Character development and stage techniques

1Why build a character?

An audience does not believe in actors; it believes in characters. When a classmate walks on stage and the audience forgets, for a moment, that it is Mugisha from S2B, the sketch has worked. This lesson shows you how to build a character step by step, and the stage techniques that keep a performance running smoothly. The worked example is a short sketch in French.

2Build the character: the profile

Before rehearsing, each actor fills in a character profile:

• Name, age and role: who is this person?
• Objective: what does the character want in this scene?
• Obstacle: what stops them from getting it?
• Three personality traits: for example greedy, sneaky, cowardly.
• Voice: high or low, fast or slow, loud or soft.
• Movement: how the character walks and stands. Which part of the body leads: the nose, the chest, the knees?
• One costume item or prop that shows who they are.

3Show, don't tell

Writers describe two ways of revealing character. In direct characterisation someone simply says what a character is like ("Gatete is lazy"). In indirect characterisation the audience works it out from what the character says, what they do, how they look and move, and how others react to them. On stage, indirect is almost always stronger: let Gatete yawn, stretch and copy answers, and nobody needs to call him lazy.

Exercises that build character

• Hot-seating: the actor sits in front of the class and answers questions in character. "Why did you not revise?" forces the actor to think like Gatete.
• The character walk: walk around the room as the character, changing speed, posture and the part of the body that leads.
• Status: a high-status character (a head teacher) stands still, speaks slowly and holds eye contact; a low-status one (a nervous new student) fidgets and looks down.

4Stage techniques

• Blocking: the planned moves and positions of the actors, written into the script in pencil so everyone repeats them the same way.
• Entrances and exits: enter already in character, and stay in character until you are completely out of sight.
• Picking up cues: a cue is the last words or action before your line. Answer at once, without long gaps.
• Staying in character: do not laugh at your own jokes or at the audience. If someone forgets a line, improvise something the character would say and carry on.
• Freeze frame (tableau): everyone holds a still picture, often to open or close a sketch.
• Mime and simple props: one real bottle or a bag is enough; the rest can be mimed.
• Sound effects: the cast can make rain, thunder or traffic with voices, hands and desks.

Worked example: a French sketch about hygiene

Monsieur Microbe (thème : l'hygiène)

Personnages : DAVID, un élève qui a toujours faim ; AMINA, son amie ; MONSIEUR MICROBE, un microbe (voix aiguë, il se frotte les mains).
Lieu : la cour de l'école, à la récréation. Il y a un robinet et un savon.

(DAVID arrive en courant avec un ballon. Il a très chaud.)

DAVID : Quel match ! J'ai marqué deux buts ! Et maintenant... j'ai faim !

(Il sort un beignet de son sac. MONSIEUR MICROBE entre sur la pointe des pieds et se cache derrière David.)

MONSIEUR MICROBE : (au public, en chuchotant) Bonjour, les amis ! Je suis Monsieur Microbe. J'habite sur les mains de David. Et bientôt... dans son ventre ! Hi hi hi !

AMINA : (entre) David, attends ! Tes mains sont sales !

DAVID : Mais non, elles sont propres. Regarde !

MONSIEUR MICROBE : Oui, oui, très propres ! Mange, David, mange !

AMINA : Tu as joué au football, tu as touché le ballon, la terre... Lave-toi les mains avec du savon !

DAVID : Oh là là... D'accord, d'accord.

(Il va au robinet et prend le savon.)

MONSIEUR MICROBE : (paniqué) Non ! Pas le savon ! Pas l'eau ! Au secours !

(DAVID se lave les mains. Il compte jusqu'à vingt avec AMINA. MONSIEUR MICROBE tourne, tombe et sort en rampant.)

DAVID ET AMINA : (au public) Avant de manger, lavez-vous les mains avec de l'eau et du savon !

(Ils se figent. Fin.)

Key words: sale(s) dirty; propre(s) clean; le robinet the tap; le savon soap; se laver les mains to wash your hands; au secours ! help!; la récréation break time; le ventre the stomach; un beignet a doughnut (a mandazi); se figer to freeze.

In English: David comes back hungry from football and is about to eat a doughnut with dirty hands. Monsieur Microbe, a germ, tells the audience he plans to get into David's stomach. Amina sends David to wash his hands with soap, and the germ runs away in panic.

Here are the profiles the actors wrote.

Notice how the germ is funny and carries the message: the audience laughs at his panic when he sees the soap, and remembers why soap matters.

Practice