The Actor as Warrior:
Understanding the Author’s Intent for a Role
Aside from USO trips into combat zones at Christmas, one does not usually think of
warfare and acting at the same time. However, the theories of Colonel John Boyd''''s Maneuver Warfare can help actors create and refine their performances. Two major elements of Maneuver Warfare that are directly applicable to acting – the most basic being the "Commander''''s Intent." The Commander''''s intent is simply what the military commander, or in this case the author or director, wants as an end product. Maneuver Warfare says that the commander should make his goal clear -- whether it is to take a hill or to protect civilians -- and then allow the troops in the field to undertake that mission in the way they see best. However to do that, the soldier has to understand what the end goal is and be willing to fulfill it. It is pretty easy to see the connection to most scripts. To paraphrase an Army manual, you must convert the author''''s intent into a performance that fulfills the author''''s (or the director''''s) vision. That
understanding starts with an identification of exactly what type of play the author has written: mystery, comedy, drama, etc. That sounds almost too basic, but misreading that intent can be disastrous both to the individual performance and to the overall production and it sometimes isn''''t as easy as it seems. For example: A script for a short film calls for two unemployed men struggling to make ends meet to take a job delivering a grand piano. The piano is to go to a house that can only be reached by a set of narrow steps that climb 50 or more feet up the face of a steep hillside. The two men, unused to handling a piano first have to discover how to get it to go where they want it to go. They struggle up the steps and are injured along the way. They have a falling out and fight over who is doing the most work. And, finally, when the piano is almost to the top, it slips from their grip and rolls down the steps as they try to save this object that is worth more than they make in a year. Many will recognize this scenario as an Abbot and Costello comedy, but if you did not, it would be easy to assume that this was a social commentary drama or even a tragedy. To fulfill the creator''''s intent, one must add the idea that this is a comedy to the usual analysis of the character or the end production will be a far cry from what was intended. There are sometimes primary and secondary intents in a script as there was in the movie The Bone Collector. The Bone Collector''''s primary intent was to create an exciting forensic mystery, the secondary intent was an anti-euthanasia message. If one does not understand the difference between the two goals, or if they are not kept in their proper perspectives, the end result is a feeling one is being hit over the head with a message and the production is a failure. Likewise, there is the author''''s intent for the entire production and the intent for a particular scene. The actor must take both into consideration. When you have a clear understanding of the author/director’s intent, it allows the actor to effectively create their role. The bottom line is that know the general idea of what must be accomplished and why. As an actor, you, like the soldier, are removed from the original decision maker (author); however, if the author has done his job you know what must be accomplished and why. You must also be willing to fulfill that intent in order to manifest the author''''s vision for the play. The Commander''''s Intent is so important in the military realm that the Coast Guard gives an award for "in