Did some work with my Year 10 Drama GCSE class a few weeks ago on what questions must you answer about your character at the moment they enter the play for the first time. No matter what character you are playing or how big a role you have, to play it fully and to play it well, you need to know the answers to these questions.

1. What appears to be the main reason your character is in the play?
2. Is the character the main focus, part of the main plot or involved in the subplot?
3. Does the character lead the action or are they affected by the action?
4. Which scenes are you excited by the prospect of acting?
5. Which scenes seem boring, or worry you? (These will be the scenes that as an actor you would probably spend the most time on.)
6. What is my name, age, class, job?
7. Where do I live?
8. What sort of family, relations, friends do I have?
9. How well off am I?
10. Are there any dominating physical characteristics caused by age, wealth, health or social conditions?
11. What is my taste in clothes, music, art, theatre, cinema, books and sport?
12. Have I an overwhelming purpose in my life?
13. Have I a dominant quality in my character?
14. What is said about me in the play; by myself, to my face, behind my back?
15. What are my reactions to other characters in the play?
16. What briefly is my past history?
17. Why am I entering? What is my objective?
18. What has occurred from my point of view since the last entrance I made, and how does this affect the way I am acting?
19. Where have I come from?
20. What mood am I in?
21. Do I know the room/space I am entering?
22. Do I know the people in the room/space and what is my attitude towards them?
23. Why am I leaving?
24. Where am I going to?
25. What mood am I in?

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