Telling your story on stage using the language of theatre with Alice Coghlan

by Alice Coghlan
www.wonderlandtheatre.com

 

Consider the onstage space and the offstage.

In theatre, it’s your job to make the offstage space to come to life. Theatre ignites the audience’s imagination bringing the story or vision to life in their minds, whereas film shows you a lot more through visual effects, etc.

 

Consider how your characters sound.

Arthur Miller, for example, is very much an auditory playwright. He said he couldn’t write until he heard the characters in his head.

 

Don’t focus too much on dialogue.

There are many theatrical languages of which dialogue is the principal one, but we also have the language of:

• light
• sound
• design
• image
• body language
• the body in space
• the tone of the actors’ voice
• the expression of the actor

These are just a few theatrical languages.

There’s also so much that can be done with silence and pauses. What someone doesn’t say can be extremely evocative.

 

A hand-held prop tells a story.

What a character carries on stage tells you a lot about them. Use narrative hand-held props to bring your characters to life, e.g., a walking stick indicates the age of character, a fan tells the audience that it’s hot or that the character holding it is a fine lady.

 

Phones, for example, are used as props so that a character can avoid communication. Phones are like little masks we carry around with us. You can hold it up and hide behind it.

 

Think about presence and absence; who’s on, who’s off-stage?

What is the effect when one member of your family is not present? Does the mood lean a certain way?

 

Think about the inner child in your character

Getting that person out onstage is powerful. Vulnerability draws the audience in.

 

The power of the body in space tells a story.

The stories the body carries through movement are significant. What rituals or ticks does your character express? How does their body react when they’re uncomfortable or unsure.

Every body on this planet has their ticks. An actor’s work is to “detox” themselves of whom they are before embracing and expressing a new character physically. These rituals/ticks sometimes might intersect with the actor’s body. Finding the body of a character is the actor’s job.

 

Consider setting and staging your play in a specific space.

Site-specific work can enhance your story. Maybe the street is your set and where your play is staged.