A script is like sheet music. Similar to sheet music, a script is just blobs of ink arranged on a sheet of paper in specific configurations and patterns. Music requires a musician and an instrument to bring it to life. A script requires no less, except that the actor is the musician and our voice is the instrument. And more often than not, both are performed with one specific person in mind, even though they are often heard by a much larger audience. Similarly when you’re delivering a script, you are often speaking just to one person, even though the message is intended for the masses. 90% of people will play music exactly as it is written, but it’s the true artists who are so confident in their craft, that they can colour outside the lines, put their own spin on it and create something that is truly unique. And great musicians will likely say that what fosters their creativity is how the music makes them feel.
Famous Acting Coach Sanford Meisner said; “Acting is Reacting”. Which, being very over simplified, means that to force yourself to feel something is un-natural, and the audience knows it. As human beings, we don’t just create feelings. We have an experience and then we have a reaction to that experience. Similarly within a script, we experience the situation first, have a react to the experience, have an opinion or feeling about it, and then vocalize it.
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