Uta Hagen: The Basic Object Exercise

Uta Hagen was a German born American Actress and Drama Teacher. She believed that all acting should be that of realism and "the actor puts his own psyche to use in finding identification with the role." Hagen, Uta 1991. A Challenge for the Actor. New York: Scribner's.

To begin to use our own psyche when finding an identification in a role we were asked to take 2 minutes of our everyday life and ask questions such as 'Who am I?' 'Where am I?' etc. I decided to use the scenario of when I was on the phone to the Water Company trying to sort out a bill. Whilst I was doing this I was asking myself the questions which later distracted me even more.

Who am I?
I am a 19 year old student living in Bath and studying Drama. I tend to leave work till the last minute so that I know it will get done. Everything I do is rushed but I think this is due to my fun loving and carefree outlook on life, which can sometimes get me into trouble.

What time is it?
It is Tuesday 22nd November 2012, roughly 2pm and I have just returned from my 9am Physical Theatre Workshop. It is sunny outside but there is a slight breeze in the air which makes it feel colder. Everyone in my house is preparing to go to lectures or to town so the house is not quiet.

Where am I?
I am sat at our small kitchen table surrounded by letters from the Water Company and notes on what to say. There is a huge pile of washing up on the right of me and the sun is blaring through our kitchen window on my left. 

What surrounds me?
I am surrounded by different bills and a note pad which will help me when talking to the water company when I have finally got through to them. My housemates are coming in and out of the kitchen, making noise, food or washing up. Lots of pens surround me which distract me as I keep clicking them up and down as the company have placed me on hold.

What are the given circumstances?
As the cleverest in my house and the most responsible I have been given the role of making sure that all the bills are paid on time and her coming out of my account. We have just received a letter through explaining to us that 6 months of water bill money will be taken out on the 1st November, however no one can afford £50 each for this at the moment so I need to see if we can change our payment plan to a monthly system.

What is my relationship?
As I have never had to pay bills before I am heavily influenced by what my Dad has to say on the issues above. Therefore my notepad has come in handy as I have written down questions that he would ask if he were in this situation. As the man who placed me on hold was polite I do not mind holding as this issue needs to be resolved so that we can save money for the month.

What do I want?
I would like to speak to someone intelligent, rather quickly, as this call isn't free so that we can save money and not have all of our bills going out at once. I would also like my housemates to be a little quieter just in case I get through to someone so that I can hear everything they say as I tend to get distracted easily.

What is in my way?
1) Being on hold for five minutes and listening to irritating music constantly.
2) My housemates who are unable to stay quiet for more than 2 seconds
3) The fact that I am thinking about these questions and analyzing myself whilst I am on the phone.

What do i do to get what I want?
I remain on the phone for another five minutes, making the hold time total 10 minutes, and speak to a polite man who tells me that he can sort out a new payment method straight away. My housemates stop shouting as soon as I begin to talk to someone on the other end of the phone.

When using this technique I quickly became aware that I was over thinking what I was doing. Nothing came naturally anymore for instance, picking up a pen became- "why am I picking up this pen?" "oh yes because I can't concentrate for long periods of time or I am bored." I also realised that I am very critical of myself when I analyze myself. You will notice this in the above answers to the questions, however what I am doing is a positive thing because I am not helping just myself I am also helping out 6 other housemates so that they can save money.

Early American Acting- Marlon Brando

Marlon Brando is one of the most influential actors of the twentieth century and this is evident in his films ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ and ‘On The Waterfront.’ He is renowned for using the Stanislavski System within his work and this method gave him great success and acclaim in one of his first films “A Streetcar Named Desire.”

His onscreen performance with Vivien Leigh in “A Streetcar Named Desire” is one of the best that has ever been seen. Marlon Brando’s portrayal of Stan showed him as a sweaty, animalistic, brute compared to Blanche’s character-frail and faded. When Stan and Blanche first meet the audience believe there to be some sort of sexual tension between the two of them however it soon comes apparent that this desire turns to despise. One of Stan’s stand out lines within the film is “Every mans a King and I am the King here…” (A Streetcar Named Desire: Kazan: 1951) From Brando’s performance in the film an audience can see that this line is significant to how Brando prepared for this role.

According to a blog entitled ‘Old Movies’ Brando’s performance of Stanley was based upon “a reflection of the complicated nature of people and the key to his own philosophy of acting…that people are neither inherently good or evil and that even the most villainous role should be tempered by a realistic helping of humanity.” This theory worked in terms of the character Stanley and it is apparent throughout the film. In particular the scene after the Poker Night when Stanley hits Stella, after this Brando has a close up and an audience can see the realisation in his face as to what he has just done. Is it remorse or confusion? Whatever the emotion is it is Brando’s truthful performance in this scene that helps an audience understand why the character of Stella is sexually attracted to a thug like Stanley. 

In comparison to Brando’s performance of Stanley in “A Streetcar Named Desire” the character of Terry Molloy in “On the Waterfront” is a much more sensitive character. This performance cemented Brando’s film career and he won an Oscar for his performance. His ease within this role made it easier to watch and once again the Stanislavski system can be seen.

“On the Waterfront” was visually based upon “Crime on the Waterfront”- a series of newspaper journals which exposed the problems in the New York dockyards. Arthur Miller began writing a screen play for Kazan but he soon broke ranks and handed it over Kazan. It has been said that Brando used some of these journals to create a broken failure in Terry Molloy. 

The characters of Stanley and Terry are complete opposites with Brando allowing the audience to despise Stanley but empathise with Terry. In one of the most famous scenes from “On the Waterfront” Brando used improvisation to create the famous lines “I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let’s face it.” (On The Waterfront: Kazan:1954) The director later admitted that he did not direct this scene he “let Rod and Marlon work it out in improvisation. Marlon showed me how the scene was to be performed.” (Brando Unzipped: 426) Due to the improvisation an audience can see the true emotion of Brando, creating one of the most famous scenes in film history. This scene is not the only pinnacle moment within the film, others include: Terry discovering that all his pigeons have been killed and Terry beating down Edie’s door and forcing a kiss upon her as they slide down the wall.

Both the performances Brando creates are hindered by his infamous mumbling which makes it fairly difficult to understand what he has to say however, his training in method acting overrides this issue and from an audiences point of view both of his performances deserve the credit in which he received. No one will ever forget the high pitched screams of “Stella!” from Stanley in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ and the famous “Contender” speech by Terry Molloy in ‘On The Waterfront’ and that is all due to Marlon Brando’s raw and irreplaceable talent.


Porter, D (2006). Brando Unzipped. New York: Blood Moon Productions. 426

Luke. (2006). Marlon Brando: A Guide to his Film Roles (Part 1- the 1950’s). Available: http://www.oldmovies.net.au/marlon-brando-1/. Last accessed 19th Oct 2012.

A Streetcar Named Desire, 1951. Film. Directed by Ella KAZAN. USA: Warner Bros. Pictures

On The Waterfront, 1954. Film. Directed by Ella KAZAN. USA: Columbia Classics