1) The Physical Action of Acting

"A Practical Handbook for the Actor" is a great book that we are using for this class. It tells you exactly the steps you should follow for actors to comprehend the word "acting" and what that involves as a character and on a scene. offstage and onstage.

Chapter 1

When you are acting, you have to always have something specific to do on stage, otherwise you will stop acting.
So, is a must to define a good action for the actor to do well, this of course requires a lot of practice.
-For an actor to be able to choose a good action he/she must know that he/she is capable of getting it done, I mean physically capable. Only if we are talking about a science fiction movie, we humans are not capable of flying so it will be impossible for me to show an action of levitation in front of class. Not going too far, I could not be capable of doing ten push ups in a row, because I know my limit has always been seven, and i wont do anything to change this fact, Ive never been interested on working my upper body and thats okay.
-Also when actors pick the action, this has to be fun to do, I mean common sense would help, this is not about being funny or making people laugh, its has to do something you enjoy and are comfortable with doing. The language you use is important, the way you use it, its how others will get it onstage.
-This action has to be specific. That way you can be clear and others will get your point as well.
-This action has to be tested with the other person ,this way you know how close you are from completing the action. This also has to be more that telling a message, because this is not something that you could fail at. It has to be a true action that involves feedback from your partner.
-No physical or emotional states can be presupposed. If that happens it would be a lie. Always work looking forward to an end on stage, because even if you cant accomplish your action, you will know when to stop.
-To pick the action the actor has to understand what the playwright's intentions are, so this way this can be in line with it.
With this tools you will be able to analyze a scene and finally get to know what the other person in the scene is doing.