{"id":294,"date":"2016-04-25T15:18:45","date_gmt":"2016-04-25T15:18:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mgs.performerstuff.com\/?p=294"},"modified":"2020-03-21T03:05:08","modified_gmt":"2020-03-21T03:05:08","slug":"small-roles-passionate-actors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/small-roles-passionate-actors\/","title":{"rendered":"Small Roles, Passionate Actors"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Small Roles,\u00a0Passionate\u00a0Actors<\/h3>\n
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Written by Ashleigh Gardner<\/p>\n

April 22, 2016<\/p>\n

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Every actor has heard or read some iteration of Stanislavski\u2019s old adage: \u201cThere are no small roles, only small actors.\u201d It\u2019s been pounded into the brain of every actor from age 7 to 70 (but mainly to the girl playing the tree in her elementary school production of The Tortoise and the Hare<\/em>). <\/em>It\u2019s supposed to make us feel just as important as everyone else in the production. It\u2019s designed to give us a sense of personal responsibility that we apply to another age-old theatre saying: \u201cAct well your part; there all the honor lies.\u201d (Alexander Pope for those taking notes.) And, honestly, it\u2019s to reassure the girl playing the tree that she matters.<\/p>\n

I used to hear Stanislavski\u2019s quote constantly. I especially hated hearing it when I was cast as an ensemble member in my high school’s production of\u00a0Godspell<\/em>\u00a0and the lead\u00a0role I really wanted went to another actor. Now that I’m older,\u00a0I really wish\u00a0<\/em>I could meet my 17-year-old self for coffee, look her in the eye\u00a0and say, “Hey, I know you hate hearing this, but I’m gonna say it because you need own\u00a0<\/em>it:\u00a0this role does not define your potential. This is\u00a0a stepping stone.” I did get over it \u2014 eventually \u2014 because in my second semester of\u00a0college,\u00a0a posting came out for auditions for William Shakespeare\u2019s The Tempest. <\/em>I had three years of Shakespearean training during high school summers, and I was really the only person in my thespian troupe who gravitated toward The Bard. I thought, \u201cThis play is it! I\u2019m good at this kind of thing! I\u2019ll get a part!\u201d<\/p>\n

And I did.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpirit drummer #4.”<\/p>\n

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Ashleigh Gardner\u00a0as Spirit Drummer #4. The Tempest\u00a0<\/em>at Valencia College, 2009. Photo courtesy of Minas Fakrajian.<\/h6>\n<\/div>

You\u2019re probably thinking, \u201cWait. WHAT! You just got\u00a0another small role! What is ‘<\/em>spirit drummer #4′? That\u2019s not even in the script!\u201d And you\u2019re right. She\u2019s not. This character is NOT in Shakespeare\u2019s script. Shakespearean purists might balk at a director adding another character, but this production was\u00a0creative, daring, visceral educational theatre. (I’m sure Shakespeare would have approved.) Aside from my furrowed brow and general confusion, I was pleased. I was cast. It was really all I was asking for. Rehearsals began the following week.<\/p>\n

We did a table read, and even though I and my 3 other spirit drummer cast mates didn\u2019t have any <\/em>lines, we were there. Our director had us present for every rehearsal thereafter, getting a feel for the show\u2019s tone so that we could effectively provide appropriate sounds and effects for every scene. In addition to being cast as silent characters, we were cast as musicians even though none of us had any <\/em>percussion training to speak of. Over the course of six weeks, the four drummers went through intense movement training along with the actors who played Ariel and her spirits. We had our own specialized rehearsals to work on the calypso, Caribbean, and African percussion styles that influenced the theming\u00a0of the show. Our prop master also made all four drummers our own unique set of instruments.<\/p>\n

In terms of participation in the action of the show, our characters were the companions to Ariel\u2019s elemental spirits: Earth, Water, Fire, and Air. My drummer\u2019s elemental spirit was Air, and that actor and I worked together to create the sounds that would represent her character. Her footsteps were light, so I hit the rim of the drum in varying speeds and rhythms to mimic her movement. For scenes that required a \u201cscore\u201d for the action occurring onstage, the four drummers would provide a low beat that escalated or fell in speed and intensity depending on the mood. However, our connection to the show wasn\u2019t limited to the outskirts. During Ferdinand and Miranda’s marriage, the drummers were part of the ceremony; we danced along with Ariel and her spirits, and we played our instruments feverishly, celebrating the union of the play’s youngest characters. And like Ariel and her spirits, our characters were bound by Prospero\u2019s spell. (We had airbrushed tattoos on our ankles and wrists that represented our magical imprisonment.) We were under his control, and in the final scene of the show, he set all of us\u00a0free in a symbolic ceremony. We exited the island, and the play ended with Prospero reflecting on his life in complete silence.<\/p>\n

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Roger Floyd as Prospero and Samantha Faith O’Hare as Ariel. The Tempest<\/em>\u00a0at Valencia College, 2009. Photo courtesy of Minas Fakrajian.<\/h6>\n<\/div>

There were times when I thought, \u201cI\u2019m made up. My character doesn\u2019t even exist. This story exists without me.\u201d And that\u2019s true. The Tempest <\/em>is a tried and true piece of theatre. There are no \u201cspirit drummers\u201d in Shakespeare\u2019s script. It never called for Caribbean percussion. Without \u201cspirit drummers\u201d at the Globe theatre on November 1, 1611, the show opened and played to audiences. The Tempest <\/em>has been done hundreds \u2013 if not thousands \u2013 of times prior to 2009. However,\u00a0our particular production <\/em>had never been done before. <\/em>This\u00a0was special. My character<\/em>\u00a0was special to this production.<\/p>\n

I realized, after weeks of character development and rehearsals, that I mattered. The actor playing my Air spirit needed her musical introduction during the hurricane in the opening scene. Particular moments in the show needed a certain sound that only my <\/em>drum could provide. I also equaled out the ratio of female drummers to male drummers, giving our small drum circle an evenness of look and energy. Aside from seeing my own worth in that role, I came to understand that, as an actor, I was a small piece of a larger puzzle. Even though I was a vital part of the production, I was not the only<\/em> character. Every role made that particular production what it was, from the Prospero to the Caliban, the Sebastian to the Trinculo, the Ariel to the spirit drummers.<\/p>\n

You are needed for the production in which you are cast.<\/p>\n

In theatre, you cannot help if you are cast as a tertiary role, but you can <\/em>help how much effort you put into making your character more than a name on a page. Your character is your responsibility. You were chosen for a specific reason, even if that reason is not obvious. Let me repeat: your character is not just a name on paper; your character is what you make of them. Don\u2019t drop out because you feel like your talent \u201cisn\u2019t appreciated.\u201d If your talent wasn\u2019t appreciated, you wouldn\u2019t have been cast at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no small parts, only small actors.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAct well your part; there all the honor lies.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Actors usually\u00a0never realize the weight of these adages until later in life. I know I<\/em> didn’t. In high school, I was\u00a0caught up in chaotic personal discovery, and that meant a lot of natural self-centeredness when it came to productions. I felt helpless against a seemingly endless sea of ensemble roles. My heart ran the whole gamut of negative emotions when I wasn’t cast in the role I wanted: vanity, pride, jealousy. But when I saw how creative I could be with my ensemble character, I began to look at ensemble roles differently. In time, vanity turned into a healthy awareness of physical and emotional self; pride transformed into a belief in positive self-worth; jealousy became a desire to educate and better my\u00a0craft.<\/p>\n

Alexander Pope doesn’t say, “Act well your lead<\/em> part.” He says, “Act well your part.” Period.\u00a0When Stanislavski says, \u201cThere are no small parts, only small actors,\u201d he\u2019s not minimizing a child\u2019s emotional response to being cast as a tree. He\u2019s elevating her self-worth. He\u2019s pushing her to dig just as deep into her character as the boy playing the tortoise. He\u2019s telling the girl who read \u201cTree\u201d next to her name that, without her, there would be no forest \u2013 but also that she is not the only role that matters. She is part of a group of people who depend upon each other for a smooth and successful production. His words are a message of encouragement, but also of humility. When we finally find that delicate balance between pride and selflessness, we realize that we are part of something\u00a0greater\u00a0than ourselves: the theatre.<\/p>\n

The video below is of a blocking rehearsal\/safety call\u00a0two weeks prior to opening night. This is the opening scene in which Alonsa (Alonso in the original script) and her companions are caught in Prospero’s tempest. They are surrounded by Ariel’s spirits and scattered by them during the storm. The drumming heard in the background is live. (Video by Amber Leigh Farish.)<\/p>\n