Objectives and Actions

Hey students! 🎭 Welcome to one of the most exciting aspects of drama - learning how to create truthful, believable performances through understanding objectives and actions. In this lesson, you'll discover how professional actors approach their craft by identifying what their characters want, what stands in their way, and what they do about it. By the end of this lesson, you'll have the tools to transform any scene or monologue from flat line-reading into a dynamic, engaging performance that captivates your audience. Get ready to unlock the secrets that make great actors so compelling to watch!

Understanding Objectives: What Does Your Character Want?

Every great performance starts with one fundamental question: What does my character want? This is called the character's objective, and it's the driving force behind everything they say and do. Think of it like the engine in a car - without it, nothing moves forward! 🚗

An objective is always something specific that your character desperately wants to achieve in the scene. It's not just "to be happy" or "to feel good" - those are too vague. Instead, effective objectives are concrete and actionable. For example, if you're playing Romeo in the balcony scene, his objective isn't simply "to love Juliet." It's much more specific: "to convince Juliet to marry me" or "to get Juliet to agree to meet me tomorrow."

The brilliant Russian theatre practitioner Constantin Stanislavski, whose techniques form the foundation of modern acting training, taught that objectives should always be phrased as "to" statements. This makes them active rather than passive. Instead of saying your character "wants respect," you'd say they want "to earn their father's respect" or "to prove they deserve respect from their peers."

Here's a real-world example that might help: imagine you're trying to convince your parents to let you go to a party. Your objective isn't just "to go to the party" - it's "to persuade my parents that I'm responsible enough to go to this party." See how much more specific and actionable that is? That clarity gives you a roadmap for how to approach the conversation. The same principle applies to acting! 🎯

Professional actors spend considerable time identifying not just the main objective for the entire scene, but also smaller "beat objectives" that change throughout the scene as circumstances shift. This creates the natural ebb and flow that makes performances feel real and spontaneous.

Recognizing Obstacles: What Stands in the Way?

Now here's where things get interesting, students! If your character could simply achieve their objective easily, there wouldn't be any drama, would there? That's where obstacles come in - they're the barriers, challenges, or resistance that prevent your character from getting what they want. Obstacles create conflict, and conflict creates compelling theatre! ⚡

Obstacles can take many different forms. Sometimes they're other characters who want something different or oppose your character's goals. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, for instance, when Hamlet wants to prove his uncle killed his father, Claudius becomes a major obstacle because he's trying to hide his guilt and maintain his power.

Other times, obstacles are internal - they come from within the character themselves. Maybe your character wants to confess their love but is terrified of rejection. Perhaps they want to stand up to a bully but lack confidence. These internal obstacles often create the most interesting and relatable performances because we all struggle with our own fears and limitations.

External obstacles might include physical barriers, social expectations, time constraints, or lack of resources. If you're playing a character who wants to escape from prison, the walls and guards are obvious external obstacles. But there might also be subtler ones - maybe they don't want to leave behind a fellow prisoner, or they're afraid of what life will be like on the outside.

The key is to identify obstacles that are genuinely challenging for your character. If the obstacle is too easy to overcome, the scene becomes boring. If it's impossible to overcome, your character stops trying and the scene dies. The sweet spot is obstacles that are difficult but not insurmountable - they force your character to fight, adapt, and try different approaches. This struggle is what makes audiences lean forward in their seats! 💪

Mastering Actions: What Does Your Character Do About It?

Here's where the magic happens, students! Once you know what your character wants (objective) and what's stopping them (obstacles), you need to figure out what they actually do about it. These are called actions, and they're the specific tactics or strategies your character employs to overcome obstacles and achieve their objective.

Actions are always verbs - they're things you can actually do on stage. Stanislavski taught that every line of dialogue and every moment of behavior should serve a specific action. Instead of just saying words, you're using those words as tools to accomplish something. For example, you might use your lines to "persuade," "threaten," "comfort," "distract," "seduce," "intimidate," or "inspire" another character.

Let's say your character wants to get their best friend to forgive them after a terrible argument. Some possible actions might include:

• To apologize sincerely
• To explain their side of the story
• To remind the friend of good times they've shared
• To promise it won't happen again
• To make the friend laugh to lighten the mood
• To appeal to the friend's compassion

Notice how each of these actions gives you something specific to play. When you're "apologizing sincerely," your voice, body language, and emotional state will be completely different from when you're "trying to make them laugh." This variety keeps your performance interesting and unpredictable! 🎪

Professional actors often discover that when one action isn't working, their character naturally shifts to a different action. This creates what we call "beats" - moments where the strategy changes. Maybe you start by trying to apologize, but when that doesn't work, you switch to reminding them of good times, and when that fails, you might resort to pleading desperately. These shifts create the natural rhythm and progression that make scenes feel alive.

Putting It All Together: The OAO Method

Now that you understand objectives, obstacles, and actions individually, let's talk about how they work together in what many drama teachers call the OAO Method. This systematic approach helps you analyze any scene or monologue to create a truthful, compelling performance.

Start by reading through your script and identifying your character's main objective for the scene. Remember, phrase it as a "to" statement and make it specific. Then, list all the obstacles - both external and internal - that might prevent your character from achieving this objective. Finally, go through the script line by line and identify what action your character is playing in each moment.

Here's a practical example using a simple scenario: imagine you're playing a student who wants to convince their teacher to give them an extension on a major assignment. Your objective might be "to persuade Ms. Johnson to give me three more days to complete my history essay."

The obstacles might include: Ms. Johnson has a strict no-extension policy, other students might complain if you get special treatment, you don't have a particularly good excuse, and internally, you're embarrassed about falling behind. Your actions throughout the scene might progress from "to appeal to her understanding" to "to demonstrate how much you care about doing quality work" to "to promise this will never happen again" and finally "to accept responsibility while asking for one chance."

This method works just as well for classical texts. If you're performing Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking scene, her objective might be "to cleanse myself of guilt" and her actions could include "to scrub away imaginary bloodstains," "to relive the night of Duncan's murder," and "to seek reassurance that she's not truly evil." 🌙

Applying Techniques to Different Performance Styles

The beauty of the objectives-obstacles-actions approach, students, is that it works across all styles of drama, from naturalistic kitchen-sink dramas to heightened Shakespearean tragedies to contemporary physical theatre. The fundamental human truth of wanting something, facing challenges, and taking action to overcome them remains constant regardless of the theatrical style.

In naturalistic drama, your objectives and actions might be very subtle and everyday. In a family dinner scene, your character might want "to avoid talking about their failing grades" with actions like "to change the subject," "to deflect with humor," or "to create a distraction."

In classical theatre like Shakespeare, the objectives are often larger and more dramatic - "to claim the throne," "to win the war," "to prove my love" - but the process remains the same. The language might be heightened, but the human motivations underneath are just as real and relatable.

Even in more experimental or physical theatre, understanding what your character wants and what they're doing about it provides the emotional truth that connects with audiences. Whether you're speaking verse, contemporary prose, or no words at all, the clarity of objective and action gives your performance purpose and direction.

The key is to always ground your choices in genuine human behavior, even when the style is non-naturalistic. Audiences can sense when an actor truly believes in what they're doing versus when they're just going through the motions! ✨

Conclusion

Understanding objectives, obstacles, and actions is like having a roadmap for creating truthful, engaging performances. By identifying what your character wants, recognizing what stands in their way, and choosing specific actions to overcome those challenges, you transform simple line-reading into dynamic, purposeful acting. Remember that every great performance is built on these fundamentals - from the biggest West End productions to your GCSE drama assessments, actors use these techniques to create the moments that move audiences and tell compelling stories.

Study Notes

• Objective - What your character wants; always phrase as a "to" statement (e.g., "to convince," "to escape," "to prove")

• Obstacle - What prevents your character from achieving their objective; can be external (other characters, physical barriers) or internal (fears, doubts)

• Action - What your character does to overcome obstacles; always expressed as active verbs (e.g., "to persuade," "to threaten," "to comfort")

• Beat Objectives - Smaller objectives within a scene that change as circumstances shift

• OAO Method - Systematic approach: identify Objective, analyze Obstacles, choose Actions

• Actions are tactics - Specific strategies your character uses; when one doesn't work, try another

• Every line serves an action - Don't just say words; use them as tools to accomplish something

• Obstacles create conflict - Without resistance, there's no drama; obstacles should be challenging but not impossible

• Stanislavski's influence - These techniques form the foundation of modern actor training

• Universal application - OAO method works for all theatrical styles, from naturalistic to classical to experimental