Verbatim Theatre acting.. (1 Viewer)

[Hannahjoy]

For one of our assessments we've been asked to perform two verbatim style monologues...when I asked how to 'theatricalise' our pieces to stick to the verbatim style all she said was to 'not be the character but to be someone portraying or mimicking a person/character'
If I'm being honest all this did was confuse and stress me further... I've tried looking up different verbatim styled pieces on YouTube to help me visualise how this is done but there is virtually nothing....
Can anyone help or give me further direction?

 

[Absolutezero]

Think of it this way, imagine you are playing someone radically different from yourself, an 80 year old polish man for example. No matter how much you try and imitate the voice, the physical ticks, the style of speech, movement and thought; the outward physical appearance will never actually resemble the character. You are just too different. So to portray the idea realistically, you need to try something else.

What you need to do is focus on the ideas being presented and the type of person that holds those ideas. You then create a representation of that type of person. So with our old man example, you don't need to develop the physical presentation of someone like that, you just need to be able to replicate that type of thought pattern. So you don't need to make specific character choices in the strictest sense, because the individual is less important. Focus on the rhythms that person develops. An old man walks and speaks slowly. Their voice is weak and frail. There is no backstory, just a man and a moment.