Building Character: preparing for a role

Objective:

This webquest will guide you (the actor) through a questionnaire that will be broken down into SIX categories.  You will also be required to read a series of articles from multiple actors, directors, coaches, theorists and practitioners.  These readings will help you answer the questions in the "Character Back-story Questionnaire" about the character you are currently working on.  The questions will act as a road map to flesh out information about the character that is not given in the text.  This will require you to use creativity, imagination, critical thinking, and self evaluation.  As the performer you will be required to create journal entries for each step of the "character building."
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Some Inspiration to start creating...

The most powerful form of theatre is the kind that can stir the audience into thinking about their own lives.  Is the audience seeing something on stage they can relate to?  Will they come away with inspiration to change their behaviors or reach out to help someone in need?  It can also make people forget about all their day to day troubles and help a person escape to a care-free world.  This kind of relating can only happen when an audience is watching an authentic and earnest performance.  When an actor presents work that is justified and truthful, it is only then an audience can connect in the deepest way. 

Much work and preparation has to go into any role no matter what the size.  It is not just the words on the page that need to be of the actor's concern, it is the character's entire existence.  There are many factors that go into why people behave the way they do.  It takes much more than the "in the moment circumstance" to define any one person.  People behave the way they do not because of one experience but because of a lifetime of experiences. 

This webquest will help you create and layer a multi-dimensional character.  This process is not based on how many lines a role has but WHO the person is.  Anyone is capable of this work, all you need to be is open, aware, willing, creative and ALIVE!
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"Remember: there are no small parts, only small actors." -Konstantin Stanislavsky
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Here are some questions to start thinking about:

What season and year does the play take place?

Where does the play take place?

How old is the character?

Where did they grow up?

What is their educational background?

Who are their friends? Why are they friends?

Who are their family members? Are they close?

What is their occupation?   

What is their relationship to the other characters in the play?

What is their health history?

What are their good qualities? What are their bad qualities?