A Recurring Role: Keeping It Fresh

Ever wondered how people who perform day after day, month after month, the same role, keep the freshness or newness?  Well I'm going to give a couple of tips to help you or anyone with this dilemma.

The foundation and basis for this "phenomenon" is widely known in the theater arena as "The Illusion of the First Time".  I know, it's a long term, but very helpful.  What this basically means is that you are able to perform a role as if it's your "first
time" performing it.  The audience has to have the sense that the character in the play is experiencing an event at the same time they're experiencing it.  In other words, you have to be shockable.  Even if you've heard that gun go off for the hundredth time that day, it has to seem new to you.

Tips For Keeping It Fresh

• Continue to read the play to find new ideas and new concepts.  There's bound to be something left to discover about your character or the characters around you.
• Continue to discover who you are as a character.
• Listen to your fellow actors and try to relive what they are saying.  Look for deeper meanings to the words they are saying.
• Change up your emphasis on certain words, but still keeping it in context with the story.
• Try doing new business (detailed action to further the story), different ways of walking, talking, and moving.
• Change the way you react to a fellow actor. 
• Be in the moment; don't think ahead.

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