Year 8 Drama · Making Drama — Create and Perform · 9m read

Building Believable Characters

Believable characters want things and face obstacles. Building backstory helps you make truthful choices on stage.

Learning objective: Develop detailed characters with objectives, obstacles and backstory.

By the end of this lesson you can:

• I can create a character profile.
• I can identify objectives and obstacles.
• I can sustain a character.

Characters are onions. Peel back the outer layer (how they look and speak) and you find another (what they want), then another (what they fear), and at the centre, what they would never admit. Believable characters have layers.

Character in depth

CHARACTER PROFILE:
• Name, age, background, relationships, values, fears.

OBJECTIVE AND OBSTACLE:
• OBJECTIVE — what the character wants in the scene.
• OBSTACLE — what stands in the way.
• Conflict creates drama.

STATUS:
• Social power between characters; shown through voice, posture, space.

| Layer | Question | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Surface | How do they look and sound? | Neat uniform, clipped voice |
| Objective | What do they want? | To win the scholarship |
| Obstacle | What stops them? | A rival with more money |
| Secret | What do they hide? | Their family can't afford school |
| Inner life | What do they feel? | Shame mixed with pride |

Key ideas at a glance

• Know the objective: Every line serves a want.
• Find the obstacle: Conflict lives there.
• Build a backstory: Even if the audience never hears it.
• Play actions, not emotions: Do something to the other character.

Worked example (Medium)

Give an objective and obstacle for a student asking for an extension.

1. Objective. Get more time.
2. Obstacle. A strict teacher who never extends deadlines.

Answer: Objective: get an extension; obstacle: strict teacher.

Worked example (Medium)

Write a role-on-the-wall for a character called Sam, a new student.

1. Outside (how others see). Quiet, polite, always alone at lunch.
2. Inside (thoughts/feelings). Misses old friends, worried about fitting in.
3. Objective. Make one friend by Friday.

Answer: A role-on-the-wall shows outer behaviour and inner feelings.

Common mistakes

• Playing an emotion instead of an objective Emotions arise from pursuing goals. Fix: Play what the character wants.
• Playing a general emotion ("sad") Looks fake. Fix: Play a specific action: "to hide", "to beg", "to comfort".

Role on the wall

Role on the wall is a planning strategy: draw an outline of a person on paper.

• Outside the outline, write what others see and say about the character.
• Inside, write the character's private thoughts, feelings and secrets.

The gap between inside and outside is where interesting acting happens.

Practice questions

1. What a character wants in a scene is their:

   1. Obstacle
   2. Objective
   3. Status
   4. Gesture

   (1 marks)

2. How can status be shown physically?

   (2 marks)

3. A character's "objective" is:

   1. Their costume
   2. What they want
   3. Their age
   4. Where they stand

   (1 marks)

4. Which is an action verb an actor can play?

   1. Sad
   2. To persuade
   3. Tall
   4. Angry

   (1 marks)

5. Explain why an obstacle makes a character more interesting.

   (2 marks)

Summary

• Profiles and backstory.
• Objectives and obstacles.
• Status shown physically.
• Objective + obstacle = conflict.