This chapter discusses working with other actors. It explains that while actors work individually on their roles, true performances involve coordination with others. Any performance can be divided into actions and reactions, which influence each other. Actors must react genuinely to their partners and coordinate their actions to achieve the same goals. Physical contact on stage, like fights or kisses, require rehearsal to create the illusion of contact through reactions rather than actual contact. Illusions are most convincing when audiences are distracted from the point of action. Extensive rehearsal is needed to coordinate illusions between actors.

1. Chapter 9
Working with the
actors

2. Each actor works alone –analyzing
a part, making a
characterization, playing a role, and
so on –and yet no actor works alone.

3. Reacting
We can divide any performance
into two parts: (1) Your action and
(2) your reaction. As we have
seen, these affect each other.
When you act as if something or
someone real, then you can react in
a genuine way. This in turn makes
your following actions more genuine.

4. Coordinating illusions
As an actor, you must not react to what a
partner does but must also coordinate all
your activity with others. That is, you must
all work together. This requires both physical
and mental coordination. One of the major
purposes of the rehearsal is to arrange things
so that everyone is working together for the
same ends. Physical contact on stage is
usually thought of in terms of stage fights or
stage combat, involving swords or fistfights.

5. Example:
• The stage kiss
• The slap

6. Basic principles to remember:
• Contact on stage should be an
illusion of contact, not the real
thing.
• As with mime, an illusion is made
to look real not so much by the
action as by the reaction

7. • As with mime, a good illusion of
contact works because the audience
is temporarily distracted from the
point where the action occurs.
• These illusions must be rehearsed
and rehearsed and rehearsed

8. The end 