ACTING OBJECT EXERCISE This is an excellent tool to clarify character motivations and develop different strategies in how to perform a scene. It’s designed for specific scenes rather than overarching storyline. You could do this exercise for every scene in your play and you will get a strong sense of your character’s journey.
SCENE 5 : COMMITTEE MEETING EXAMPLE Who am I: Wes McCoy What is my age? 42 years old Date / Time? The year is 2013, summer time , Sunday evening Where? At the Mills Acre Club What surrounds me? A bar, to my left is my wife Lynette, and daughter Shelby, to my right is Buck Fox and Will Peters What is my relationship to: Lynette McCoy: My wife who I treasure, I feel completely supported by her and I do what I can to support her. Shelby: My daughter who I care so much about, I love getting her involved in these committees because it helps her develop a strong sense of community. I want her to feel valued, and I want her to follow her own path. Buck Fox: An old timer and an old mentor, he knows all there is to know about Mills Acre, the soil, the people, the farming techniques, he’s not much use now but I always try to give him tasks that aren’t too much work. He’s really quite a good friend Will Peters A good friend, lots of energy, he’s intelligent and exciting to work with, I get the sense he’s ready to take on quite a lot on this committee .
What are my given circumstances? Past: I’ve inherited the farm from my dad, I spent three years in Melbourne studying at university for a bachelor in agriculture and other than that I’ve lived my whole life on this farm. It’s been 2 years since the drought broke and we’re starting to pick up a bit of revenue Present: A lot of my friends are leaving Mills Acre, water allocations have become more tricky and I’m finding it difficult to see a way in which we can stay here. I know my daughter wants to live her life here, and I know my wife is deeply connected to the area, I know my family belong here. What do I want? To run a successful, positive, exciting committee meeting for the Mills Acre Fishing Classic What is in my way? There are onl;y 5 people at this meeting, 3 of which are my family and there seems to be a bit of negativity in the air, I’m struggling to see how so few people can pull off such a big event. What do I do to get what I want? I begin positive, I increase in my positivity as the meeting goes on, I give Buck more work than I normally would and I task Shelby with more work than she normally would have to do.