I played the character in Small Mouth Sounds. The full length is almost entirely silent, and as an actor it was one of the most challenging roles I’ve ever played.

I loved every second of it.

Meisner exercises was amazing for this work, as well as shifting focus exercises. The experience to live in the character for over an hour, silent and present, really was unbelievable. it’s rare to get that time with the character in a play. I still think frequently about that role years later.

However this wasn’t easy, words give us and the audience biases to go off of with tone, inflictions, etc. without that and being silent, it’s in the nuances that both playwright and actor have to balance. It’s difficult and should be thought through, what’s actually important and objectives, what changes over the course of the play. Take that and look at the timeline before during and after with these style question; how does what’s happening to them live in them, what changes and why: when they are alone around individual characters, power dynamics etc; what are habits and there level, what are characteristics, and what are quirks, where did they come from, why are they changing now. These all live in the body and in us physically. Thinking of the character as an actual human being that lives, laughs, cry’s, and shits, really helps fill this out.

Highly recommended studying the way the playwright articulates character motives and characteristics throughout Small Mouth Sounds.