Subtext: How Do We Bring Text To Life??

Rose Briar
:-)

To bring a piece of text, a beautiful piece of writing, or other body of choreographed words to life is one of the most exhilarating, sometimes addicting, and magical experiences in the world. And since I love that feeling so much, I’d love to teach my readers how to reach that sense of wonder/amazement all their own!! For me, the best way to achieve such a transcendent feeling is by, not only memorizing the words in an artistic piece, but understanding the subtext of those words in that artistic piece. And, yes, I’ve learned the value of this process by our dear hero Constantin Stanislavski.

Stanislavski is pretty much the father of method acting. Of course, we should all beware not to go too far with this process because it can really fuck with your psychology, but if it’s already been corrupted - you have an obligation to let people learn from you and share your own techniques (let those experiences from a kiss of death mean something, after all...). Basically, you need to go in armed if you’re gonna method act, so you can pull yourself out and know that you’re just playing someone when the show’s over, and you don’t deserve this information if you can’t promise me that - Stanislavski would be SO disappointed! Anyway, (not bragging - I’ve just studied alottttabout this) I feel as though I’m at a point as an actress who can lose herself in a role without going crazy anymore - you just really need to understand the method in and out before you embark on it.

So my lesson of the day is teaching you to understand the subtext of a piece the Stanislavskian way.

He was quoted as saying, ““Spectators come to the theatre to hear the subtext. They can read the text at home.” This is very true. How are you, as an actor, a performer, gonna make the audience feel like they’re getting their money’s worth? After all, a member in the audience may have driven hours to come see you, may have spent some kinda pretty penny to come see you, and may have rearranged their hectic schedule solely to come see you. Our dear audience members could've been anywhere else in the world, and they certainly don’t just wanna read the text at home. SO, the best way for me to teach you is to lead by example.

Watch me work...

This is the poem Love and Friendship by Emile Bronte:

Love is like the wild rose-briar,

Friendship like the holly-tree

The holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms

But which will bloom most constantly?

The wild-rose briar is sweet in the spring,

Its summer blossoms scent the air;

Yet wait till winter comes again

And who will call the wild-briar fair?

Then scorn the silly rose-wreath now

And deck thee with the holly's sheen,

That when December blights thy brow

He may still leave thy garland green.

So, say I’m performing it, any audience member could just google the text and read it at home. Why do they want to see me perform this text? Because I did the work to actually see the holly-tree and the rose-briar. I did the work to see the rose briar bloom in the spring, how it grows in the summer, and I can actually smell the scent of the summer blossoms in the air. The audience came to see me perform it because I can deliver those images spectacularly and stimulate all of their five (maybe six?) senses on a level that they cannot achieve by simply reading the text alone at home. 

Anyway, all actors are different, so their interpretations of a piece of text are always different, but my interpretation of this poem parallels the famous Marilyn Monroe mantra “If you can’t handle my worst, you’re not getting my best” - and my muses are not simply those who I love in a romantic sense, but those who believe in me and want me to give them a great performance all of the time, (okay so now it’s getting pretty personal...) especially when I feel like I’m not getting much in return right now, or really anything. So, I’d bring this energy to the poem, and, objectively speaking, the audience should know exactly where I’m coming from in my delivery, all the while remaining entertained by the beautiful, transcendent images and feelings I give to them. I equate it to eating cupcakes or something really yummy that they’d want more of!!

So, as you see, I gave this text some subtext, or sub-meaning, that will bring the words to life. Sometimes, the director will tell you specifically what he/she wants within that subtext, or leave you to your own devices to see what you come up with, but this is just my own interpretation, and, yes, I would divide it into beats/define my objectives and super objectives for the performance, but that’s a different blog post. 

:-)

Thanks for reading!!!! And how would you interpret or perform this poem??

Let me know and don’t be shy!! x