GUIDEPOST #1 – RELATIONSHIP
The core acting curriculum at Acting Studio Chicago is based on the 12 Guideposts from Michael Shurtleff’s Audition. In this post we introduce the very foundation of our work: RELATIONSHIP. Having a shared language, a shared vocabulary and a shared philosophy about the actors’ approach to text, means that there is a consistency and a specificity to our training.
In this series of posts, we invite our faculty to comment on a single Guidepost.
The first Guidepost is Relationship. We asked teachers Rachael Patterson, Adrianne Cury and Kurt Naebig for their takes on this acting fundamental.
Relationship is the fundamental building block of acting.
Rachael: Relationship is the absolute most basic building block of acting. Creating relationship is the primary job of the actor. What is your history with the other person, what is your problem with them, how do you feel about them? All of these decisions should lead you to action. The biggest challenge for students/actors is to switch their focus from figuring out ‘who they are’ to figuring out their relationship with others. The more curious, the more interested an actor is in the other person, the more dynamic and magnetic their performance will become.
Adrianne: Relationship is essential and is the basis for all acting. Not only must an actor invest in making the relationship important, and specific to them, and like one in their real life, but if they don’t start with that as their foundation, they’re not really making the connection and thus finding the love and/or need for their partner.
I believe unless you’re not only a curious person, but one genuinely interested in the social human condition, you may well be spending too much time on you and not trying to figure out the puzzle of your partner, and how best to make the two pieces fit together in order to get your fighting for. The more a student makes it about their partner, about the relationship, the better and more invested and “in it” they appear. Newer actors often spend too much time attempting to illustrate an emotional life. The actor needs to trust that emotions will show if they can simply find out what they are fighting for in the relationship. This ain’t a solo act, and an audience will be engaged when they can comprehend relationships, even the most dysfunctional ones.
Relationship is what makes us really care.
Kurt: There’s a reason relationship is the first Guidepost: without it, none of the other ones really matter. Finding the love in the scene, discovering ‘what is my problem with the other person?’ and ‘How do I want to fix them?’ this is the basis for everything that follows. I think the biggest mistake actors make with “relationship” is not going deep enough. They’ll say, “He’s my brother” or “We’re co-workers” and leave it there. It has to go deeper than that. What do you love about this person? What drives you crazy about them? What’s your deal breaker? What’s your history? This is what makes it a real relationship, and that’s what makes us really care.
To learn more about the Guideposts and how they can bring importance, specificity and personalization to your work, consider our New Student Seminar, given by Kurt Naebig; an introduction to the way we work!