Practical Aesthetics:
Four steps to help your students connect to a character’s actions
Peter King (pking@parkschool.net) – EdTA Conference
September 27 – 28, 2013
MAKING IT PERSONAL
Warm-up
Introductions
Goals
Background
Practical Aesthetics
The Four Steps
Share
Recap and Questions
MAKING IT PERSONAL
GOALS
Learn the background of the technique known
as Practical Aesthetics
 Form a working knowledge of Practical
Aesthetics (The Four Steps)
 Know the importance of personalizing work
 Feel empowered to dig deeper with your
students
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BACKGROUND
Practical Aesthetics: a rehearsal technique
 David Mamet, William H. Macy, Gregory Mosher
 Based on Stanislavsky’s and Sanford Meisner’s
work
 A Practical Handbook for the Actor, Lee Michael
Cohn
 The Atlantic Acting School
 My own idiosyncratic evolution
 Article: Making It Personal in the journal, Teaching
Theater
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1. What is the character literally doing?
2. What does the character want in the scene?
3. What is my essential action?
4. What is the action like to me? It’s as if…
THE FOUR STEPS
1. What is the character literally doing?
2. What does the character want in the scene?
3. What is my essential action?
4. What is the action like to me? It’s as if…
Lords
Wear
Ancient
Apparel
THE FOUR STEPS
STEP ONE: The character’s literal activity

The Popcorn Test
A QUICK EXAMPLE
(Ben and Georgi are brother and sister.)
BEN: I won’t ask you again.
GEORGI: I don’t believe you.
BEN: I wouldn’t ask you unless I really needed it.
GEORGI: What you really need is help, Ben.
BEN: Please. 300 bucks, that’s it.
GEORGI: I won’t. I can’t.
A QUICK EXAMPLE: STEP ONE
1.
The scene’s literal activity: Ben is literally
asking his sister for money.
STEP ONE: The character’s literal activity
A non-interpretive, non-judgmental statement
about what’s going on in the scene. Includes
everything that happens in the scene or unit of
action in a single descriptive clause.
 Includes what the character says (the script).
 Includes stage business.
 What we say versus what we mean.
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STEP TWO: The character’s want
Within the literal confines of the scene, what
specifically does your character want?
 The test will be in the other character.
 Will have a clear cap (a visual or verbal sign the
character has gotten what she wants).
 Should be as concrete and as physical as
possible.

A QUICK EXAMPLE
(Ben and Georgi are brother and sister.)
BEN: I won’t ask you again.
GEORGI: I don’t believe you.
BEN: I wouldn’t ask you unless I really needed it.
GEORGI: What you really need is help, Ben.
BEN: Please. 300 bucks, that’s it.
GEORGI: I won’t. I can’t.
A QUICK EXAMPLE: STEP TWO
1.
2.
The scene’s literal activity: Ben is literally
asking his sister for money.
The want: Ben wants his sister to give him
three hundred bucks.
STEP TWO: The character’s want
Within the literal confines of the scene, what
specifically does your character want?
 The test will be in the other character.
 Will have a clear cap (a visual or verbal sign the
character has gotten what she wants).
 Should be as concrete and as physical as
possible.

STEP THREE: My action
Essential Action: the physical pursuit of a
specific goal with a partner on stage.
 Text vs. Subtext Improvisations

A QUICK EXAMPLE
(Ben and Georgi are brother and sister.)
BEN: I won’t ask you again.
GEORGI: I don’t believe you.
BEN: I wouldn’t ask you unless I really needed it.
GEORGI: What you really need is help, Ben.
BEN: Please. 300 bucks, that’s it.
GEORGI: I won’t. I can’t.
A QUICK EXAMPLE: STEP THREE
1.
2.
3.
The scene’s literal activity: Ben is literally
asking his sister for money.
The want: Ben wants his sister to give him
three hundred bucks.
The essential action: get someone to help me
out of a bind.
STEP THREE: My action
Essential Action: the physical pursuit of a
specific goal with a partner on stage.
 Is an intersection between the character’s
wants and your own.
 Has a test in the partner and a cap.
 Phrased in a way that you can attach your as-if
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SAMPLE ACTIONS
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get a friend to divulge a secret
boost someone’s self-confidence
gain a friend's trust
urge a friend to take a big chance
gain a sibling’s sympathy
beg for a friend's help
force a friend to face his problems
lead a friend astray
console a lost sheep
get someone to respect my beliefs
seek a potential ally's support
get a someone to respect my
boundaries
get jerk off my back
make a special person accept a
change in our relationship
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get a loved one to take care of me
get a sibling to empathize with me
get a friend to lighten up
encourage a child to be self-reliant
seek a friend's advice
buy someone's silence
get a lover to share my dream
get a bud to give me a break
force someone to see the errors of her
ways
get a friend to grow up
get a loved one to let me go
get someone to admit his or her guilt
force a stranger to apologize
get a co-worker to do my bidding
steer a friend away from the truth
Action + Obstacle = Conflict
Conflict = Drama
(desire plus danger equals drama)
THE DRAMATIC EQUATION
BREAK
Action + Obstacle = Conflict
Conflict = Drama
(desire plus danger equals drama)
THE DRAMATIC EQUATION
STEP FOUR: The as-if

What does the action mean to you personally?
It’s as-if…
A QUICK EXAMPLE
(Ben and Georgi are brother and sister.)
BEN: I won’t ask you again.
GEORGI: I don’t believe you.
BEN: I wouldn’t ask you unless I really needed it.
GEORGI: What you really need is help, Ben.
BEN: Please. 300 bucks, that’s it.
GEORGI: I won’t. I can’t.
A QUICK EXAMPLE: STEP FOUR
1.
2.
3.
4.
The scene’s literal activity: Ben is literally
asking his sister for money.
The want: Ben wants his sister to give him
three hundred bucks.
The essential action: get someone to help me
out of a bind.
The as-if: It’s as if I’m trying to get my wife,
who works, to stay home with our sick kid, so I
can go to rehearsal.
STEP FOUR: The as-if
What does the action mean to you personally?
 Something you would love to do or must do.
 Same action as the character’s, not the same
situation.
 Is a current and unresolved action in your life.
 May have imaginary circumstances, but the
target must be a real person in your life.

Improvised As-If Scenes
SHARE
RECAP
Why making it personal is so important
 A working knowledge of The Four Steps of
Practical Aesthetics
 A newfound power to dig deeper with your
students, to help them connect their personal
lives to their art.

David Mamet
“ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH. IT’S THE EASIEST
THING TO REMEMBER”