Actioning: A Technique for Actors to Give Purpose to Each and Every Line

"Actioning" came from Stanislavski (1863-1938), a Russian actor & theorist who sought to enhance depth of emotion and honesty in the performances of actors.  Actioning, in a nutshell, is the choosing of a verb (action word) to think of subconsciously during the delivery of a line to another actor. One line, one sentence, one breath - one Action. This technique comes in handy when trying to find meaning to a sentence or line which is confusing or the purpose of delivering such a line is unclear.  If an actor puts action words to every line they deliver in a script, it is ensured that every line will be delivered with meaning and purpose.

When putting actions to your lines it is best to fill in the blank: "I ______ you" with a transitive verb (a 'doing' word).  To better express the effectiveness of this technique, I will use a simple line as follows: "How do you like your coffee?".  Think of the following action words prior to reading the question.
-[I avoid you] "How do you like your coffee?"
-[I seduce you] "How do you like your coffee?"
-[I disturb you] "How do you like your coffee?"
-[I aggravate you] "How do you like your coffee?"

Actioning can also prove to be extremely effective when two actors, who share several minutes of dialogue within a script, work together to create action words that can motivate and drive a conversation into a specific direction. For example, let's take an excerpt from PICNIC by William Inge:
HOWARD: [I soothe you] Here we are, Honey. [I show you] Right back where we started from.
ROSEMARY: [I puzzle you] Uhh.
HOWARD: [I encourage you] You were awful nice to me tonight, Rosemary.
ROSEMARY: [I disregard you] Uhh.
HOWARD: [I coax you] Do you think Mrs.Owens suspects anything?
ROSEMARY: [I seduce you]  I don't care if she does.
HOWARD: [I assure you] A business man's got to be careful of talk. [I praise you] And after all, you're a school teacher.  [I dismiss you] Well, I guess I better be gettin' back to Cherryvale. [I avoid you] I gotta open up the store in the morning...
ROSEMARY: [I tackle you] Where you goin', Howard?
HOWARD: [I beg you] Honey, I gotta get home.

You can take the EXACT same dialogue and give it a different feel and meaning by simply changing the action words:
HOWARD: [I disgust you] Here we are, Honey. [I repulse you] Right back where we started from.
ROSEMARY: [I avoid you] Uhh.
HOWARD: [I fondle you] You were awful nice to me tonight, Rosemary.
ROSEMARY: [I annoy you] Uhh.
HOWARD: [I worry you] Do you think Mrs.Owens suspects anything?
ROSEMARY: [I oppose you]  I don't care if she does.
HOWARD: [I ignore you] A business man's got to be careful of talk. [I cheapen you] And after all, you're a school teacher.  [I educate you] Well, I guess I better be gettin' back to Cherryvale. [I dissarm you] I gotta open up the store in the morning...
ROSEMARY: [I idolize you] Where you goin', Howard?
HOWARD: [I humiliate you] Honey, I gotta get home.

I use "Actions: The Actors' Thesaurus" by Marina Caldarone & Maggie Llyod-Williams when putting action words to my lines in a script. The book also includes a forward by Terry Johnson wich goes into greater depth & detail about Actioning, the origins, how to identify action words and select the most effective actions for a line.

Whenever you can't grasp why you say something or what your intentions are or what you want to do to another character, ACTION!

The Intent to Live, by Larry Moss

This Book CHANGED MY LIFE!!!

Anyone and everyone interested in Theatre as an Actor, Director or Producer MUST OWN THIS BOOK!

I was playing the role of Irma Kronkite in William Hinge's PICNIC at the Palace Theatre in London, Ontario when the director (Don Fleckser) recommended that each of us as cast members find a copy of this book, rent it, read it buy it WHATEVER...just get your hands on this book!  So I did :)

Larry Moss delves a bit into his own life experiences and the steps he's taken to get where he is today.  If you do not know who Larry Moss is - PLEASE view his interview on Youtube in which he talks about his book, "the Intent to Live"

In this book, Moss describes building a character from "the ground up", superobjective and objective (getting what you want), Obstacles & Intention (how you get what you want), Stakes (what is it worth to you), Inner Imagery "the Life Within", Finding your Triggers (Emotions on Demand), Defining and Redefining your character, back story and biography of your character and SO MUCH MORE!

What I have enjoyed most about this book was the lessons Moss teaches between the lines.  In chapter 5, Moss discusses a monologue in Maxwell Anderson's Winterset and describes it as a "vivid and disturbing monologue".  The monologue is actually given in the book however, Moss recommends that any reference used or touched upon to express an opinion, thought or lesson which the reader is unfamiliar with, should (for their own benefit) research it!  There are so many references in this book and his lessons are powerful.  Without researching the actual pieces he quotes, the reader will only get half of the lesson to be learned.

By reading "the Intent to Live", I have become more knowledgeable about playwrights whom I did not know existed, I've learned various approaches to creating characters and working with a script, I've learned how to respect the playwright by using the given facts in a script to create exceptional characters without losing the intentions of the writer, and I now understand that acting is NOT just about being funny and making people laugh and being entertaining - it's about bringing someone else to life and making people feel and care.

"Acting represents all that human beings experience, and if you want it to be 'nice', you will never be a serious communicator of the human experience...You can't stay clean and tidy and be an actor."

Thank-you Larry Moss for the wake-up call.

Now, I'm ready to work!