Proxemics and levels
What do the shapes that you create on the stage say about the character relationships and action? Levels are also important and can be useful in denoting a character’s status or power.
The body language is the same in both these images but the distance between the actors completely changes the audience‘s perception of their relationship. The distance between the characters suggests that their relationship isn’t close whilst the folded arms indicate defensiveness.
Always consider the pictures you paint onstage with your bodies. They tell a story. Use the space available to you and make sure that the images you create are visually pleasing for the audience.
Audience awareness and blocking
You need to make sure that your audience can see what is going on. If you repeatedly turn your back to some of the audience when addressing another character then your performance is lost. It is said that you have ‘upstaged yourself’.
Movement is important because it gives a scene pace and energy. There may be moments where characters are still for some time. Stillness can be powerful, but if your whole play is like that then it might be better suited to radio!
You should have some movement around the space, but make sure that it suits the motivations and feelings of the character. They might leap up as they have a sudden realisation or start to pace as their excitement grows.
Some stage shapes demand more movement around the space to ensure that the whole audience feels included. If you have static scenes on traverse, thrust, arena and in the round staging, parts of the audience will see nothing but the backs of the performers. Some parts of your stage may be more prominent than others and draw more of the audience’s focus. Think about how this could affect where actors stand. Experiment.
