[music is my life!!!]

how to cry?

for my gcse coursework, i'm playing a 10 year old who gets into a big argument with her best friend. she's very sensitive and now cannot trust anyone.

how do you suggest i do this? i need to stay in character - obviously - but i can't exactly be crying thru excitemnt...



i need to be able to do it while i'm on stage, so i can't use any eye-drops or anything like that.

thanks for any advice you can give me!

(btw sorry if this is inthe wrong place, it just seemed like a logical place for me to put this thread )

luv ya all!

x x x

[music is my life!!!]

i REALLY need advice on how to do this - i've got one week before i go back to school, so i need to prepare and show my friends and teacher the improvement!

[ConverseSneaker]

Well, I can't help as much as I might be able to, without knowing the script, but I would try switching tactics. Crying one moment, then accusing the friend the next. Make it interesting and unexpected to keep the audience's interest so they want to see how you would react next.

Good Luck!

[Claire]

There isn't really any definitive technique to crying. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it is a very difficult thing to do realistically. I find that acting as if you are trying hard NOT to cry can be just as effective as real tears. Trembling lips, blinking, and turning your back can all suggest crying and sadness without physically having to cry.
However, if it's unavoidable I find that focusing on a characters motivation helps me a lot. Why is she crying? At what intensity? Is she hysterical, or just sobbing quietly? What is the buildup to her bursting into tears? It's important that the audience sees the progresion, as opposed to her just bursting into tears (sorry if you already know all this and I'm being in any way patronizing, but it's surprising how many drama students say 'okay, shes had an argument/is sad, she can cry here.')

Anyway sorry for the long windedness of this reply, I hope it helps, and good luck with it!

xx

[music is my life!!!]

ooh! thanks you!

basically, she thinks her best friend is picking on her, and in the home she's in no one ese will be her friend. her friend takes what happened to my character's Dad (he was shot and mugged) and uses it against me...

does that give you a good ide4a of the situation?

[MaryMag]

Can you explain to me why you MUST cry in this scene? Because it's in the script? Because it's really emotional? Because you want to?

Unfortunately, yes to any of these 3 questions is not good enough. The only time you should cry on stage is when it comes.

There are some camps of actors that are annoyed by crying. It would take me some time to elaborate but I completely agree with them. Crying or not crying will not move your audience - it is how emotionally involved you are in the scene. An actor can be boring as all hell and uninvolved and still have tears going. Conversely, an acting can be dry as a bone but bringing the audience to tears cuz he's brought his character to such sincere emotional heights.

Another good rule - don't cry before the audience does.

So ultimately, and pardon me if I sound blunt or rude - but wanting to cry just to cry is a sign of an amature actor. One time a fellow actor of me clicked his tongue at me and said I didn't do the Hodel/Tevye train station scene right cuz I was supposed to be crying. I am a stuck up ho and laughed at his amature assumption that tears = powerful or tears = good acting chops.

So dear, worry more about getting what you want from your scene parter and worry more about taking his/her words/actions in and sincerely, powerfully reacting/responding to them.