Acting Class: Open Scenes

Thursday, Aug 28th, 2003 - 10:04 pm

(Original Posting at http://irmabelle.diaryland.com)

I had so much fun in my Acting Techniques class Monday night! We did open scenes, which are very vague scripts that we have to fill in all the blanks on. For example:

A: Hey.
B: Hello.
A: Do you want a mint?
B: No thanks.
A: Sure.
B: Wait, why?
A: No special reason.
B: Oh.
A: Want one?
B: OK, thanks.
A: Thank you.

We have to decide what the relationship between the two people is, where the action is taking place, what the circumstances are, what is the conflict. We basically have to build a complete story around the given script.

For example, I performed the above script with a partner, we decided that she was a stranger to me, she had come to a mental hospital to visit a family member, and I was one of the crazy patients that happens to come by and I randomly start talking to her. "Hey!" She wasn't very patient with this. "Hello." I take the mint out of my pocket and make a gesture of friendship: "Do you want a mint?" She barely glances at me: "No thanks." I'm hurt, "Sure." I turn away and start to cry, softly at first, then I start bawling and hyperventalating. Finally, she can't stand it anymore, and says "Wait, why?" I stop crying. "No special reason." She says, "Oh" and turns away again. I try again, "Want one?" Rather than see me start to cry again, she resentfully takes the mint. "Ok, thanks." I start laughing happily, "Thank you!"

Our scene was very comical, but open scenes can be really powerful when given the right type of subtext. For example, another pair used the same script, but the plot was that he was terminally ill, and she was offering him the "mint" as a suicide pill. He's laying on the bed, she enters and sits with him, placing his head on her lap. She says, "Hey". He says "Hello." She takes out the pill, looks at it for several moments, debating wether to offer it. Finally she does: "Do you want a mint?" He, perhaps thinking it is simply pain killers says, "No thanks." She wilts slightly. "Oh." And puts the pill away. He looks up at her, "Wait, why?" She reaches down and picks up a piece of paper off the floor. "No special reason," she says as she hands him the paper. He scans the paper slowly. He lets the paper fall to the floor again: "Oh." She takes out the pill again: "Want one?" He takes the pill from her, "Yes, thanks." He swallows the pill, looks up at her for a few moments, and then quietly passes. She drops her head and says, "Thank you." I think that was one of the most powerful scenes that was performed, and I was so much in awe. The guy has done a LOT of theater before, and it showed in their scene. I never realized that an open scene could be that powerful and that complete.