“I think breathing is hard to explain. There are definitely parts you need to be conscious of and parts you should cut off subconsciously, but it won’t be easy to make you understand with just words. For example, take this line, ‘I want to give up on independence’. Let’s have a look at that one, shall we? If you read the line while being conscious of the spaces, then you can separate your breathing like this: ‘I. Want. To. Give. Up. On. Independence’. Do you want to try it? Think of it as intentionally putting a gap between the words.”
Maru gave a signal by lightly clenching his hand into a fist. The acting club juniors seated around him all started saying the same line at the same time. Blunt voices, thin voices, tense voices, loose voices – many different voices repeated the same line about 3 times.
“If you think about how you talk in reality, cutting off every word like that will probably sound awkward. Even on stage, you will only speak like that when it’s intentional. In that case, let’s have everyone say it as they want to, shall we? Don’t think about the people next to you, and don’t think about the meaning of the line. Just read what’s in front of you. Of course, you can’t be completely devoid of emotion. Don’t apply the emotion into the line, and just think about whatever emotion comes to mind when you read the line. Three, two, one.”
Voices burst out everywhere. The calm ones read as though they were reading from a textbook while the more proactive juniors even mixed in hand gestures. Maru watched as the same line took many different forms through each of these individuals. This time, listen to other people’s voices when you say the line – he repeated the same line about five times like that.
“It’s completely different, isn’t it? The way you read is the same, but the voices you each made were completely different. There are two reasons they sound different. First is the tone of your voices. The ones who were born with good voices and those who weren’t will have differences even when they say the same lines. If you practice your vocal exercises and watch out for your pronunciation during everyday life, your tone of voice can definitely change, but that’s not something you can achieve in a short time. There are only a few days until the competition, so it would be a waste of time trying to change your tone at this point. Thus, you have to focus on the same point. It’s none other than emphasis or stress. By stress, I don’t simply mean stressing some words while not stressing some others; it’s a method of expressing what the most important word is in the line that the actor thinks, as well as what kind of intentions he or she has by saying those words. Let’s see. Jiyoon, can you say that line from earlier? Say it ordinarily.”
Jiyoon cleared her throat before speaking. Her voice did not have any ups or downs.
“This time, you can stress or de-stress the parts you want or even drag your breathing out. Don’t think about the character of the play, just the line itself. Think about how you would say the line if you were the one saying it.”
“I want to… give up on independence.”
Maru had a look at the juniors. After giving them enough time to digest what they were feeling right now, he asked Jiyoon once again.
“Can you explain why you slurred before you said ‘give up’?”
“I want to express my hesitation. I thought about when I would say such words and how I would feel. I want to run away – that was how I felt.”
“Thanks for explaining in so much detail. Well, then. Let’s have a listen to what the character has to say about this line. Gwangjoon, do you want to try? Try saying the line like you’ve always practiced until now.”
After taking a deep breath, the junior shouted in a loud voice.
“I want to give up on independence!”
From the way he clenched his fist, there was no regret or escapism in his words. In fact, it was filled with passion and challenge. Maru clapped. The juniors applauded after him.
“The line we’ve been practicing and listening to until now was that, right? I! Don’t have any intentions of dedicating my life to this kind of independence. I’m going to aim for a more practical benefit. That’s what I want to do – this is the basis of the character’s psychology. Lines change according to what character they’re said by, and the changed lines have a different breathing pattern. The stress also changes. You won’t have a hard time understanding this character based on Gwangjoon’s line alone. After all, we all have a stereotypical villain in our minds already. However, let’s take it a step further. We’ll put more detail into the character.”
Maru opened the script and placed it in front of the juniors.
“I want to give up on independence. The character in the play is fed up with independence. That’s why he tries to hand the information to the Japanese army in order to prolong his life. If you keep looking at the script, you should be able to find out that he’s the stereotypical opportunist. This is the character’s root that can’t be changed, so you have to build a personality on top of that. First up, Gwangjoon. What do you place the most focus on when you act out this character?”
“I tried to be as sneaky as possible. Instructor Miso also said that he’s such a character.”
“Good. A sneaky character is good and all. Then what does it mean to be ‘sneaky’?”
After a bit of thinking, the junior spoke,
“Being annoyingly good at reading the atmosphere.”
“You can look at it that way. After all, such people will definitely feel ‘sneaky’ if they use their heads for the wrong purposes. Let’s have a look at that line again after putting the word ‘sneaky’ in your mind. There’s a stage direction that says ‘worked up’, right?”
“Yes.”
“Not ignoring the stage directions when you’re acting is definitely an important thing. However, the subject of the acting is, in the end, you. You have to follow those directions, but it would be even better if you could add your own character into it, and lines are a great method of projecting that character. Well then, in order to show that ‘sneakiness’, what do you think you have to do in order to show that sneakiness through the line?”
“I don’t feel like it’s a good thing to shout so strongly. I think it would be more sneaky if I say it in a way that stimulates sympathy.”
“Once you’re at that point, you should think about how you should express that, right? You don’t have to go much into detail, so show me what you think.”
The junior closed his eyes and licked his lips. He was probably saying the line inwardly. Maru put his index finger on his lips. The other juniors waited with their breath abated. Eventually, the junior said his line again. The line, which contained a mocking laugh, definitely had differences from when he said his line while clenching his fist.
“How is it? Does it feel different now?” Maru asked the juniors.
The majority nodded their heads.
“Well done, Gwangjoon. If you want to go further after analyzing your characters like this, try adding more detail into your words. It might be difficult, but it’s worth trying. However, you should only do that when your basic practices are in a perfect state, and if you change the emphasis of the lines, get it checked by Aram. Harmony is key in plays after all. Acts that might look decent when separated might change the flow minutely. Aram knows the overall flow and atmosphere of the play better than anyone here, so if you want to change your individual acting style, then definitely consult her about it, okay?”
“Yes!”
“Good. Let’s stop here for today. You still got practice to do, so I guess I shouldn’t hold you back.”
As soon as he said those words, the juniors started shouting.
“We don’t mind though!”
“I like Maru-seonbae explaining things to us. Of course, I like instructor Miso too.”
“Hey you guys, you are setting up insurance by saying that, aren’t you? Instructor Miso is quite concerned about things like that after all.”
“Was it obvious?”
“Hey, hey, shut it, idiot. Maru seonbae-nim still looks like he has something to say. Right?”
“Can’t you show us more acting?”
Maru shook his hand. Since the preliminaries were right in front of them, they needed more time to practice rather than listening to someone else’s words. Just as he was about to stand up with a soft sigh, a hand pressed his shoulder. When he turned around, he saw Aram grinning at him.
“Seonbae-nim, show them. I don’t think they understood properly since you only used words to explain.”
As soon as Aram said those words, the juniors agreed with her, saying ‘that’s right’, ‘we want to see it’, ‘please do it,’ with big grins on their faces. Maru looked at Aram and said ‘maybe next time’, but Aram did not budge. This junior was merciless even towards seniors.
“How would you play this character if you were the one acting it out?”
“There won’t be a big difference.”
“Show us anyway. It will help Gwangjoon out a lot. You should act like a senior from time to time. Of course, you’re helping us really passionately these days, but when else would we be able to see your acting if not now?”
Maru raised the white flag when Aram sneakily mixed the current situation into it. He stood up with the script in hand. He coughed awkwardly when dozens of pairs of eyes looked at him.
“Don’t expect too much.”
“Oh, yes we will!”
“Seonbae-nim, do your best!”
After making an awkward smile, he looked at the script. Passion and sneakiness. It was a combination of words that felt rather distant yet interesting if mixed suitably. The junior’s line had its own taste. The mocking laugh, which was a symbol of being nasty, emphasized the evilness of the character, making the character more three-dimensional.
Since he was putting on a demonstration, he wanted to change the trail of thought a little. After thinking about what would be helpful to the juniors, he cleared his thoughts with a short breath. He could picture it now. There was no depth because he came up with it on the spot, but since it was the best he could do as improvisation, he decided to show them for now.
He took a deep breath and held it in his stomach. A passionate opportunist was going to appeal to other people’s emotions. He was going to grab their sympathy and shake it to make the general opinion lean towards his side.
There was no need to act strong, so he revealed all of his weaknesses. He loosened his shoulders and un-focused his eyes as though he was a herbivorous animal after an attack. He was shaking, but he said his line clearly so that he got his meaning through. I, want to give up on independence – he emphasized that the individual was exhausted because of the grand duty of independence. After raising his voice on the ‘I’, he squeezed out the rest as though he was dragging a heavy cart downhill. As he finished, he had a look at the imaginary group of people. Since he was a sneaky character, he couldn’t miss the process of checking for other people’s reactions. Then, he finished off his acting with a cough.
“Or you can do it like how I did. Of course, Gwangjoon’s act was more true to the script, so it would be better to do it like that.”
Maru looked back at Aram and just moved his lips to ask ‘done now?’. Aram raised her thumbs up towards him.
“I, want to give up on independence.”
“That’s not it. It’s – I! Want to give up on independence.”
“That’s not right. What Maru-seonbae did was say the rest of the line after resting a beat after ‘I’.”
The juniors burst out into discussion. Maru looked at them with satisfaction. These juniors weren’t just baby birds looking for food from their mother’s mouth; they knew how to act in order to pick their food up.
“You’ve become a lot more lenient recently, Maru-seonbae. If it was before, you wouldn’t have done it with a simple ‘no’.”
“Me?”
Aram nodded vigorously. Maru shrugged. He was just about to explain that he wasn’t so cold but did not do so because he felt like he would be seen as a cheapskate. How many seniors would refuse to speak when their cute juniors are asking for help? When he looked back, he did feel a little cold, but right now, he was wholeheartedly helping out his juniors.
“Seonbae-nim! You got a call!”
Bangjoo, who was sitting by the window, called out loudly. Maru told Bangjoo to throw the phone. He caught the phone and opened it.
“Hello?”
-Didn’t you see the text message?
It was producer Jayeon.
“I’m in practice right now.”
-Then okay. Do you have time today? Don’t say no. You’re my lucky boy after all.
“I can make some time, but can you not call me like that?”
-Why? Doesn’t ‘lucky boy’ sound good? Anyway, come over later. The actors decided to hold a meeting before the whole get-together. You know that these occasions are important, right?
“Of course.”
-You’re going to get a call in a little while, so don’t miss it. I’m hanging up now.
Jayeon hung up. Maru looked at the calendar as he took his phone off his ear. It was the 17th of August, a Saturday.
KTLChamber's Thoughts
Man, translating these analytical stuff is pretty hard when the order of grammar is different…
Editor's Note:
Good teacher Maru is so weird considering the rest of the novel so far.
