ADVANCED ASSOCIATE OF SPEECH NEW ZEALAND
IN SPEECH AND DRAMA
(TEACHING AND PERFORMANCE)
PAPER FIVE
The Use of Conventions, Elements, Techniques and Features in Performance
TIME: One Hour
QUESTION:
Either
A:
An Ancient Greek playwright, Aristotle, believed that the actor was first and foremost a
promoter of action, an illuminator of plot rather than character.
Discuss your approach to acting justifying your agreement or disagreement with the
statement.
Refer to two different named plays by different playwrights to illustrate your opinions.
Or
B:
Name the conventions of characterisation that you consider to be most important when
preparing for an acting role.
Discuss how you would use these conventions when you are cast in contrasting roles of two
named plays.
SAMPLE ANSWER:
B
This essay will explain the most important conventions of characterisation that
should be used by a performer when preparing for an acting role. The plays Hedda
Gabler, a realism play written by Henrik Ibsen, and Mother Courage and her
Children, an epic theatre play written by the father of epic theatre Bertolt Brecht are
contrasting in nature. The conventions highlighted will link to the preparation of the
title character in each of these plays. Each paragraph will look at a specific
convention, its use, its importance and how a performer can use it when preparing
for the contrasting roles of Hedda Gabler and Mother Courage. The conventions that
will be analysed are hot seating, role on the wall and miming.
Hot seating is a widely known convention used by most performers. The performer is
able to gain insight into their character by answering questions from an interviewer,
whilst still portraying their role. In a lot of cases the play from which the character
comes does not have the answer to every question and this allows the performer to
adapt to the mindset of the character they are playing. This convention is very
important because it lets the performer view the world through their character’s eyes.
As well as this, the performer will be able to identify what they know about their
character and what they will need to research further. When a performer is cast in
two contrasting roles like Hedda and Mother Courage, they can use hot seating to
their advantage to identify the differences and similarities between their characters.
Specific questions such as “describe the time period you are living in” will be
interpreted differently. When the performer portrays the role of Hedda, they would
describe a desirable setting where the difficulties of life are hidden away and society
seems to work by itself. This description acknowledges Hedda’s innocence and the
fact that she is oblivious to the problems faced by others living in her time period. In
contrast to this, when a performer answers this question as Mother Courage, the
description of the hardship of war and the suffering faced by many can be expected.
This question in itself delves into the significant differences that can be seen
between these two characters. When a performer intends to play the roles of Hedda
and Mother Courage, they must remember the contrasting nature of both roles. Hot
seating helps to identify these differences due to the completely different answers
they both give. Hot seating also enables the actor to get in touch with the motivation
and details of their characters.
Another important convention of characterisation is role on the wall which is a visual
representation of the character’s internal and external motivation, feelings and
identity. By taking the time to go through with this convention, performers are able to
identify internal and external conflict experienced by the character they are playing,
as well as identifying how the character may seem to others on the surface versus
who they are on the inside. When completing role on the wall, actors often look at
conflict, the effect of others and the mind of the character, motivation and what they
consider to be important versus what others think of them. All of these questions
combine to further the actor’s understanding of their character. The visual
representation opens up the options for performers who are visually stronger,
whereas in most cases, conventions help with audio understandings. If a performer
were to be cast in the contrasting roles of Hedda and Mother Courage, role on the
wall can help to identify the extent of their feeling for that character. Also it is a visual
representation of the contrasting nature of these roles. Below is an example of how
the performer could use role on the wall to their advantage.
Hedda Gabler
Smart thinker
Oblivious
Controlling
Loves her husband
Immature
Bored
Mother Courage
Smart thinker
Survivor
Puts herself first
Cares for her children
Strong - manly
Emotionally traumatised
The above visual representation shows us how, even though on the surface Mother
Courage and Hedda may be quite different, essentially they have similar traits and
motivations. Both characters are smart and are able to convince other people to do
things for them. They both also deeply care for their loved ones, even though the plot
of the plays does not show this. Role on the wall helps to break a character down to
its simplest form. This is important for the performer.
The final convention of characterisation that can be considered most important is
mime. This convention allows the performer to focus solely on the posture and
movement of their character and enables these aspects to develop fully. Generally
importance is given to voice production and speech however one must remember
that action and the portrayal of the role are equally important. This convention allows
the performer to develop the actions and movement of their character and it helps
with the elements role, space and action. Mime allows the performer to try different
actions and identify lack of movement. Hedda Gabler and Mother Courage are two
very different characters because they come from different period of theatre. Hedda
Gabler is a realist play which allows the audience to understand the character and
empathise with them. Realism is character-focussed, whereas epic theatre (the type
that Mother Courage and her Children originates from) is plot and message
focussed. In epic theatre, the actions of the characters are generic and
overexaggerated. Performers can use mime to reinforce these conventions of epic
theatre whereas in realism, the actions of the character must be natural and mimic
the day-to-day life of individuals present in the society of the period. This is quite
interesting because it means that through mime, the performer can identify the
differences when it comes to portraying Mother Courage and Hedda. By using mime
to prepare for the roles of Mother Courage and Hedda, the performer can project the
conventions of the type of theatre they are performing.
In conclusion, hot seating, role on the wall and mime are considered to be the most
important conventions when preparing for an acting role. Together they develop
different areas of the character to deepen the performer’s understanding of the role
they are about to portray. When performing characterisation, the actor must
remember that the acting and voice production should be equally developed and
complementary. Using the conventions highlighted in this essay will allow the
performer to understand their role completely.
EXAMINER’S REPORT:
This was a thoughtful and perceptive response to the posited statement. You were able to
show clearly how the named conventions of characterisation you explored, help with a deeper
insight into the motivation and portrayal of the two characters. It was especially interesting to
see how your role on the wall table pointed out both the similarities and differences between
the characters, and also how mime can show the difference between character and plot focus.
A well-structured essay.