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Punctuation in Acting

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58 views3 pages

Punctuation in Acting

Uploaded by

aimee
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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PUNCTUATION IN ACTING

THE SENTENCE ENDER OR THOUGHT ENDERS . ? !

The Period .

● The Full stop officially is the end point of a declarative statement. A statement is a fully
formed thought (made of a subject and predicate). Playwrights use full stops to end
thoughts, and the punctuation should be honoured to let that thought sink in for both the
person saying it, their scene partner and the audience. A fact.

The Question Mark ?

● You are asking a question. If you ask a question (that's not rhetorical) you expect an
answer. If you rail over the space in which someone might answer you have ignored the
intentions of the character and the playwright.

The Exclamation Point !

● The Exclamation point is linked to a sudden outcry in speech. A discover! For the
purpose of acting you need to look at the exclamation point as the end of a thought that
has been infused with emotion in some way.

THE THOUGHT SHIFTERS , ; :

The Comma ,

● The comma is a shift in thought or a realization that helps support what is being said.

The Semicolon ;

● The semicolon is literally a period, followed by a comma, and this should indicate exactly
what it does. It creates a close relationship between two independent thoughts that are
more closely linked to each other than had they been seperated by just a full stop. They
can exist without each other, but don’t really want to. The actor should pay close
attention to why these things are so closely linked.
The Colon :

● The colon, like the semi-colon tells us, in its structure exactly where to go as an actor.
Two full stops. These thoughts can be used in two ways. To indicate that the second
thought will explain the first, or that the listener needs to pay attention, because this next
bit is important.

THE PACE OF THOUGHT -- /

The Dash --

● The dash in grammar indicates range and connection. Connection being the most
important aspect for the actor. Use the dash as a conduit for thought. It surges forward
like it's been grabbed by the current and flies out of you rushing to the next thought.

Note: that the grammatical hyphen is used in the same sense but within words. The effect joins
words together with a slightly elevated lexical tempo. For example Merry-Go-Round.

The Slash /

● The Slash is a modern mark of punctuation and usually is found in the world of science
and mathematics. When it appears in a script it usually acts in counterpoint to the dash in
that is halts the progression of a thought and is often used to cut the actor off.

THE CLARIFICATION OR LOSS OF THOUGHT () “” ...

The Parenthesis ()

● The parenthesis (like the Brackets or Braces {}[] in technical punctuation) are there to
create further clarifying thought for the actor linked to the thought before it. In addition to
this, depending if the thought within the parenthesis is random, it indicates a kind of
brain-fart that may be linked to the thought via subtext.
● Parentheses can be used to provide clarity or inform the actor how to say a line through
stage direction.
The Quotation Marks “ ”

● The quotation marks indicate that we are speaking the words of another person and in the
world of acting, when they show up it is a direct order that you must make some
alteration to your voice. A huge shift isn't always necessary, but an actor must somehow
indicate to the audience that these words are not your own. Play with the timbre and pitch
of the voice, see what you can do to differentiate.

The Ellipsis …

● The ellipsis is often mistaken as a place where you are cut off...in actuality it's also used
as a trailing off of thought or a loss of thought. The three full stops show us a loss of
clarity. Find a way to lose your train of thought...it may very well be that this enables
another actor or character to interrupt but keeping the loss of clarity within you keeps you
in the moment, and avoids your performance becoming too planned.

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