25 Mar Rehearsing Your Scene To Grow As An Actor
Whether you’re taking acting classes online or a seasoned professional, you need to find a personal connection to the material first and come to rehearsal to let go and let yourself be surprised by what happens. Essentially, you’re bringing your own ideas and then exploring them in relationship to your scene partner. Some will be discarded and others will be modified. With practice, you develop a repeatable framework that can be performed.
The Importance Of Being Prepared
Many actors don’t acquire the discipline and good habits they need to properly handle auditions. Those who arrive completely prepared and ready to shine are the exception and are more likely to find real success in the professional world. Rehearsal is an essential part of the process.
In-person and online acting classes require that you rehearse between sessions. That practice reinforces what you’ve learned and helps to ingrain it. Rehearsal tends to bring out any shortcomings, so they can be addressed the next time you meet with your teacher.
What Should Be Your Goals For Rehearsal?
First, you should maintain an attitude of discovery. Carefully analyzing the writer’s words, you look for specificity and meaning in every moment as you carve out a structure for the scene. You’re going to be learning from your acting partner, and that person will be learning from you. In class, you’ll have a little more freedom to explore than at an actual performance, of course.
There are three important ways to learn: in your private rehearsals, rehearsing in a group setting, and – in both in-person and Zoom acting classes – by watching others rehearse.
Sometimes we tend to focus too much upon our own struggles, and that puts pressure on us to find answers. It has the negative effect of drawing our attention within ourselves. The solution is to stay present with your rehearsal partner and listen. Then the text will come alive and you’ll be in the right frame of mind to learn something new.