AUTHENTICITY IN THE EXTREMES: ABRAHAM ADAMS

This is a modification of an exercise I was introduced to in undergrad. Basically, you ask yourself “What’s the best/worst outcome?” before each action taken by either your character or any other characters in a scene. These two outcomes are ever present in the character’s mind. The idea is to establish point of view and behavior around the actions taken in each scene. It can create a sense of authentic immediacy.

Action in a play is the result of an unmet need. Speech is one type of action. Analyzing speech is an easy way of getting “inside” a character by looking at the text spoken by, to, and about that character through the lens of “best” or “worst”. Prior to a character speaking or being spoken to, the actor can ask themselves: “What is the best possible outcome for this character? What is the worst?” Will the spoken text meet my character’s needs (as they see it) with the best possible outcome? Or will it make things worse? Or will it be something else entirely?

Working my way through each scene of the play in this way, I can begin to build a road map for myself, regarding character expectations and point of view. Each successive moment in the play will result in a revelation, either affirming my character’s suspicions or dashing them. The outcome may not be what the character expected! Or perhaps the outcome is far better or far worse than I imagined.

Another way to think about this might be in terms of extremes. Michael Chekhov would call this “polarity”. In the balcony scene in Romeo & Juliet, what might Juliet think is the best possible outcome for each moment of the scene? In what way might each moment get worse for her? At every moment, Juliet must hold these two “poles” in her mind. Hoping the Romeo of her own mind sees her as desirable and mysterious but fearing that this Romeo might also see her as wanton or cruel.

Allowing that both the best and the worst outcomes can happen at any given moment and allowing these dualities to play upon me can provide a richer, more vibrant, and exceedingly unique performance.