When Shakespeare said, “Suit the action to the word, the word to the action,” in Act III, Scene 2 of Hamlet, he summed up a rehearsal technique that would be established properly four centuries later. A term coined by Konstantin Stanislavsky (but, ironically, not part of Stanislavsky’s technique), “actioning” is a process that associates an intention with each line in a script. The methodology begins very early on in an actor’s prep work and takes quite some time to master, but its benefits for actors are innumerable.
The actioning technique was developed in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s by Bill Gaskill and Max Stafford-Clark at the Joint Stock Theatre Company. The bare bones of their approach required their actors to divide their scripts into individual phrases and ideas before attaching an “action verb” (a transitive verb that implies that something is being done to someone or something else). That verb should state the underlying intention of the line, allowing the performer to develop their portrayal with purpose instead of improvisation. Examples of action verbs include tempt, soothe, provoke, encourage, and calm.
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Actioning doesn’t belong to the Stanislavskian school. Where the Russian practitioner required his students to immerse themselves in their own psychology to channel their character, actioning urges the actor to look at their surroundings rather than focusing on themselves.
Actioning supports acting teacher Stella Adler’s belief that “acting is reacting” more than it does Stanislavsky’s method. If post-Stanislavskian active analysis pushed the actor’s engagement with the writing to a moment in which they are physiologically, physically, and emotionally inserted in the story, Gaskill and Stafford-Clark want the text to be the pillar of the performance.
Actioning eases the pressure of finding your motivation during improvisation. As an actor, you will be faced with characters whose morals and actions are exceptionally different from yours. Identifying how these characters react and function in the world through the actions that hide in their dialogue could help you find a way into their psyche.
Once you receive your script, read it a couple of times before learning your lines in order to have a strong idea of what it’s really about. Once you know what happens, focus on your character and try to understand their relationship with the others, as well as with the plot itself. Ask yourself how they serve the main plot and what their general motivations are. Then, go into breaking down your lines into separate, smaller concepts. That’s where actioning truly begins.
Start by asking what your character wants in a particular scene. Depending on what their objective is, the verbs you’ll use with each sentence could change drastically. Remember: You’re not making any changes to the script; these action verbs are for your record only and are merely there to add context and flex the meaning of the lines.
Uncovering the character’s inner monologue may be helpful when their actions contradict or are in conflict with their endgame. The choice of verb will depend on the subtext and what you seek to convey: A door can be held in haste, politely, or seductively, so it’s important to figure out what you want to achieve by keeping the door open for somebody else.
It may be daunting to choose a suitable verb, and that is where many actors get discouraged. Those in need of further encouragement may want to pick up a copy of Marina Caldarone and Maggie Lloyd-Williams’ Actions: The Actor’s Thesaurus or Nick Moseley’s Actioning – and How to Do It. (You can also simply go online and find a free thesaurus!) It’s really helpful to have a list of verbs in front of you, especially if synonyms are included. To soothe, to placate, and to assuage may mean the same thing, for instance, but their nuances have distinct implications.
You can toy around with various subtextual implications, too, and find out which one works better for your character. Assigning different actioning verbs to your lines will affect your posture and your movements. “To persuade” versus “to order,” for example.
You can also try different perspectives, using contrasting and antonymic verbs to see how your delivery adapts, such as “to appease” versus “to challenge.” You can try the process of interrogating a character’s drive as a solo endeavour – applying differing action verbs to your lines – but it’s useful to check in with your director to confirm that your ideas align with their vision, because actioning can be time-consuming.
The short version is: No, actioning may not work for you. Some performers find the act of concentrating their character’s aim in one word useful, but others believe that actioning limits their intuition and prevents them from finding their performance as they play it.
In Actioning – and How to Do It, Moseley says that many have criticised this approach for being “inorganic” and for denying actors the opportunity to rehearse and interact with the other cast members to build their character. It’s true that choosing a specific action verb can constrict delivery and restrain an actor’s natural impulse, but professional performances have a strict outline anyway.
Productions rarely will allow individuals to stray from the written play or the director’s vision. Yet, even with all the limitations and boundaries of a performance, an actor still finds ways to be reactive and instinctive. Actioning is no different. The scope of an action verb is broad, and it’s key to see it as a support rather than a hindrance. Just like the blocking of a scene can prevent an actor from roaming freely around the stage by focusing their presence in a place, an action verb can give you structure and guidance to act within its scope so you don’t lose sight of your endgame.
Remember that the first action verb you choose doesn’t have to be the one you’ll use when refining your performance. Allow yourself to change your mind and give yourself permission to discover the character as you go. Nothing is written in stone when it comes to acting. Your performance should remain fluid and open to direction, so go with the flow and trust what feels right for you.
Whether or not it’s ultimately right for you, actioning is worth a try in your acting journey. You may find that you can use some aspects of the technique for your personal practice, or you may reject the constriction altogether.