scoring a monologue, finding the beats, playing the action, and why you gotta do it

[contentlove]

One of the main techniques I use to get inside a script and prepare it for performance is text analysis. Text analysis is a method of interpretation that relies on the meaning and to a certain extent the rhythm of any given block of text. In brief, you break the text into thoughts, or 'beats'. When the thought changes, or when the action changes

Comments

[z111]

Do you use the same techniques for ritual magick?

[contentlove]

If I'm doing performance ritual, YOU BET I DO. When I was an initiator, YOU BET I DID. I got a lot better at it around that time, I think. Quit flying by the seat of my pants and started flying from my center.

[z111]

I need to try this. Thanks

[zuleikhajami]

This is super helpful. I could not figure out what beat meant the way Barry was using it. I don't suppose you can explain the difference between pause/long pause/rest(beat change) to me by any chance?

I'm finding this method really difficult. It's very different from how I work with text for storytelling.

[contentlove]

A 'rest' is a pause. It happens when the beat changes, because a rest takes place when you complete one thought, before moving on to the next. How long the rest needs to be has a lot to do with the rhythm of the piece, but the standard is about 2 seconds. "Rest" means what it says. Take a rest. Then move into your next beat, letting the action you've chosen be your guide as how to move. So, a rest is what we do in between beats, and another way of saying that is, we pause. But it's truly a rest. You have to finish one beat and rest before moving into the next beat, or things aren't as coherent as they might be for either the listener or the person delivering. And you'll know if you're doing it right, because the audience will hold really still when you take your rest, and then they'll move (or let their breath out, even), when you move. That's entrainment. There is a lot of potential tension/interest in those little pieces of stillness. Worth cultivating

[anonymous]

I find it humorous that this is very similar to how I analyze Enochian.

[synesis]

It's striking to me that a lot of your way of working is really, really similar to the way Shakespeare works. One of the things that interests me at the moment is the way early modern actors received their parts - generally on long rolls (hence, later, 'roles') of paper, with their speeches written out in full, and the last word or 2-3 words of the preceding speech as their cue. Rehearsal, if it happened at all, happened once or twice at most. Hence actors were generally left with only their own speeches and the barest of clues to detect the general shape of the play as a whole, so there are a huge range of rhythms and structures concealed in the speeches which give direction to the actor. (Particularly in the case of Shakespeare, who was both playwright and actor

fascinating!

[sheilagh]

thank you for the insights into your craftsmanship.