Acting Technique 4: Declan Donollan

Some notes on Declan Donollan's life:

born 4 August 1953 in Manchester, Donnollan was educated first at St Benedicts in Ealing and then went onto to study law at Cambridge. He went into to have a brief career in the bar in middle temple in 1978. In 1981 however, he founded Cheek by Jowl with Nick Ormerod, a fellow Cambridge graduate, and has gone onto produce and direct many critically acclaimed works such as the Barbican productions of The Changeling, Cymbeline and Troilius and Cressida. Donollan is also the recipient of 4 Olivier awards, most notably for Best Director in 1987 for the productions of Le Cid, Macbeth an Twelth Night.

Donollan's main practice as a director is to help the actor understand that they should not focus on set objectives or emotional memories, but should instead focus their words and emotions on a target,  to something outside of themselves. Targets can be real or imaginary, concrete or abstract but they must always be there and they are always in the process of changing. In this case, he likes to prepare his actors with an imaginary game of tennis in which the ball is the first target, going back and forth between two actors, however, gradually, the actors add their own speech and/or feelins into the game and both actors are required to keep the tennis match alive whilst also shifting their target now to the other actors' words. I feel that this is generally a well thought out warm up for his technique style, as it allows actors to grasp the basics of his system without having to go through intense reading beforehand. 

Donnellan also explains the value of making sure that the stakes are high and of recognizing that there are dual or complimentary aspects to these stakes, a positive and a negative side to each one, thereby adding a layer of subtext to the actors target. For instance, in an improvised exercise that we did, my target was the door as I wanted to leave the shop I was in because my girlfriend was pregnant. I had to try and leave whilst also being able to help a customer who was currently in the shop along with me. With this exercise I began to really see the merits of Donollan's system, as by increasing the level of urgency my targets constantly shifted which made me much more aware of how to react to the space and my fellow actors onstage. I also feel that, when both actors' targets begin to shift, it means that neither actor knows what the other is thinking, making the performance feel much more reactionary and, therefore, much more alive.

Overall I feel that Targets and Donnollans system has its merits and is definitely viable as an acting technique style, due to its reactionary nature and its ability to keep an actor completely engaged only in the moment and never before that moment or after that moment. I feel that within 6 characters, this type of technique would work brilliantly as it would not only keep the actors energised onstage, it would also help the characters find ways of moving and exploring the space and the way they react to events and words that happen and are said by anyone on stage.

6 character 1: beginning the work

Today marked the beginning of our Common Ground rehearsals for Six Characters in Search for an Author. We opened with the reveal of our adaptation of the text, we would set it in January 1960's London, specifically around 1964-6. This entails warm period clothing, a sense of RP and Working Class voices, suggestions of sexual tension and activity, and a formal air around everything. With the time period out of the way it was time to begin the work. 

We started with a warm up and went into our first character development exercise. We were tasked with playing out a single action before we got on with the day of reckoning, as it were. The day that the characters enter the theatre in the west end to tell their story. The action I chose was the Father putting on his trench coat in his bedroom/study and proceeding to smoke a cigarette to calm his nerves. I felt that this was appropriate for Father, as I sensed an anxiety and an anticipation in him and he needed to calm himself to be able to negotiate and interact with the Directors well, whilst hiding his true intentions. I also knew that smoking was a common outlet, during that time, and he would've given himself a cigarette out of habit. The exercise following was again, a character development exercise. This time we were tasked with choosing a defining moment in your characters life. I decided to choose the moment, or moments when I sent first my Son, the the Mother away from my house. I feel that it was after I had sent the Mother away that I felt the emptiness truly envelope me. I saw myself walking back into my home and realising I was well and truly alone for the first time. I sat in my armchair and felt the emptiness consume me. This exercise was very useful to me as it gave me an insight into Father's darker emotions, especially as he admits that he used to hide them in front of others. I really felt the remorse creeping in, as well as, the self doubt in himself.

After this exercise there was a short break before our next exercise, which was a whole cast improvisation. The premise of the impro was that everyone was going to the pub at the end of the day; for the cast and crew of "Rules of the Game" it was to relax after a day of rehearsal. For the characters; the Son worked at the bar, the Stepdaughter had brought the Mother to relax from her work with Madame Pace, and for the Father, it was one of his particular haunts, a place he would go to escape the loneliness he felt all around him. As the inprovisation went on, I felt the lack of connection between the Mother and Father, yet I could tell that perhaps there may have been a good deal of emotion between them before he had her sent away. The Son wanted nothing to do with the Father, whilst the Stepdaughter simply wanted to mess with the Father and the Son. The impro came to a head when a drink Father was asked to leave by the Son. A fight ensued between them and it was at this point where I really felt the Fathers raw emotions come out. His disappointment in himself and his son for turning out like he did, his anger at the Mother for not understanding him, his attraction and disgust towards the Stepdaughter. 

After this inprovisation, the director felt that it was necessary for the Fathers to  build on their character development. To do this we improvised several key moments in the Fathers life, that although aren't seen in the play, are referenced throughout it. We started with the Father meeting the Mother for the first time. It was set up as a date at the Mothers home. I played Father and Elizabeth played the Mother. I found this impro useful too as I could really feel the tension and awkwardness between them. I feel that there may have been an attraction there but there was a noticeable difference in the way they communicated and handled each other's company. The formal atmosphere, I feel, also made it easier for me to identify with the 1940's setting. The second impro that we did as a pair was a few years on after we had been married and our Son had been born. I was coming home from work to find toys scattered around the living room, causing me to initiate an argument with the Mother about sending our Son away to bording school. The tension and differing outlooks were very clear in this impro and I feel that this is the moment when we see for the first time a crack in the outwardly perfect relationship.

The final impro that I was a part of was a joint impro with Danny and Eleanor and Lil. In this impro we explored the moment when the Father first went to watch the young Stepdaughter coming out of school. The awkwardness yet the intrigue  of seeing her grow up and develop as a part of this family that he had created was an interesting paradox. It almost felt wrong to follow her, yet my interest in her family overcame me.

6 characters: 9 questions

1. Who am I? I am known as Father but my true name is John Smith. Currently I am 55 years 9 month and 2 days old. I reside in a quiet area of Selhurst along with my estranged wife Amalia known as the Mother, our Son, her daughter and my Stepdaughter, along with her two younger children. Physically I stand at 6ft tall and weigh roughly around 13 stone, my weight having dropped considerably due to age, stress and a lack of nutrional foods. My frame has become slightly gaunt and frail and my hairline is beginning to thin and recede. I have also been smoking for the past 35 years which has had a steady and rather damaging effect on my body. As much as it damages me smoking is one of the few likes I have left on this earth, alongside classical music, literature particularly Tolstoy and Hardy, and short walks in the brisk mid-winter. My dislikes are many yet there are few that really test my patience. A lack of obedience is one, people who lack a strong sense of good moral health is another, disruptions to my plans, ignorance, and finally, people who seem to gain power over others. Due to my Catholic upbringing, mainly induced by my father, I have come to believe in always having sound moral health. I feel that doing something to not only benefit yourself, but others too, is something that will always be a large part of my being. Speaking of my father, my parents were and are also a large part of my being. My father felt that it was best for me to gain a good education from a young age, partly due to my fortune of being brought up in a relatively wealthy family, and also due to his wanting to give me a better chance in life than he started with. As such I was educated in a boarding school from the age of four, up until age fourteen, where I then took studies in law, medicine, business affairs and other valuable endeavours, until the age of 20 whereby I was old and experienced enough to inherit the management of a factory on the south bank from my father. In regards to any enemies I may have, it is saddening and ironic that my enemies are my loved ones, albeit not from personal choice. My Son, Ex-Wife and Stepddaughter, all bare resentment towards me, for actions that I took out of necessity and for their benefit, this only differing in the case of my Stepddaughter and the events that happened with her.

2. What Time Is It?: it is 9 am on Monday the 15th of January, in the year 1965. It is significant that it is 9 am as it is an hour later than the time where I normally get ready for work. This is due to the fact that I am taking the other "characters" to find an author to complete our story.

3.Where Am I?: currently I am in my bedroom, in front of the mirror inside my wardrobe, dressing and preparing for our search for an author. I am in my home in the suburbs of Selhurst, in the South-East of London in the United Kingdom. My home is located in Selhurst due to a want for seclusion and space, as well as a somewhat, easy route to the centre of London and my factory.

4. What Surrounds Me?: Directly in front of me is my wardrobe and wardrobe mirror, laden with several suits, coats, a few jumpers and sweaters, shirts and trousers. Another section to the right has my summer clothing, short sleeved Shirts and shorts. A collection of shoes lies below the clothes in the wardrobe. To My left is my mahogany desk and study, with which I have a large ledger filled with tasks and the profits from the factory. It has two drawers fitted to either side of the desk; the right hand drawer contains my cigarettes and cigar case alongside a matchbox. The left hand drawer contains another book, this serving as a spare ledger as well as a journal, as well as hiding a secret compartment contains some funds and a gun. Further to my left is the door leading to the rest of the house, in this case it leads out onto the first floor landing. Behind me is a large King sized bed with white pillows, purple sheets and a mahogany base. Beside it is a bedside table with a small lamp, a book of Thomas Hardy's "Far from the Madding Crowd" and a smaller cigarette case.

5. What Are The Given Circumstances?:  The circumstances are as follows; an author long ago created 6 characters; Myself, the Father, a Mother, a Stepddaughter, a Son, a Young Boy and finally a Little Girl. For some reason unknown to us, halfway through fully fleshing out lives out, the author stops, leaving is in a perpetual state of re-living the pre-written events over and over again. 

These events are as follows; during our young lives, the Mother and I met and formed a relationship, one we thought was based on love. Eventually however it became clear to me that we were incompatible, her upbringing meant that her mannerisms and her persona were simple, far too simple for me too have any sort of loving relationship. I was also beginning to notice that my secretary was similar to my wife; simple yet compassionate. It became apparent that they're similarities were beginning to create an attraction between the two of them. Naturally I sacked my secretary for showing an interest in my wife, yet it caused my wife to become lifeless, similar to a walking husk. I couldn't bare to see her live like this and so, with nothing but her best interest at heart, I sent her to my secretary and left our marriage at that. I made sure they were well provided for and happy, and silently continued to watch over them. Sometime before this, I had also decided to send or Son away to a boarding school in the country, again for his best interest and to ensure that he had the best education in the country. This resulted in him becoming estranged from me, when he returned home he refused to communicate with me and grew up on his own. 

I began to feel a loneliness that I had not experienced before. My home felt like a ghost town without my wife, and I found myself walking around  the house with no sense of purpose. At that point, an interest sparked within me, an interest to watch over and observe this little family I had created. I found the school where their first daughter, and my Stepdaughter, attended, and would walk after her after school, to see how they were doing, and the make sure she was safe. I gave her a ribbon some time later as well, to let her mother know that I was still watching after them. However, suddenly and unexpectedly, my secretary moved away, some miles away that it was impossible for me to find them. The loneliness returned, and this time there was nothing for to escape to. For years I was tormented by this loneliness and it served to bring out the carnal desires within myself. Being too old to love again yet too young to not need female company, I took to prostitutes to feed my desires. Quick, painless and no emotions involved.

 I had been doing this for several years when one fateful, day I took again to Madame Pace's backroom. There I encountered one that was far younger than the ones I was used to. I soon realised that she was in mourning for a prior loss, but my desires had the best of me and I told her to take off her dress. It was at this point that my ex-wife ran into the room, horrified. It was then that I realised that this young prostitue was in fact my Stepddaughter. It was at this point that I found out that my secretary had died some months prior to this encounter, and had left the family in absolute poverty. My ex-wife, searching for work found Madame Pace's shop and offered her services. Madame Pace however, was more interested in my stepdaughter, and forced her to work for her, due to her mothers "failed" works. I decided to take responsibility for my previous actions and offered to take all of them into my home. 

At this point we have reached the present, us the "characters", about to begin our search for an author to finish our story. In the future we will find a director, putting on a play in London. We describe to her the beginnings of our story and, despite the protests of her actors and actresses, she agrees to put on our story. Through many creative and philosophical differences, we display to te director our passions and story, the scene between myself and my Stepdaughter, and eventually, the fateful garden scene. This scene, in which the Little Girl drowns in the garden pool, accidently, causing the Young Boy, traumatised by the events that have happened to his family, commits suicide, shooting himself with a revolver. Unable to discern the truth of the experience, the director will cancel the rehearsal, leaving us the "characters" on stage, notably without the Young Boy and the Little Girl.

6. What Is My Relationship?: My relationship to these events is all inclusive. I feel that every event that is shown to the director is in some way influenced by me. From the children and Mother's trauma, to my Stepdaughter's madness, to my Son's estrangement, I feel that it is my responsibility to fix these events and find an author to end our tragedy. 

My relationship with the Mother is very strained. I feel that at one time we may have felt something akin to love, but it didn't last long. Due to my decision to send her away and due to her mental deafness, she feels that I threw her away and discarded her when I was bored with her, which is entirely not true. I did it because I felt that she would be better off with another person. At present I feel that it is now my responsibility to help and to protect her now that her husband is gone. I feel that that is the best thing to do as a man of good moral health and also as a man who once had a connection with this woman.

My relationship with my Stepdaughter is complicated. Before the incident with Madame Pace, my only interest in her was to create a link between her and the family I had effectively created. However since that incident, the bestial urges I felt that day come to haunt me whenever I look at her. I'm sure she is aware of this as she uses it to her advantage, little teases here and there to get me to do what she wants. I would say her madness is what is causing her to do this, yet even so my responsibility to her as well as these urges compel me to obey her. It sickens me and sometimes my morality returns and I can control both the situation and her, yet these moments are few and far between, I am ashamed to say.

In regards to my Son, our relationship is something I am disappointed in the most. I felt that sending him to boarding school was the best option for his future and I felt that in time he would come to understand that, just as I did when I was younger. Yet he is now a man and still harbors a hatred towards me, due to my actions in the past, in particular, my sending him away and my use of prostitutes. It disappoints and saddens me that he feels this way, even with the education and wisdom I bestowed upon him. I find it childish that he feels that he is not a part of this story and that this family is not his own. His ignorance is frustrating yet is also something I fel that I have contributed to, and something I hope to rectify.

My relationship with the Little Girl is that of a simple father-daughter relationship. Even though she does not communicate to me or the rest of the "family" I feel it is my duty to help care and provide for her, as if she were my own. My relationship with the Young Boy is similar to that of the Little Girl, yet there is a difference. I can see a resemblance between this boy and his father, my old secretary. They share a meekness, a quiet and a shy and hidden persona, which makes it somewhat difficult for me to care for him as I do the Little Girl. Although I rather liked my old secretary I cannot help but remember his blissfully ignorant simplicity and his foolish mistake of leaving the town, making me unable to help his family. With all of these memories I have found that I somewhat hate the boy, yet my moral and responsible nature means that I can push that aside and help care for this Young Boy.

My relationship with the Director and her assistants, is one I would refer to as incredibly frustrating. They have the potential to be the authors we need to come alive; they have the equipment, the people and the knowledge to do so. And yet they cannot fathom that we are characters, and not "people" as they are. They fail to understand that life can be born in many ways, and being born as a character is one of them. Our debates cost us time and resources that we could be using to generate the piece.

7. What Do I Want?: My primary objective is to be free of the guilt and remorse that I feel from my previous actions. To do this I need to find an author who can finish our story and bring my character to a cathartic end.

8. What Is In My Way?: Some of the characters I.e the Son and (at points) the Mother and Stepdaughter, do not wish to finish the story for their own reasons. The Director also, cannot accept our existence as characters, and therefore wishes to use actors and props and other materials that do not correlate with our story. If it is not completed correctly, the story will not bring our characters to rest properly.

9. What Do I Do To Get What I Want?: I use many methods to try to achieve my objective. I Confess my prior actions in the hope that it will bring me closer to releasing my guilt, I Order the other characters, especially the Stepdaughter, to bring them back into line and to speed up the creation process. I Negotiate with the Director and the other cast members in order to make it easier for them to bring or story to the stage.

Acting Technique 3: Mike Alfreds

A little bit about Mike Alfred's: Described by Ian McKellen as one of the three best directors in the country. Mike Alfreds is a true master of the ensemble.

Born in London in 1934, trained in the USA and Israel. He burst on the scene with Arabian Nights (1975) and Bleak House (1977), the first two productions by Shared Experience, now one of the most successful companies in the UK. At the National he directed Ian McKellen, Sheila Hancock and Roy Kinnear in his own version of The Cherry Orchard (1985). In the 1990s he ran the Cambridge Theatre Company, later renamed Method and Madness.

In terms of his techniques, Mike Alfreds uses a similar approach to Chekhov and Stanislavski, in that he feels that the actor should be completely invested emotional and physically in the character to the point where the distinction between them is blurred. Mike Alfreds likes to use a more physical based system however, and borrows from Chekhov's physical/emotional centre work to help his actors. This work uses one simple method; focusing on a particular part of the body and focusing the energy and movement within the body part, essentially allowing it to "lead" you around the space. This creates a new type of movement that could have connotations to a particular member in society. For instance if the movement energy is focused on the nose, it may appear that this person is arrogant, high class and self-absorbed. I feel that this is a great technique for the actor, in the sense that it can be as exaggerated or as subtle as they need it to be for their character, and the exercise can still benefit them. In my case for the Father, all i have done is simply alter my body weight to be placed more in my lower back and I have engaged my stomach more to give off a sense of pain or guilt.

Alfreds also likes to employ several techniques when dealing directly with text to also help the actor get a better sense of the character. Here he uses two methods; the breakdown method and the text-no text-text method.

The breakdown method consist of the actor breaking down every line of speech that is attributed to their character and placing them into categories which are: Write down a list of facts about the character, and the ‘big chunky actions’ he or she performs, Write down what the character says about him-/herself, Write down what others say about the character and Write down what the character says about others. This covers all areas of relationships and emotions that the character feels within the play and I feel this helps the actor fully understand the given circumstances of the play as well as how it affects the way their character exists within them.

The text-no text-text method is a technique that allows the actor to feel less pressured by the text during rehearsal. The actor will perform his/her scene with the text during rehearsal and will then stop. The actor is the given a few minutes to memorise the key moments within the scene before they are asked to improvise the entire scene without the script. Once that is done and after the director is satisfied, the actor then returns to the script, making notes of any observations they may have had, and will then carry into the next scene. Having used this within our own rehearsals, I can really see the benefits of this technique, as it provides the actor with the chance to move freely without the bounds of the script. It also, in my opinion, really helps the actor commit the key parts of the scene to memory, as the exercise allows them to use their own language, as long as it is in keeping with the character. By speaking in a way that is comfortable to them, it makes the scene improvisation much more comfortable for the actor and therefore, easier to move and react in. I definitely feel this technique to be one of the most effective I have used and I would recommend and use it again in the future.