIS

To have my praise for this, perform a part

Thou hast not done before.

CORIOLANUS, III, ii

Antithesis is a noun meaning contrast or direct opposite. Placing one antithetical word, phrase, or thought against another can be as simple as this example: “Rather than go to town, let’s stay on the farm.” When reading the line, play (give equal emphasis to) “go” against “stay” and “town” against “farm.” Then, simultaneously play the entire first phrase, “rather than go to town,” against the second phrase, “let’s stay on the farm,” which is antithetical to it in thought. You should immediately hear a new clarity in the sentence.

From Brutus’ speech on page 24, let’s dig out some antithetical words, phrases, and thoughts so we can play them against each other.

Lines 1/2: “do love me” is antithetical to “would work me to.” Read the lines aloud, and play these two phrases against each other.

Lines 3/4: the phrase “How I have thought of this” (in the past) is antithetical to the phrase “shall recount hereafter” (in the future). Read the lines aloud, and play these thoughts against each other.

Lines 6/7: “have said” is antithetical to “have to say.”

Lines 8/9: “find a time/Both meet to hear and answer” is antithetical to line 10: “Till then . . . chew upon this:”

Line 9: “hear” and “answer” are antithetical.

Lines 11/12: “a villager” and “son of Rome” are antithetical, as are “be” and “repute.”

In a larger sense, the thought in lines 1–the middle of line 3 is antithetical to the thought in lines 3^½–5^½. The first thought is pretty much “I hear and understand what you’re saying to me; I’ve also thought about this and will discuss it later.” The next thought is “right now I need more time to think, so stop speaking.” The idea of “listening to you” followed by “now I don’t want to listen to you” is antithetical. You need to set up the first thought, so that you can play against it when you speak the antithetical thought.

Read the first four lines aloud, playing the antithetical words and phrases we’ve noted, and then play the entire thought of those four lines against the entire thought of the next three. As an actor, you must discover and play these textual clues to clearly reveal what the character is saying.

Now read the entire speech, and play the antithetical words and thoughts against each other. Notice how everything becomes clearer. Practice this example, and you will discover that you are speaking Brutus’s words with confidence and understanding. Notice that your work is specific rather than generalized.

Take one hour, and dig out the antithetical words, phrases, and thoughts in your material. It works best to have a small group of actors do this together. When it comes to digging out antithesis, four or five brains are better than one. Assemble a group, make some coffee, and plunge in.

Digging out antithesis is—horrors—part of analysis! Many actors, especially when young, hate analysis. These actors prefer to trust their “natural talent,” or the director, to guide them to line meanings; or they prefer to discover meaning through action. They hate to “talk about meaning” and are often concerned that too much text study will kill spontaneity.

That attitude is somewhat understandable. With realistic text, you can often discover what a line means by reading it clearly, listening, and playing your action.

However, when using the “discovery-through-action” approach, you will have more success with realism than with heightened text. The reason is simple: Blank verse has a defined structure. This is not to undervalue modern text—good writers always have a language structure—but to clarify blank verse.

When working with blank verse, before committing to an action, you must be certain what the verse is doing. If you select your action before you recognize the stresses, or before you clearly see the antithetical words and thoughts, or before you know which words break the rhythm, you can rehearse for weeks and never once read the line with its best possibilities. You can play your action and listen intently to everything said to you, but if you don’t know what the language is doing, your work will remain unfinished. This failure is not a reflection on talent, but on lack of practice or coaching with blank verse.

We that have good wits have much to answer for.

AS YOU LIKE IT, V, i

When working with blank verse, actors who neglect to mark phrasing, find the antithesis, and analyze what the line is doing often “lock in” on a reading and won’t budge from that comfort zone. These actors are usually making “character choices” before completing text analysis. The actor may fall back on the idea that “this is how my character would say it.”

These actors will cling to an interpretation until the director forces them to try other approaches. Now the work tends to become artificial. The director is no longer suggesting that the actor try other actions, but is bogged down trying to dislodge rote or emotional indulgence.

Text study must precede character analysis. The defense that “this is how my character would say it” may or may not be supported by what the line is actually doing. The response may simply be the actor’s easy way out of uncovering those possibilities.

As with selecting actions, it follows that you need to know everything the language is doing before you select a character. If not, your selection may be entirely out of sync with the author’s meaning, and you end up trying to force the language to fit the character choice. On the other hand, if you develop your character after you are certain of the text, you will find that the words are exactly what your character needs to achieve the action.

What if you have a director who forces a character choice on you before you are completely certain what the language is doing? This is a serious problem, usually caused by the actor not doing the necessary prerehearsal homework. To avoid this situation, always complete text analysis before you begin rehearsals. Should there be an emergency where you are thrust into a role that is written in blank verse, get some help, and pull a few all-nighters completing your text analysis. Then determine if the director’s choices fit the text in a meaningful way that you can play. If you disagree, at least you now have a solid knowledge of the text to support your view and can perhaps win over the director to another choice.

Regarding accents that may be required for some characters, or may be a director’s concept, do your complete text analysis first, then slowly add the accent one word or one line at a time. Keep within your truthful sense of the language, and simply allow it to be pronounced differently.

For a funny, yet moving example of a director forcing a preconceived character on an actor, see Neil Simon’s film, The Goodbye Girl, in which Richard Dreyfuss is required to play Richard III the director’s way.

Of course, you can technically perform an action without knowing what you are saying, i.e., you understand only the general sense of a scene or moment but have not researched thoroughly the possibilities within your own lines. For example, in act IV of The Merchant of Venice, Portia is trying to persuade (her action is “to persuade”) Shylock not to take his “pound of flesh.” Her action is properly connected to the other character, and its effectiveness can only be measured in terms of the other’s response.

Portia: I pray you, let me look upon the bond.

Shylock: Here ’tis, most reverend Doctor, here it is.

Portia: Shylock, there’s thrice thy money off’red thee.

Shylock: An oath, an oath! I have an oath in heaven: (IV, i)

You can speak the lines, play your action, and make it convincing. You can get by without knowing what the choices are for the line “Shylock, there’s thrice thy money offer’d thee.” But if you do know what the choices are, something more than “to persuade” happens as you play your action.

Let’s assume that you have marked the scansion, worked out the phrasing, tested the antithetical possibilities, and have concluded that there are at least four possible approaches to this line. What you select, of course, will influence how you eventually decide to play the character:

1. No choice. Just read the line, and let the audience decide what it means.

2. Emphasize the amount of money Shylock will receive by foregoing the bond.

3. Read the bond (the prop), then lose patience with his inflexible position.

4. Confidentially urge him, speaking as a neutral legal authority, to make the more merciful choice.

Selecting number four, for example, guides you to read the line differently (although still “to persuade”) than if you had selected number three. Of course, your final selection in performance is based somewhat on how Shylock hands you the bond and his intent with “Here ‘tis, most reverend doctor, here it is.” But you now have a range of choices from which you can respond, and you have both a mental and a vocal familiarity with the possibilities. That’s the position you want to be in during performance. You don’t want to be locked in to a specific reading of the line because it “feels good” or “is how my character would say it.”

The audience will know what you’re saying when you know what you’re saying. Character choices made after text study allow character and language to work harmoniously. Know clearly what you are saying, then know your action. This knowledge will lead you to character.

I understand thee, and can speak thy tongue.

ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL, IV, i

Here are more difficult lines, which become clear and easy to speak if you analyze them and handle the phrases according to your discoveries:

Sonnet 27

Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed, (1)

The dear repose for limbs with travel tired; (2)

But then begins a journey in my head, (3)

To work my mind, when body’s work’s expired: (4)

Read the lines through once, then let the following discoveries (the analysis) help clarify your reading.

1. In line l, the first and fourth syllables are stressed, not the second and fourth. The first foot is a trochee.

2. In line 1, antithetical words include “weary” and “haste,” and also “toil” and “bed.”

3. In line 1, “I haste me to my bed” can be two phrases, if you don’t overdo it, and that allows you to make something of “haste.”

4. In line 1, support “bed.” Don’t play the pronouns “my,” “me,” or “I.” Never stress pronouns, unless by deliberate choice called for by the action. The pronoun is easily assumed, and to stress it causes another part of the line to lose meaning.

5. Line 2 is a regular line, but use three phrases, so you can be clear on “travel tired.”

6. In line 3, “But” turns the thought around, but need not necessarily be stressed; the line can be a regular line.

7. Line 3 is antithetical to line 1.

8. In line 3, “begins a journey” is antithetical to “travel tired.”

9. In lines 2/3, “head” is antithetical to “limbs.”

10. In line 4, “To work my mind” is antithetical to “when body’s work’s expired.”

11. In line 4, “mind” is antithetical to “body.”

Read the lines again, playing the antithesis. Notice the difference. These clues have guided you to Shakespeare’s meaning through the blank verse structure. Very little modern realism is structured this way, and that is why, with Shakespeare, you must start with the language and know what it offers. Then, if you are clear about the actions you’ve discovered through the language, your character will take care of itself. Later, in rehearsal, you can develop your character to the full extent of your ability. You will find, if you haven’t already, that Shakespeare’s language is so good, it actually helps you to achieve your objective.

Actors with limited skills, complete beginners, “personalities,” and inexperienced acting teachers or directors often work “in reverse.” When approaching a script, they first decide “how” to play a character, then proceed to make the action and line readings fit the character choice.

This reverse approach can sometimes be successful with modern realistic dialogue, especially on film, but it never works with heightened text. You can’t play a “personality” here. You must deal with the language, because the language dominates. With Shakespeare, the “character first” approach will fail every time.

Antithesis is such a key to discovering Shakespeare’s text that a complete chapter is devoted to it in part one. After you finish the one-day lesson, if you have time to study one more thing, make it antithesis.

PHRASING EXERCISE

In this phrasing exercise, the actor speaks the language from thought to thought and must deal with each thought individually, not running them together unless by choice. Take the next hour, and do the exercise with the material you are preparing.

Set two objects apart from each other. The objects can be chalkboards, chairs, books, people, trees, it doesn’t matter. The distance can be four feet or much more, as you will discover, but you may want to begin with the objects about six feet apart. Stand by one of the objects. Begin your lines. At each punctuation point, pause and cross to the other object (location), then resume. Breathe as you cross, then speak the next line from the next object, until you come to another punctuation point—pause—cross while breathing—speak, etc. You can go around a room like this, speaking thought to thought, from object to object.

The exercise forces you to recognize how the lines are broken into thoughts and how the thoughts must be separated; allows you to use all the air you wish to use on individual phrases; allows you to breathe in while walking to the next object; allows you to prepare the next line while breathing in and moving; and allows you to speak after you’ve filled your lungs—which you have plenty of time to do while moving to the next object.

In this exercise, you are forced to deal with each phrase individually and can’t rush, because you must stop speaking to move and breathe at each punctuation point. This exercise always works.

The exercise can be simplified and practiced in two parts. First, do the exercise, but don’t worry about the breathing. Just concentrate on separating the phrases, which you must do to accomplish the exercise. Once you feel comfortable with the separation of phrases, add the concentration on breathing correctly. With practice, you will find a wonderful rhythm: line and breath out, walk and breathe in, line and breath out, walk and breathe in, etc. Ultimately, you should have your objects only four or five feet apart so that you only take one breath in while walking, and fill your lungs completely each time.

Now take the next hour and review all antithetical words, phrases, or thoughts in your ten or twelve lines of material. Practice playing the ideas against each other. Also, do the phrasing exercise while adding concentration on the antithetical ideas and other scansion discoveries.

You now have the basic skills to act your lines from phrase to phrase, which means from thought to thought, and this is exactly what you want to do.

END AFTERNOON SESSION

Have dinner now, and rest your brain.

When my cue comes, call me and I will answer.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, IV, i