A Rough Guide to Acting in MET Play

by Matthew Hooper

    "So, what's this weird hobby of yours you do on weekends?" Most Mind's Eye Theater players have faced this awkward question from well-meaning friends or relatives at some point. It's never an easy one to tackle. How do you explain to your dear Aunt Edna that you pretend to be a werewolf on alternate Tuesdays without making her cough up her dentures and give your folks embarrassed glances? Do you lie and tell her you like to take long, soulful walks in the woods? After all, you can leave out the part where you bay at the moon. Do you just dodge the question by complementing on her new crocheted sweater?

    A lot of players settle for this half-truth: "I'm in an improvisational theater troupe." It sounds nice and profound. The conversation can move on again safely. After all, theater is a respectable hobby. And while improv comedy isn't Shakespeare, Clive Anderson and his friends had a huge hit with that Whose Line is it Anyway? show of theirs. Theater is an ancient, noble art where you dress up and pretend to be someone else in front of an audience, while live-action games, why, they're some scruffy hobby where..er...you do the same thing without an audience. And with some games of Rock-Paper-Scissors tossed in to boot.

    Hmm. Maybe that convenient explanation isn't so far from the truth after all.

    Live-action gaming is a form of theater, pure and simple. Mind you , there's no audience at a LARP, but that doesn't mean that you aren't acting when you assume the role. Acting and live-action gaming are both about playing make believe. Acting focuses exclusively on taking that "make believe" as far as possible, while LARPers just settle for enjoying ourselves.

    Sure, live-action roleplaying is just a game. So is chess. So is business. So is a love affair. So is art. A game is any activity with rules and a goal and a lot of joy involved with the process. Some of the best games - like love or business - are deadly serious. Theater is as much a game as any LARP, in its own way. You just don't keep score the same way.

    Trust me. Ask any actor. They aren't in it for the money. Why do you think we're called "starving artists"?

Acting in a LARP and acting on stage isn't quite the same . You have to work a lot harder on your concentration in a LARP than on stage. You have more freedom - and more work - at a game than n front of the footlights. But the raw pleasure of it all is the same. When you're In Character (in capital letters), you know it, and you never forget how good it feels.

    It's hard to explain what that feeling is like. It's not a matter of "forgetting" yourself. You don't suddenly develop Multiple Personality Disorder. You just focus completely on the moment. Forget that you're in a high school gym. Forget you're speaking in sonnets. Forget that your tights itch. If you put all these things away and concentrate - really concentrate - on being someone else for an hour, it can be magic. You're never going to "be" that person, but you're going to be more in tune with yourself by focusing on making that role come to life.

    You can feel it on stage all the time. At an MET game, it's a lot more rare, but those moments of clarity are present. The tests and the rules exist to make those magic moments when the world comes alive happen. And with a little practice, those moments happen a lot more often.

    This article is intended to help coach you through getting into character for a LARP, using some basic theater techniques. You won't be ready to star in the Scottish play after reading these steps, but you will find it easier to enter and stay in character if you follow them. Before your next game, give them a try and see what happens. With any luck, you'll be able to find those In Character moments more easily, once you have an idea of how to get there.

Focus: Putting the Day Away

    The most important aspect of making a character is concentration. It's all about focus. You can't convince anybody you're an 18th century vampire if you're talking about the latest episode of Dawson's Creek or catching up on the latest gossip. Building a character takes work. If you're not concentrating on the job, it'll slip away from you.

    Before you start your next game, take a minute to walk away from the crowd and get yourself ready. Take a few deep breaths. Think about all the things you did today, the good and the bad. Take a moment to look at them. Then breath out. Put those things away. For the next couple of hours, you don't need to worry about them. You're here to pretend to be someone else for a few hours, right? So get serious about it. Set the day's worries aside. Above all, take your time. Leave the stuff that's outside the game, outside the game.

    The biggest distraction any actor can face is stage fright. when you start to worry what the audience thinks about you, your concentration is shot. If you worry about what the other players think about you, you can't focus. If you can't focus, you can't do the job correctly.

    If you're afraid, you're afraid. That's fine. Focus on who you are and what you're doing. Ignore the spectators. Think about what you are doing right now. Take that fear, look at it a little bit, and then set it on the shelf with today's troubles. You've got something else to do for the next few hours. You're too busy to be scared.

    There is no hurry here. Take as much time as you need to get ready. If the game starts without you, fine. It's always better to be late and be 100 percent there, than to do a poor job.

    Now try something really scary: Stretch. That's right, move around a bit. Roll your neck and stretch out your back. You're going to be using your body as much as your brain for the next few hours. Acting is as much a physical exercise as a mental one. You need to have both in gear.

    Take one more deep breath for luck. Ready? Good. All right, pick up your character and start finding a way into him.

Getting Started: Inside and Outside

    There's an old story in theater how Dustin Hoffman and Sir Lawrence Olivier prepared for their roles in the movie Marathon Man. Sir Lawrence Olivier was playing a torturer, and Hoffman was his victim.

    Hoffman really got into the role he was playing: he didn't sleep for three days before the shoot. He didn't eat the day before. The day of the shoot, he didn't bathe. Finally, he showed up to the set, ready to go.

    Sir Lawrence Olivier was waiting for him. He stared at his young partner and exclaimed, "Good Lord! You look terrible! What on earth happened to you?"

    "I starved myself for the role," Hoffman replied groggily.

    Sir Lawrence Olivier stared at him a bit, and then replied crisply: "My dear boy. Next time try acting. It's so much easier."

    Hoffman and Olivier both had very different techniques for getting into character. Hoffman built on the "interior technique" of acting. He put himself through some really nasty experiences to learn what it felt like to be tortured. Then he took those personal experiences to his character. The end result was a very realistic performance. (Maybe too realistic for those downwind of him.)

    Sir Lawrence, on the other hand, used an older technique - the "exterior technique." He focused on how his character moved - how the torturer stood, how he walked, how he stared at Hoffman. Then he listened to what those changes in his body did to his voice and his heart, and he carried them through to the stage. The end result was just as good, and just as credible, as Hoffman's. 

    Both techniques offer a window into getting inside a character. So which technique is best to use in Mind's Eye Theatre? Both, of course.

Exterior Technique

    First and foremost, acting is an active process. Saying so sounds silly, but it's an undeniable basic of the art. You tell your audience who you are with your body. Your posture defines your personality more than anything else about you. It doesn't matter how detailed your character background is. It doesn't matter if you tell me you're a professional bodyguard who lived through the Punic Wars. If I don't see it in your walk, I don't believe you, and nothing you say can convince me. And if you can't convince me, how can you convince yourself?

    Actors often refer to their bodies as instruments. An actor "uses his instrument" to convey a role to an audience. It sounds pretentious (or dirty, if your mind works like that), but there's a lot of truth there. Without an understanding of it, it doesn't matter how much thought and research you put into a role. If an audience doesn't see your work, you're as effective as a trombonist who hums along to the orchestra. An entire philosophy of acting, called the Alexander Technique, is devoted to this idea of acting with your body. We don't have space for the thousands of pages written about it, but here are some highlights.

    Try this on for size. Get up out of your chair and start walking. Don't think about walking, just walk like you were getting a coke from the fridge. Okay. Now speed up a little. Don't run. Just pick up the pace. Concentrate, now. Don't think about how silly you may look, just do it.

    While you're walking, think about how you're standing. When you walk through the door to the kitchen, what's the first part of your body that passes the door frame? No, it's not your feet - not unless you're taking giant steps. Odds are it's your nose or your hips or your stomach.

    What happens when you lead with your chin? Don't stick out like you were taking a punch, just think about leading with you chin. Keep it small. Turn around. When you turn, what part of your body turns first? Try to move in such a way that your chin is the first thing that moves when you decide to hang a left into the kitchen.

    Clench your jaw. Swing your arms. Clench your fists. Unclench them. Swing your head from side to side, like you were working a kink in your back out.

    Stop. How do you feel?

    If you said "Angry," that's good. You paid attention to what your body was telling you. Congratulations. You just acted.

    A lot of times, you can slip right onto a role just by concentrating on how a character moves. Bodyguards, scholars and slaves all stand in completely different ways. If you pay attention to this aspect of your character, you'll go a long way toward getting into his shoes.

    Body language is absolutely crucial for the more animalistic roles in the World of Darkness, like those of the Garou. Do you want to play a lupus-breed werewolf? Do yourself a favor. Plant yourself in front of the Discovery Channel. Watch wolves for an hour or two. A wolf moves in a certain way. He reacts in a certain way. How do you take your two-legged body and make yourself move like that wolf on the television screen? Try it and find out. Eventually, you'll never have to say, "I'm a lupus," to other players. They'll know before you can say a word.

   Show the other players what you are. One of the worst sins you can commit at a game is to raise your fingers and explain yourself. Don't say, "You can see that I'm really beaten up." Don't say, "You can see that I'm furious." Show these things! How does someone move when they've been beaten to a pulp? How do you look at someone when you're ready to chew nails and spit baling wire? Part of you probably knows. At some time in your life, you've been that bruised. You've probably been that angry as well. Feel those feelings all over again, and let your fellow gamers see it. The fewer times you have to step out of character, the stronger your character will be.

   Before you enter your next game, spend some time thinking about how your character moves. How does he walk? Is he sneaky? Lead with your nose. Is he arrogant? Lead with your chin. Try as many things as you like. Don't just think about these mannerisms, try them. If you are sitting in a chair pondering all of this stuff, you've missed the point.

   Costuming helps a great deal in figuring out the body language of your character. An evening gown forces you to move in a certain way. So does a tuxedo or a pair of blue jeans or a doublet or hose. It's hard to slouch in a tuxedo or gown. You have to keep your back straight. As a result, you look more formal. And if you look formal, you feel formal. Incorporate those restrictions into your character's movement. Every small cue informs your character choices; they all help you decide what does and doesn't fit in your game play.

   Now that you've got your character up on its feet, it's time to turn your brain on and start thinking through your role.

Interior Technique

   Start going over your character history at this point. Run it through your head like a good movie or a slideshow. Pick three events from your character history that you consider important.

   Take a good look at those important moments. Play them back in your head. Go into detail. What did you see? What did you hear? What did you smell? What did you touch? Try and drag all five senses in to the mix.

   Try and really immerse yourself into the moment, at least for now.

   Now start taking a peek into your character's head. What was he feeling when these things happened?

   Let's say that your character's father was killed by the Sabbat. How would that make your character feel? Angry? Sure. How about afraid? After all, your father was far more powerful than you were once. How about disappointment? You always thought your dad was stronger than this. How about happy? What did your father do to you that would make you happy to see him dead? Hmmm...

    Maybe some answers are right. Maybe some aren't. But ask every question you can, even the ones you think are wrong. Maybe you'll be surprised. People are capable of the most amazing things sometimes. Don't settle for the easy answers.

    Above all, avoid saying no. Consider everything. Try everything. You owe it to yourself to look at every option. One of the greatest joys about this hobby is that you can be absolutely anyone or anything. You owe it to yourself to explore every possibility, even the ones that you wouldn't normally allow yourself to look at twice.

    Now that you've explored these emotions in your character, try and link them to your own experiences in the world. It doesn't matter if your character is a centuries old vampire or a bloodthirsty werewolf or whatever. You've had feelings and experiences that are similar to that creature. If it was impossible to empathize with a character, he'd be boring. If you can imagine a character, you can step into his shoes. It's just a matter of trying. There are no such things as aliens in this world, only strangers.

    Maybe your parents haven't been killed by anybody, but have you experienced the feelings that your character felt when his father was killed? Can you remember what it was like to be afraid for your father? When were you angry with your father?  Were you ever disappointed with your father? What did those things feel like? Think of those moments. Think of your character history. Splice them together. Now you've really got material to work with.

    A lot of material has been written about this internal technique for acting. It's called the Stanislavsky Technique, and again, we don't have a thousand pages to discuss it. The material you've got here is a good start, however. Don't be afraid to take risks, to make choices, and to ask questions. There are no wrong answers here - only answers that you're afraid to try. dare it. Try them. Remember, it's only a game. The world of make believe is a wonderful place to explore your heart. As long as you keep the line between fantasy and reality strong, you can find some amazing things.

    One final note; Make sure that your character's Nature and Demeanor agree with the choices you've made about the character so far. You'll be using those two little words as a touchstone for your character's innermost desires as the game goes on. Don't be surprised if, after all this work, you find that the character's Nature is completely different from what you thought it was going to be. When you start on a creative process like this, it tends to develop a direction all its own. Change it around until the Nature and Demeanor fit again, and get ready to move on.

Taking Action: Acting Within the Game

    So, you feel like you're getting into character. You're ready to get into the game. Good. Now the work really begins.

    Acting applies to your body, and it applies to your mind. When you start playing the game, you need to make an active choice about what you're going to get done that night. 

    We make choices every day, and most of which aren't terribly important.  We decide what to have for lunch. We decide what to wear. Theater, and acting, is all about making choices too. Big choices. The bigger, the better. Hamlet isn't deciding on lunch, he's deciding whether he should kill himself or murder his stepfather. The choices  you make need to be active choices, things that other people can see and hear, so that they can react to your actions and make the story happen.

    What does your character want tonight? before you answer that question, keep the following guideline in mind: Don't answer in the passive tense. Acting is an active process, remember? Your goal can't be "stay alive." That's boring. Try the goal "kill anyone who tries to hurt me." Or maybe even "run away from anyone who tries to hurt me."' As long as you have something for your character to do, you're in good shape.

    How about the goal "become prince"? Try harder. Become is a pretty passive word. How about the goal "kill the old prince," or "discredit the old prince"? Those active goals are much better.

    Make sure that your choice is informed by all the work that you've done so far. Don't choose to kill the prince for the heck of it. Choose it if your character wants it, for reasons all his own. And don't be afraid to set impossible goals for yourself. It's the choice that is important here, not your success or failure. Your goal, as a player, is to create the most interesting story you can tonight. Your character's goal should be chosen with that fact firmly in mind.

    Keep the choices big. Don't make your goal for the evening "get an ice cream cone." That's too easy. Once you get it , you'll be stuck for something to do for the rest of the evening. A good story involves a big decision. big decisions entail big risks. Never settle for second best. Don Quixote didn't become a librarian or a writer, he set out to restore the lost age of chivalry. Be ambitious in setting your goals. Even if your character fails in his quest, you won't have failed to tell an epic story.

    Stuck? Try looking at your character's Nature and Demeanor. Your character wants something very specific from life. If his Nature is Bravo, he wants to scare people. If it's Judge, he wants to find the truth. Your character's Demeanor lets you know how the character gets the things his Nature demands. If your Nature is Bravo, and your Demeanor is Critic, you may want to ruin someone's self esteem by criticizing her at every turn. When all else fails, use your Nature and Demeanor as a the touchstones for your character's desires.

    Don't become obsessed with this one goal, however, unless your character is thusly deranged. Goals can change during the course of a game. You can want different things. You can even want completely opposite things. After all, every vampire wants to let the Beast out, but at the same time, he wants to keep it in check. That internal conflict is a great way to bring depth and excitement to your character. Be ready to go with major course changes when they happen. You can anticipate everything that can happen to a character. You can only react.

    What if your goal conflicts with another player's goal? Good. That's what good roleplaying is all about. A conflict lies at the heart of all good theater. Every single staged production you can think of (from No Exit to Wrestlemania) has a struggle of some kind in it. You get involved in LARPs to stage a production and tell a story, and conflict is what makes that story work.

    What if your goal conflicts with another player's goal, try your damnedest to get your way. You have every option in the book open to you - you can beg, you can whimper, you can threaten, you can bribe, and you can even kill. But don't back down. At least, don't back down until a more important goal comes across your path. Most people try to suppress conflict in real life. They get along with their coworkers and their friends, so that we can all survive the day smoothly. You aren't required to play nice in the World of Darkness. Don't be afraid to stop playing nice and go for the jugular. (Figuratively speaking, of course.)

    When you're playing a supernatural creature like a vampire or a werewolf you have a lot of freedom. You can go to extremes that human beings can never dream of. The anger of a werewolf is legendary. The passions of a vampire dwarf regular emotions. When you play one of these characters, you have every right to jump in with both feet. Don't hold back or make a halfhearted choice. Don't like something if you can love it. Don't love it if you can obsess over it. And don't dislike something. Hate it. Your choices need to be as bold and strong as possible. The more you try for something, the stronger your character will be for it.

    This last piece of advice comes with a very strong caveat, however: Don't forget to respect the real world around you. Don't bellow your inhuman fury at the top of your lungs if you're in a banquet hall filled with people who aren't playing. If nothing else, remember that every supernatural wants to keep his or her nature hidden, for some very good reasons.

    More to the point, however, you need to keep the flow of the game going. If everyone has to step out of character to calm down irate hotel clerks and mothers, then all of that drama gets wasted. Theater only works when you have the trust of your fellow actors. If the other players worry constantly that you'll disrupt the event and force everyone to break character, they'll have a much harder time involving themselves in your work.

    After the game's over, ask yourself this question: Did I achieve my goal? More importantly, did I have a good time? Now think ahead to the next game. What will be your goal then? How about the game after that? How about over the next year? Be ambitious, and be bold. There are no bad choices, only halfhearted ones.

Final Notes: Covering Odd Moments 

    There are a lot of oddities in a LARP that demand some specific advice. "Real" theater rarely goes into mass combat, after all. Here are some tips about the little pitfalls your characters can fall into, and how to make the best role-play possible out of them.

    Combat is inevitable in every LARP. If you been serious about chasing your goals thus far, it's very likely that your character will end up throwing a punch at someone at some point. Remember to keep roleplaying your character even as he's fighting for his life. It's hard to keep character in mind while you're juggling numbers in the back of your head, but keep focused. Above all, sell the combat with your words and with your body. Combat can be fun. It's exciting imaging your character performing stunts that make Jet Li in Romeo Must Die look like Marlon Brando in The Freshman. Long sessions of Rock-Paper-Scissors, however, are not fun. Focus on the story, not the hand signals. Describe what your character is doing as much as possible. Paint the scene for your opponent and your audience. If you can mime out your character's actions (without engaging in stunts or touching people), do so. Remember that the safety of those around you always more important than the game. Above all, try to get out of turns and into real time as soon as possible.

    In the course of a game, it's very likely that you'll have a character die. Accept this fact and keep going. It can be very painful to lose a character that you've spent a lot of time and energy creating, but at the same time, there's nothing more powerful to play - either on stage or in a LARP - than a good , juicy death scene. If you have chased your goals as a character with such devotion that you can only choose between their success and your character's death, you've done very well as an actor in live-action play. If your character chooses death at the final hour, you've built a story that will change the nature of your chronicle for years. Remember, the goal of this game isn't to build a nice, safe character that lives to a ripe old age. If that were the case, we'd play couch potatoes, not vampires and werewolves. You're here to tell the most exciting story you can. Don't be afraid to risk everything your character has for the sake of making the story sing.

    In the same vain, don't be afraid to let your character fail occasionally. Failure is a powerful motivator for change. Characters that change are always more interesting to watch and play. Don't avoid plotting treachery against the prince just because you know as a player that some obfuscated spy is watching you. Let yourself fail. Have fun fighting with the consequences. Remember, your job as a player is not necessarily to succeed in the goal you set for your character. Rather, it's to tell the most compelling story you can in the course of the night. Occasionally, that means letting the opposition win. It'll make your eventual comeback and victory that much sweeter.

    A number of powers in Mind's Eye Theatre can force you to play your character very differently from normal. Dominate, Dementation and blood bonds alter your character's deepest emotions in ways you'd never anticipate. Don't fight these changes. Try to embrace them. Don't be afraid to step out of character for a minute or two to walk back through your process if you need to. What does your character want now? How is he going to get that? Remember that now supernatural power can fundamentally change who your character is. It is your choice as a player how any effect is portrayed. A blood bond might also feel like the most powerful drug addiction imaginable. Is your character a lover or a junkie? the choice is ultimately yours.

    Trust your fellow players. They're here to tell the best story they can tonight, just like you. If you cooperate, you'll be much more successful. Remember that while characters might butt heads, players can always make the conflict more interesting if they work in harmony. Sometimes you're the hero in your own story. Sometimes you're the supporting character in someone else's tale. Share the spotlight with good grace.

    Finally, remember the most important questions anyone can ask about theater: "Who cares? So what?" Why should you bother being a vampire? Who cares about werewolves? Theater only works if it moves and changes its audience somehow. In a live-action game, you are your own audience. Its very legitimate to say that you're doing all this work just to be entertained. In fact, that should always be the first goal of any game. However, don't be surprised if, after trying on all of these different goals and emotions, you find that you have changed and moved yourself somehow. An actor's only real reward for his work is the applause of the audience at the end of the show. When the game's over, put the character away. Applaud yourself. Take your bow. Think about what you've done this night.

    Who knows... Perhaps you'll have found that playing a monster for a night has taught you something new about being human.