Kit and Kaboodle: One Actor’s Exploration of Method and Technique in Creating a Character

Abstract

This paper delineates the author’s exploration of acting methods and techniques in the process of building a role for a production. The author is an actor cast in the role of Kit in Salem State Theatre’s fall 2019 production of Top Girls by Caryl Churchill, directed by Julie Kiernan. The author sought to discover which method(s) of acting she finds most useful in creating a character. There are six methods that were utilized and explored in cooperation with the rehearsal process: Constantin Stanislavski’s System, Sanford Meisner’s method, Uta Hagen’s Object Exercises, Robert Cohen’s method, Jerzy Grotowski’s approach, and an adaptation of Linda Hartley’s work on Body-Mind Centering as taught by Kate Kohler Amory. The author employed a selection of the various exercises that the texts outline for each method during a personally scheduled studio time that was separate from the production rehearsals. The project consists mostly of personal reflections written as the author tested out various elements of these methods to see which worked for her process and which didn’t. The author sought to discover a repeatable process with which to enter the professional world of acting that may guide her in the creation of future roles. For the author, this project acts as a culmination and consolidation of what she has learned in her career at Salem State University. In her attempt to find her own personal acting method, her process might serve to aid other actors on the same journey to find their own best way to create a character.