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A Guide To Actioning

This document provides guidance on using the acting technique of actioning. Actioning involves applying a transitive verb, or action, to each new thought within a scene or monologue to give intention and clarity. The benefits include adding detail and specificity rather than general emotions. It forces actors to be more intentional with each line. The document outlines how to identify new thoughts, choose actions, rehearse with actions, and learn the piece by thoughts to keep the work detailed.

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424 views4 pages

A Guide To Actioning

This document provides guidance on using the acting technique of actioning. Actioning involves applying a transitive verb, or action, to each new thought within a scene or monologue to give intention and clarity. The benefits include adding detail and specificity rather than general emotions. It forces actors to be more intentional with each line. The document outlines how to identify new thoughts, choose actions, rehearse with actions, and learn the piece by thoughts to keep the work detailed.

Uploaded by

ghetto box
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MODULE 2: PREPARATION

A Guide to Actioning

Actioning is the commonly used acting technique of applying transitive verbs to each
new thought within a scene or monologue. The goal is to give intention and clarity to
any piece of text. Usually an actor will prepare an overarching objective for a scene (a
scene objective) and the actions will support that goal.

The benefit of this simple technique is to add detail to any performance. Often actor’s
fall into the trap of creating a wash of emotion. They get stuck in a similar vocal pattern
throughout and carry one emotion through an entire piece. Even if you are just using
actioning as a rehearsal technique, it forces you to be more specific and give each
thought or line a new intention.

Why actors hate actioning

It’s painful. Actors love to think that they can just learn the lines and jump straight up
and do it. Truth is, when we don’t do the work, the work is general. What actors often
don’t realise is preparing for a scene or monologue doesn’t make your performance
rigid, but instead it gives you a framework to play on. When we don’t have that
framework things quickly fall apart. Often the result is vague and disconnected acting.  

What defines a new thought

Thoughts are mostly broken up by full stops, but you may in certain circumstances
have to use your own instincts. Some thoughts can be very short, and others stretch
over 2 or 3 lines. When working with Shakespeare you have to be cautious as the
punctuation is only a guideline. Add your actions where you believe a new thought is
occurring.

Here is a good definition to guide you:


Broadly speaking the definition of a thought is the extent of what a character intended to
say when they started speaking (Nick Moseley - Actor’s Thesaurus)
Actioning is one element

Actioning is not a technique that you can simply slap on a script in isolation. Actions
must be derived from other Stanislavski-style work, such as working out your
characters super object, scene objective, and looking at the given circumstances of the
play.

New thought, new tone

A great actor is like a great musician. Each phrase has its own colouration. That isn’t
something forced, but something that is connected to the intention of the line and the
given circumstances of the play. Actioning is an easy way to begin to bring the music of
the script to life.

Keep an open mind

Some actors don’t like this technique because they believe it’s too rigid. However,
remember it’s only labelling your own natural instincts and is always subject to change.
If in the moment you want to follow an impulse, always defer to that impulse.

Note: in rehearsal always remember to try one action at a time. That way we can assess
whether a particular verb works.

Why actioning is a good technique

Actioning creates a map of intentions for actors. It has a great way of tightening up a
scene or monologue and keeps everything anchored. Often when working on a play
night after night, actor’s can lose focus and get complacent, actioning keeps the work
specific and detailed, even when an actor is having an off night.
The Process

#1 Work out your monologue objective

Keep your objective personal and specific. It has to be clear and make sense to you.
There is no point using an objective a director or actor tells you to play. You need to
discover it for yourself.

For the example in the video I used: “I need you to let me go”

This is personal, easy to understand and comes from the text. You can frame it in
different ways such as: I need love, or to get someone to love me. For me the personal
way of writing objectives helps.

#2 Break up the monologue into thoughts

Go through your monologue and break it up into thoughts. I recommend using slashes
to clearly mark the changes of thought. A forward slash is a universal sign of a thought
change in a script you can see what I mean in the video tutorial. You can use full stops
as a good guideline, but sometimes thoughts last over a few sentences. Follow your
instincts.
#3 Open up your Action’s Thesaurus (or our PDF)

You need to reference a list of transitive verbs or else you will just keep returning to the
same old verbs and the monologue will be stale. Be creative and take your time to
work out transitive verbs that excite you as an actor. Enjoy the process of choosing
verbs, this is arguably the most important part of the process. It forces you to think
deeply about what you are saying, and why you are saying it.

#4 Rehearsal

Once you have actioned the full monologue, start rehearsing. Try to play every line with
the action specified. Get up on your feet and give it a go. If it’s feeling forced or not
working, pick up your script and try a new action. Really aim to be specific and to play
the nuance of the action. “To amaze” is slightly different from “to dazzle”.

#5 Learn the monologue by thoughts

You want to learn each thought or action as you go. Learning the monologue with the
chosen intentions will help to keep the monologue detailed. There is no point actioning
a text and then learning it without thinking about those actions.

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