DESTRUCTIVE PREFERENCE℠
After a student masters the Actors Expression℠ Workshop, they know the appropriate behavior and body language of the character in situational conflict. Destructive Preference℠ takes the performance system to the next level, revealing to the actor how to play the appropriate pathology of the character.
A character’s thoughts and preferences influence how they express feelings through their actions and behavior. Conflict occurs when one character opposes the desire of another. This engagement leads to an internal battle, where the character’s pathology manifests. Like every person in real life, every good character harbors destructive tendencies. Of course, it's our self-destructive tendencies that strike at the core of our humanity. This destructive side can dominate a character or may just resonate within the character's fiber or circumstances of the script, raising the tension in a scene(s) while the audience waits to see how this pathology plays-out. Note that by creating characters that include these "dark" tendencies, the artist creates a vehicle that connects with the audience on their most primal levels.
To create a fully realized and believable performance, the actor must understand and even embrace the flaws and destructive behavior within each character. It is the character's flaws that reflect our human duality and it is that ambivalence which renders a character compelling. Destructive behavior can surface under varying circumstances and it can be reflected in many different forms. The highest levels of those forms represent a rocky period in the journey of the character usually when they are dealing with a critical moment in their arc or with a person that threatens to push that character out of their comfort zone. Even when it's not on the page, the great actors strive to identify their character’s pathology because, within the course of the story, their character will triumph by overcoming their destructive preference or fail with dramatic consequences. It is where the destructive side is so dominant when we see the character cannot help but nurture the evil that has become a part of them. Regardless of how many destructive clues the page gives about the character, it’s the actors job to know more about the character then the character knows about themselves.
In this workshop, the actor explores the background of the character, based on script analysis and identifying preference; seeing how a character’s life experiences have created their patterns and made them who they are at the beginning of the script. Even though Destructive Preference℠ delves into the most extreme and pathological behavior of characters, it also focuses on basic, everyday, unhealthy actions and reactions. Once a character's preference is understood, the actor can utilize the tool of the four quadrants to develop and shape the character:
The student will use the BLUE quadrant to analyze the character’s deep-seated pathology and all its aspects of criticism, greed, cut-throat decision making, etc. The GREEN quadrant assists in making detailed choices that highlight how the character’s defensiveness, denial, control, etc. is expressed. The RED quadrant is used to deepen the emotional conflict that the character feels when in resentment, passive aggression, shame, etc. and the YELLOW quadrant explores the rebellious, unruly, reckless nature of the character.
Destructive Preference℠ gives the actor the skills to recognize the degree of destructive preference written into the character. With this basic knowledge the actor will have the skills to fine-tune their performance in the presence of a director. The actor will know where internal conflicts (hatred, low self-esteem, etc.) reside within the four quadrants and can then express those inner-conflicts externally (addictions, abuse, etc.) in continuity with that character. Destructive Preference℠ gives the actor the tools to play those extreme, dark, unpredictable characters the audience will remember. A character with deep-rooted social anxieties and no friends is invited on a weekend getaway by some new acquaintances. Hoping to ingratiate himself by showing everyone a good time - knowing they would never do this themselves - he spikes their drinks with what he believes is ecstasy.
The beginning of a tragedy…or the main conceit in one of 2009's biggest comedy; "The Hangover." Zack Galifianakis uses a classic approach to Destructive Preference℠; his character's pathology manifests itself internally (low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, etc.) and is externalized via his behavior; drug addiction, abuse. The comedic result is a dark, unprecedented character the audience won't soon forget. Completing this workshop arms the actor with the know-how to take pathology to the extreme and create legendary characters that years later audiences still refer to by name.
The Destructive Preference workshop is one of a kind and exclusively taught by Piero Dusa. If you have the courage to look deep into yourself to create intense, edgy, dark, soul-changing characters contact us at info@pierodusa.com for more information on the individually tailored lessons or full workshops.
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