Harold Pinter, Betrayal: Characterisation; Objectives

1. Apply the Stanislavskian ‘magic if’ to this extract. How does it help you to build either the character of Emma or Jerry?

The Stanislavskian ‘magic if’ allows the actor to ‘transcend the confines of realism by asking them what would occur ‘if’ circumstances were different or ‘if’ the circumstances were to happen to them’. In simple terms, it means that the actor is asked to think over thoroughly on how he or she would react to the situation in the play IF that happened. This gives actors the freedom to explore the role and script, and feelings and emotions would definitely be grittier and more heartfelt than if the director just tells the actor what emotion to portray at what point of time.

The characters of Jerry and Emma can built in the way that the actors look into how a couple who had a fling quite a long while would behave towards each other. The two are interdependent on each other for responses and reactions, thus, if I was playing Emma’s role, I would need to have a good enough relationship with the actor playing Jerry because it would then be easier for the magic ‘if’ to come in. We would also have to go through the script and mark out any important parts and what we should imagine ourselves to be at that point of time.

The magic ‘if’ is also very helpful because it would help to constantly remind me throughout the performance ‘What IF this happens to Emma? What sort of character is she? What IF my character was exactly like Emma’s?’. With that in mind, I would definitely be more able to connect with the play and the emotions portrayed would be more real and heartfelt.

2. Read up on the works of Vsevolod Meyerhold and his theory of ‘biomechanics’, and Stanislavski’s main concepts. Which approach to acting do you find easier to adopt?

For me, I feel that Stanislavski’s methods are easier to adopt.

Meyerhold’s system involves a complete mastery of the body and the idea that ‘one can not separate the physicality of what one is seeing and what one is hearing’. He draws his influences from acrobatics, Commedia dell’arte, Chinese and Japanese theatre. He also developed a system of sixteen etudes, of which each tells a simple story of action through a series of prescribed stylized movements in a certain sequence. It is used to develop a sense sense of balance and an appreciation on how the smallest movement of a body part could affect the entire body.

Personally, I am not of those dancer or very physically expressive types and thus this one would be a bit more challenging to me. With Stanislavski’s method, such as the magic ‘if’, emotional memory and method acting, I can put my imagination (which is sometimes too wild and bizarre for consumption) to good use and bring out the character’s potential.

I feel that the use of emotional memory is extremely useful because sometimes, it might be difficult to imagine how a particular character would react to a particular situation, thus if I relied on what I think the character would feel and draw parallels to the feelings I have experienced before on somewhat similar situations, and apply that to my acting.

Stanislavski’s also mentioned ‘All actions that a person must enact, walk, talk, even sit on stage, must be broken down and re-learned’, meaning that if I were to take on a character, I would have to completely be absorbed into the role and act as such, even if I am not on stage. This had led to the development of method acting, which I think would be very effective in truly ‘getting in character’. The result is natural and heartfelt, something I feel is vital to a play.

- Melissa