in person

with John Markland

OCtober 16th - December 4th

This session of character development will focus on creating sympathy and rooting power. Humans, you, me, and the rest of us, want to believe we can win or be saved. We look to heroes but that comes with a certain distancing, “yeah, but they have a superpower... they can fucking fly.” We look to the underdogs, Rocky, he ain’t got nothin’ but he’s gonna fight invincible odds to beat the hand dealt to him. We also look to the suffering, like Carmy, in The Bear, haunted by abuse, abandonment, guilt and shame who buries it deep to try and free himself with success.

If you know how to design and play a character that elicits sympathy with a hope, a prayer of winning then we will root for you as if we are rooting for ourselves. “You can do it!” But it must be designed and played with doubt, ‘can they do it,” because then you ask the audience to conjurer some courage and some belief in themselves. “I believe they can do it.” Because then they may have a chance themselves.

Why does Carmy keep his head down when he’s yelling at the other Chefs? Is it because it takes him back to when he was yelled at as a kid? So, his kid is fighting through the shame of not being enough to prove himself? Perhaps. Why do we want those bratty adults on Succession to win? Is it because they have each been stripped of any sense of self from a narcissist dad? What are they doing? How are they behaving that creates that sympathy even if they’re selfish assholes?

Do you want to feel a power when it comes to creating characters and playing them? Do you want to know you’re pulling directly on their heart strings? Do you want to create characters that people see themselves in and would jump in front of a bus for... then you MUST know how to create sympathy and rooting power.

AUDITING