CHARACTER

STUDIES

Recently I had a request from someone who was planning to audition for a part in one of my pantomimes. She was actually interested in two specific female characters, and asked if I could supply “character descriptions”, adding, “There does not seem to be any indication of how to present or sound like the characters. She wanted an idea of “...outstanding features… mannerisms..." and to know, "...if either might have… an accent.”

Are these hypertheatrical questions?

It’s true that I don’t describe the characters in any great detail. Shakespeare offers even less.

On the Internet Movie Database, one of their members lists the “Best Hamlet Performance in movies and on stage.” They are, in order… Laurence Olivier, Ethan Hawke, Kenneth Branagh, John Gielgud, Jonathan Pryce, Mark Rylance, Simon Russell Beale, David Warner, Innokenti Smoktunovsky, and Jude Law. I have seen some of these film performance, and there is no question, they differ considerably… even though they are all using the same words.

I suggest an age range for each of the roles I write, but I qualify this with the general… “The ages are preferred, but not fixed.” 

Perhaps I could be more descriptive, but some people might take the suggestions too literally, when there is obviously scope for variations. It can often depend on the actor’s age, physique, physicality, experience, and talent, since there is more than one way to flay a feline.

Back in the 1990s, I played Judge Brack in a professional production of ‘Hedda Gabler’.The sister of an Oscar-winning actor played the title role…no, I’m not dropping the name... and she had an exercise book full of notes about Hedda’s character, her strengths, her weaknesses, her foibles etc. Horses for courses, but that’s not my style. I have always believed that the character is in the script. If it ain’t there, it’s nowhere. There is a story that J.M. Barrie once told an anxious actor who was seeking help in interpreting his part… “I should like you to convey when you are acting it that the man you portray has a brother in Shropshire who drinks port.” Well, bust my buttons!

Often, there is a speech which is the key to a character. Many moons ago, as the crow flies, I played the part of Leonard in an amateur production of ‘Time and Time Again’, by Alan Ayckbourn. Half way through the four week rehearsal period I was really struggling to find the character, I considered playing him with a limp, a hunchback, a strong regional accent… or maybe all three. Then one rehearsal... eureka! As I remember it, there is a speech where the character looks out over some municipal playing fields and contemplates the changing seasons… putting up the goal posts during autumn, taking them down in spring, and mowing the cricket pitches... and so on and so on, ad infinitum. It’s quite philosophical, and I realised that this was very close to my own outlook, which meant that I didn’t really need to act at all… just play myself. The reviews were glowing. One stated, “The cast of five were superb. It was one of the smoothest first night performances I have seen.” So it must have worked.

Accents are something I use sparingly, because I reckon must scripts should be able to be played anywhere in the English-speaking world, without too much difficulty. I am a Yorkshireman born and bred, consequently, the rhythms of speech and some of the phrases probably shout that fact from the rooftops. Often when I am printing off scripts for groups north of the border, I find myself reading the lines with a Scottish accent. I must say, Dames’ dialogue seems to work well with a Caledonian cadence.

Here are some quotes about performing comedy, by and about people who are far more experienced than me…

“Perhaps my definition of comedy is at odds with current trends, but I just believe that to gain the sympathy of the audience for your character, you have to maintain a sense of reality, no matter how fantastical the situation becomes.” Kenneth Williams quoted in - ‘Carry On Laughing’ Adrian Rigelsford: Virgin Books 1996

Frothy as her image may be, Barbara Windsor is much admired by her fellow professionals for the truthfulness with which she plays her pantomime characters. ‘Plays And Players’ December 1977

In the evolution of a (pantomime dame) performance… (Stanley Baxter) doesn’t think about where he’ll get laughs until a very late stage. The early work is concentrated on those dramatic high points that he regards as keys to his character’s development.‘ Plays And Players’ December 1977

…in my impersonations, for example, I seriously study the person I wish to imitate and rehearse the impersonation many times in the serious vein, before I even attempt to give it a humorous twist. Then I try to insert the humour while still in the character of the person I am portraying. Thus, the basis of actuality is given to the impersonation." Comedian Willie Howard, regarded as one of the giants of American Vaudeville.

Acting is all about honesty and if you can fake that, you've got it made. George Burns