Graphic by Janani Murugesan
By Willow Symonds
Staff Writer
The stage is floor-level and painted black to disappear in the audiences’ mind. A variety of set pieces and props stand against the back wall, like the black boxes that blend with the stage and furniture that mismatch in color and texture, ready to be put in place for the next rehearsal.
“Both Acting 1 and 2 have made me uncomfortable in the best way possible,” Acting 1 student Shelby Vantreese said. “I like [Foster Johns IV’s] style of teaching a lot.”
This is Foster Johns IV’s first semester teaching at WCC. While Johns hadn’t met the former instructor, Tracy Jaffe, he had read her class syllabus, and he realized that they have similar teaching styles and attitudes toward theater.
“The students are my favorite aspect,” he said. “I love teaching actors, but I also love teaching those new to acting.”
Anju Nieves rehearses a monologue in Acting 1, while Andrea Lattimore, Charity Dillard, Kendra Conely, Jonathan Jackson, and Hope Bernard watch to give feedback. Taken by Robin Wyllie-Scholz.
Johns stressed that acting classes are for everyone, no matter their career path. Many students have some kind of stage experience, even if said experience was from years ago, but not everyone does. Students in these acting classes also have a variety of majors, from healthcare to social work to business and more. Some don’t even know what to study and just want something creatively engaging.
What brings students furthest out of their comfort zone is, “…anything that asks them to be seen,” according to Johns. “It instills this idea into students that, ‘I did that, and I’m not gonna die.’ I never push anyone to the deep end either, but I do encourage them to be seen. It’s applicable to many parts of their life.”
Theater classes are not about lectures or note-taking, and the only type of studying is rehearsing lines and blocking movements on stage. While students still have to put in effort, the work feels fun to them. It’s like kids playing make-believe but with more depth. However, getting used to this may be a challenge for some people.
“Inviting the introvert to be seen is one thing; Inviting the extrovert to do nothing is another,” Foster said. “My favorite acting lesson: Dare to be boring. What makes for a compelling performance is someone just being – something so strikingly human that it reminds you of someone you know, someone you’ve seen at the grocery store, yet in extraordinary circumstances.”
One huge acting tool that both Jaffe and Johns teach is, “the moment before.” What happened to a character prior to the scene explains what led to their actions in said scene. Actors wonder, “What was my character thinking or feeling a few minutes ago?” or “What caused my character to respond this way?” This can ground their performances into reality. Instead of their character living for the scene, the scene is alive because of the character.
People don’t have to be actors to use this technique, nor are they limited to understanding only fictional characters. Johns believes that character studies act as a microscope, not just for the character, but for the actor and the people around them.
Acting students – or anyone, really – are unlikely to use this microscope as they would in a biology class, magnifying whatever their teacher handed them, only observing such a narrow space from an aesthetics standpoint. This microscope may act more like a flashlight: Some of their surroundings will illuminate more than others, and they realize this is because those specific things relate to their own experiences: “I’ve seen something just like this,” “I remember that this made me feel this certain emotion,” and “I reacted like this because I felt this way.”
Shelby Vantreese, for example, said she learned to connect with her scene partner emotionally, and that helped her acting choices and comfort in the class.
Johns said that he would love for every student to widen their depth of expression, but he would still appreciate hearing, ‘This hasn’t completely changed my world, but gosh, it was fun.’
“If it ends up being just fun,” he said, “then that’s the biggest gift in a world like this right now.”
ITS OWN THING ON THE SIDE:
Now that students can choose their winter 2023 classes, the beginner drama classes – such as Theater Appreciation, Improv 1, and Acting 1 – are available.