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UPGRADING ESSENTIAL ACTIONS FOR STRONGER/CLEARER CHOICES

UPGRADING THE VERBS

 

In the early rehearsals, the actor is tentative and their choice of verb may be weak, frail, thin. Their choice may be a verb, but it may not be strong enough to throw one's shoulder behind. Particularly in the first scenes of a play, in which the playwright is wrestling with the artfulness of their exposition, the actor comes up with a shrug: "I'm merely telling him about the procedures around here." What would happen if we were to upgrade that objective? 

"I'm merely telling him about the procedures around here."  VERB: TELL

TELL may not be a strong choice of verbs.

TELL - INFORM - RELAY - DOCUMENT - EXPLAIN - PROVE - CONVINCE -BOMBARD - OVERWHELM

 

Now, how would it be if, instead of telling or informing him of the procedures of the house, you were to overwhelm him with the procedures, or even bombard him with the procedures? The upgraded verb may seem outsized at first, but we remember that it is inevitably modified by the conditions or given circumstances of the scene and will therefore not appear to the audience as an exaggerated choice. 

 

Other examples of upgrading:

 

CHARM her- FASCINATE her - DAZZLE her - WIN her - MANIPULATE her - SEDUCE her - SURROUND her - OVERWHELM her - DOMINATE her - VICTIMIZE her - CONOUER her - POSSESS her - OCCUPY her

 

COMPLIMENT him - FLATTER him - PRAISE him - REINFORCE him - ENCOURAGE him - STRENGTHEN him - FORTIFY him - INVIGORATE hir - ELEVATE him - EXALT him - IMMORTALIZE him - LIONIZE him - MONARCHIZE him -DEIFY him





Ball, William. A Sense of Direction. New York : Drama Book Publishers, 1984.

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